ePC

awarding-bodies

Exam software for awarding bodies and exam boards

For awarding bodies and exam boards seeking a quicker turnaround of exam results, the slow capture and marking of paper based tests and assessments can be a challenge.

Our exam software offers a more progressive approach to script capture, processing, verification, and marking leading to a reduction in lead-in and lead-out times from weeks to days, cost savings in logistics and marking, and increased visibility throughout the process.

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  • Civica Logo
  • Cambridge English Logo
  • British Council Logo
  • Btl Logo

    Understanding your challenges

    Long lead-in times

    Many awarding bodies suffer from extended lead-in times as they need to obtain the names of candidates for personalising OMRs before the time-consuming exercise of collating and transporting materials to test venues.

    Inevitably, an elongated lead-in time results in an inability to accept last-minute candidates.

    Lengthy lead-out times

    Another commonly cited problem surrounds the laborious and inefficient process of exam marking.

    Many organisations will ship completed answer sheets from test centres back to HQ or on to markers. Inevitably, the logistical challenges of transporting physical scripts contribute to lengthy lead-out times.

    Extended lead-in and lead-out times can lead to a reduced market share for awarding organisations.

    Limited visibility

    An additional challenge is the lack of visibility over physical script returns with awarding bodies only realising a problem exists when scripts are late.

    In the worst-case scenario of exam papers getting lost in transit, there is often nothing that can be done other than to re-sit the exam!

    Environmental concerns

    Awarding organisations routinely print millions of question papers and answer sheets and ship them to/from test centres. This approach has a significant carbon footprint, contributes to environmental concerns, and is one of the driving factors behind the move to digital exams.

    Research by Ofqual has revealed it takes 5.6kg of CO2 to prepare, print, sit, and mark one English Language GCSE exam.

    High maintenance costs

    Maintaining legacy hardware, such as OMR scanners, can be an expensive activity.

    Reliance on such specialised hardware can also become a single point of failure, causing extended business interruption when something goes wrong.

    Exam software

    At ePC, we understand that every organisation is different, every assessment is tailored, and each candidate is unique. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so we draw upon the exam software to design and build bespoke exam processes that suit your organisation.

    • Answer sheet design

      Answer sheet design

      A structured exam sheet will be designed for each component and optimised for higher capture rates.

      The sheet can offer multiple layout possibilities and all question types with intelligent character recognition (ICR) reading short written responses and optical character recognition (OCR) capturing machine-printed text and Optical mark recognition (OMR) marking answers to multiple choice questions (MCQ).

      Additionally, the answer paper can include cornerstones and ID blocks to reduce manual intervention and barcodes to identify answer paper types and candidates.

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    • Exam paper distribution

      Exam paper distribution

      Pre-printed and blank answer papers (APs) as well as supporting materials can be made available in one of two ways, depending on your deployment option.

      First, they can be despatched by courier to your school/college/university/test centre.

      Second, they can be made available online and grouped by component and/or candidate ready for downloading and printing. Once received, exam papers can be printed professionally, if the volume requires it, or simply on office printers for smaller volumes.

      For larger deployments, a web portal (see image) is available where venues can test their scanning, download and print QPs and APs, scan completed APs, monitor progress, fulfil re-scan requests and reconcile scanning.

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    • Scanning candidate responses

      Scanning candidate responses

      The next step is to convert the answer scripts into a digital format for processing. This is achieved in one of three ways, depending on your deployment option.

      Firstly, if the system is installed on-site, staff will scan answer sheets using a high-speed scanner.

      Secondly, for distributed deployments in remote locations, the eScan app is available via a link on the web portal, offering scanning, reconciliation, error rectification and transmission of answer sheets.

      Thirdly, if you opt for our scanning bureau service, we will collect the completed answers sheets and process them accordingly.

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    • Script identification and data extraction

      Script identification and data extraction

      Once the images are captured, the system will identify the answer sheet based on the template type.

      At this stage, the image will undergo image pre-processing to confirm barcode readability, page size, presence of cornerstones etc.

      After identifying a form, intelligent character recognition (ICR), optical character recognition (OCR), and optical mark recognition (OMR) technology will extract data from a scanned answer sheet.

      Simple rules such as alpha, numeric, dictionaries, date ranges, database lookups and mandatory fields will be checked at this stage with exceptions queued for human review.

      Automated marking for MCQs

      OMR technology can, for example, read candidate responses to MCQs and export a value for each question (i.e. A, B, C, D). Alternatively, OMR can mark each question (if pre-loaded with the answer-key) and export a final score (rather than raw responses).

