Monday 02 March 2015
NCFE have a new ICT online assessment available for our centres, allowing you to sit while connected to the internet or with no internet connection at all!
For Functional Skills Level 1 & 2 ICT learners are required to sit an external assessment to complete their qualification. The Level 1 assessment duration is 2 hours and the Level 2 assessment is 2 hours 30 minutes.
Both levels of Functional Skills ICT external assessments can be taken on our online system.
Taking the external assessment online means:
- more flexibility in booking your learners external assessment, no need to give time, date and location (though they still need to be sat under exam conditions)
- a more ‘ICT’ based approach to an ICT exam as no paper work is involved and no printouts required
- the online assessment is a closed system so there is no requirement for centre staff to make pre-release data files available and to send emails in preparation for the external assessment
- centres do not require internet access for the online assessment, provided they have downloaded the assessment prior to going to the exam location
- Results will be issued 6 working days from the date the assessment is uploaded to the system.
However, as the ICT external assessments may look a little different online to what you expect, and different to our paper based versions, we strongly recommend you take a sneaky peek at our Online Assessment for Functional Skills ICT User Guide. The guide will show you some screen shots and will explain what functions are available to learners during the assessment. This will help familiarise you and your learners with the system.
We also strongly recommend giving every learner a practice online test before entering them for an external assessment so that they can familiarise themselves with the functionality of the system before they’re in a live exam situation. You are able to book cohorts of learners on to practice tests over an unspecified period i.e. you can book a cohort of 30 learners to sit their practice assessment in a 3 month window.
What are the benefits of the new solution?
- It will still utilise the email and internet simulation enabling centres to deliver the assessment without an internet connection, ideal for work based learners
- Learners will be able to use known software applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel to complete more complex tasks
- Utilising known software applications will enable learners to use their full screen as opposed to the current limitations
- It’s still delivered via secure client and scheduled in exactly the same way so there is no additional administrative burden to the centre BUT the learner experience will be significantly enhanced
- We’ve created a top tips guide to help centres deliver the new online ICT system.
If you do have any questions regarding the online assessment, please contact your Centre Support Assistant who will be able more than happy to support you.