ePC

Exam paper distribution

Exam paper distribution and the delivery of pre-printed and blank answer sheets as well as supporting materials is achieved in one of two ways, depending on your deployment option.

First, we can despatch exam scripts securely by courier to your school/college/university, or secondly, exam paper delivery is online via a web portal and grouped by component and/or candidate ready for downloading and printing.

Distribute exam papers and monitor progress via web portals

One of the disadvantages associated with the traditional pen and paper test is the logistical challenge of transporting materials to remote centres as well as the return shipment of completed answer sheets back to a central location for scanning or off-site document scanning bureau. It is not uncommon for the process to take several weeks from some parts of the world.

Consequently, a web portal (see screenshots below) is available for larger deployments where venues can test their scanning, download and print question papers (QPs) and answer papers (APs), scan completed APs, monitor progress, fulfil re-scan requests and reconcile scanning. The portal serves as the front-end to the platform for your users as well as acting as the one-stop location for all centre printing and scanning functions.

Web portal homepage, with link to download & run scanning app

Web portal homepage, with link to download & run scanning app

Print screen for downloading QP’s & AP’s

Print screen for downloading QP’s & AP’s

Typical centre view, showing scan state of their test dates

Typical centre view, showing scan state of their test dates

Typical admin view, showing current scan state across all centres

Typical admin view, showing current scan state across all centres

Detailed centre view, showing the status of each candidate/component

Detailed centre view, showing the status of each candidate/component

The ability to instantly despatch exam papers and supporting materials securely across the globe significantly reduces the time, cost and risk, whilst offering the robustness of papers personalised to the candidates.

Key features

Single sign on (SSO)

Secure, worldwide centre logins can be integrated with existing user directories or authentication.

Custom branding

You can customise the web portal to meet your corporate brand guidelines and change colours, logos and fonts.

Accept last-minute candidates and amendments

The web portal allows centres to download non-personalised AP’s for walk-in candidates. Centres can also request last-minute amendments to QP’s/AP’s and regenerate PDF’s.

Dashboard reports

The portal will provide a central analytics dashboard for test centres and administration teams to view upcoming sessions and monitor scanning progress for any session or centre.

This will include the real-time status of each candidate and test components (entered, paper printed, scanned, verified and marked), re-scan requests generated by markers and non-reconciled pages and outstanding issues for the centre.

Local printing

To save transportation costs, exam paper distribution is online. Venues can download blank or personalised QPs and APs for each component from the web portal and arrange printing on laser printers or with a local commercial printer.

Guidance on printing test papers is provided in addition to instructions for candidates, invigilators and interlocutors. Test pages are available to assist in the calibration of printer and scanner settings.

Request regeneration of PDF packs

If QP’s/AP’s have been lost or damaged before the test date, centres can regenerate PDF packs for local printing.

Mark as re-scan required

Markers and administration teams can request centres to re-scan APs where necessary to improve image quality for marking.

Mark as unscannable

Where papers cannot be scanned, perhaps due to candidate special needs or where a candidate was barred from completing the test, their status can be set accordingly from within the portal to ensure the session can be completely reconciled.

Mark as absent

Centres can record absent candidates in several ways; an invigilators report completed during the test, through the portal or by importing data from a 3rd party attendance system.

Case studies

  • Civica

    Civica

    Enterprise

    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 2.25 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

    Enterprise

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

    Read more

  • Northumbria University

    Northumbria University

    Multisite

    Leading UK university uses TeleForm to design, scan and verify OMR answer sheets from undergraduate and postgraduate examinations.

    Request a demo

    eXam is a modular exam software for high stakes paper based exams that provides components for script capture, processing, and verification as well as on-screen marking.

    Contact us today to book your free demonstration.

    Fields marked with * are required

    We will not share your details outside of our organisation and will only contact you to discuss your enquiry. Read our privacy policy.