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    • Answer sheet verification

      Answer sheet verification

      The next step is to queue any unclear papers for human verification. This is achieved in one of three ways, depending on your deployment option.

      Firstly, if the system is installed on-site, your staff will verify borderline candidate responses (see image).

      Secondly, if you opt for our scanning bureau service, our verification team will review any ambiguous responses.

      Thirdly, for distributed test centres, the eVerify app allows users to confirm the intended responses or correct misread characters in a web-accessible, high-speed verification interface.

      Once verified, electronic images and data are exported to any required format or made available for marking in on-screen marking systems.

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    • On-screen marking

      On-screen marking

      The on-screen marking component (see image) extracts the relevant response areas from scanned images and presents them to remote examiners for clerical marking in a secure, online environment.

      Alternatively, if you already have an OSM system, data from scanned scripts can be indexed and exported to your third-party solution.

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    Automated capture benefits

    Our solutions provide a quick turnaround of results and significant cost savings. Crucially, this approach is perfect for awarding bodies that do not currently have the necessary infrastructure to support computer-based assessment for large cohorts, allowing them to set their own timeline for moving exams on-screen.

    Some of the benefits of automated marking include:

    Reduced lead-in times

    Venues can download personalised or blank test papers for each component (e.g. Writing tasks, English listening, Maths, etc.) from a web portal and arrange printing on laser printers or with a local commercial printer.

    Centre printing of answer sheets will reduce the lead-in time to a few hours, enabling centres to be far more dynamic and to accept last-minute candidates.

    Faster turnaround of results

    Physical scripts are scanned at the venue shortly after an exam rather than transported back for bureau scanning or manual marking. This means on-screen marking can commence much sooner, with results issued in days rather than weeks or months!

    Eliminate administrative burden

    The traditional paper based exam comes with a huge administration burden, especially for large-scale assessments. Awarding institutions must print and deliver test papers to venues, arrange transportation for completed scripts for scanning and/or marking, and store marked scripts for future reference.

    A more sustainable approach to exam management involves centre users logging on to a web portal to manage all printing and scanning functions for a test venue.

    Enhance security

    There is a security risk associated with the transportation of exam papers to test venues. In 2022, a leaked AQA chemistry A-level paper was stolen from a Parcelforce van.

    Meanwhile, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) revealed a parcel containing 238 A-level chemistry answer scripts was stolen from a courier van transporting it to an examiner for marking in the UK in 2018. The scripts have not been recovered.

    One of the main benefits of scanning answer sheets with examination software at the test venue is the risk of lost or stolen papers is removed as no physical scripts are shipped.

    Achieve savings in logistics and scanning costs

    Awarding organisations will achieve significant shipping savings by eliminating the need to transport materials to/from centres. The costs for the exam platform and scanning hardware will be absorbed from savings in courier costs.

    Additional savings may also be found by ending third-party storage contracts or releasing valuable floor space by storing digital copies of answer sheets.

    More environmentally sustainable

    Automating the paper based exam is a more sustainable approach.

    The ability to print directly at the centres and scan completed answer sheets immediately after the exam reduces carbon emissions as the need to transport exam materials to/from venues is removed.

    Increased visibility

    Administration teams can log on to the web portal to view upcoming sessions and monitor scanning progress for any session or centre.

    Administrators can also receive updates and view miscellaneous documents such as seating plans. With physical script return, it is only when the scripts are late that a problem is apparent.

    Built-in quality control

    Identify candidates though unique candidate IDs or barcodes and automatically reconcile answer sheets to enrolments. Missing or duplicated scripts are easily identified for action.

    Validate image quality in real-time with automated checks to confirm barcode readability, page type/size, presence of cornerstones and for optimal brightness for readability.

    Integrations

    If you already have an OSM system, data from scanned scripts will be indexed and exported to your third-party solution. Recent integrations include:

    • IELTS Logo
    • Mark Manager
    • Janison Logo
    • Nesa Logo
    • Surpass Assessment

      Case studies

      • Civica

        Civica

        Following a OJEU tender process, the British Council commissioned Civica as the prime contractor to deliver an on-screen marking (OSM) solution to mark up to 5 million ‘pen and paper’ IELTS tests each year.

        As part of the agreement, Civica appointed ePC as its sub-contractor for the script capture, processing and verification work.

      • Cambridge English

        Cambridge English

        Expert in language assessment automates paper-based assessments with OMR exam processing and on-screen marking system.

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