Page 5 | Invigilator ended test five minutes early

NameChange2745637 · 2021-04-18T12:47:34+00:00

I had a test yesterday that was meant to be 1 hour long. I was nearly finished and had four questions to go but was told by the invigilator that the test was finished and to stop what we were doing (there were only two other people left doing their exam at this point). I was a bit surprised because I thought you were normally given about 5 minutes notice, so I said "We're finished" which he replied "Erm yes". This was a computer based exam so I was told there and then that I failed. I have just signed into my account to see what areas need improving and it said that the duration of the test was only 55 minutes. AIBU here? Should I complain? I didn't notice at the time because I was concentrating.

UhtredRagnarson · 18/04/2021 15:42

Still waiting for evidence for that one.

you want names and dates don’t you? That’s the only evidence you’ll accept. You’re certain that because you’ve never heard of it it’s hasn’t happened so you just won’t believe it. It’s fine. I can’t live with the burden of your disbelief.

UrAWizHarry · 18/04/2021 15:43

"And that would be a dumb strategy anyway - everyone knows you bank the easy point early in any exam."

And yet the point that you are making assumptions about how the OP tackled the exam, that all questions were weighted the same etc seems to still be completely passing you by....

memberofthewedding · 18/04/2021 15:44

Sometimes you just have to put your foot down in exam situations. At uni I took my exams in the department on a computer because a wrist injury made it difficult to write. Halfway through the exam the fire alarm went off and we all had to troop outside. When the exam re-started I asked for extra time as my "concentration had been broken" and was allowed an extra 20 minutes. I didnt really need it but it was the principle which counted. In the same circumstances I as the invigilator, would have offered the participant/s extra time because of the stress of having to break off and restart.

UrAWizHarry · 18/04/2021 15:44

@UhtredRagnarson

Still waiting for evidence for that one.

you want names and dates don’t you? That’s the only evidence you’ll accept. You’re certain that because you’ve never heard of it it’s hasn’t happened so you just won’t believe it. It’s fine. I can’t live with the burden of your disbelief.

Doubling down on the bullshit is a pretty common tactic. Just a simple link will do.

Go on.

The fact is, pupils who have sat and left an exam in good faith are not forced to resit because the exam THEY HAVE LEFT ends early.

That is complete and utter horseshit and you know it.

UhtredRagnarson · 18/04/2021 15:45

Op failed, fair and square.

It was categorically not fair and square. She didn’t have the full time allocated to complete the exam.

SixDegrees · 18/04/2021 15:45

I think it’s reasonable to complain, the invigilator shouldn’t be stopping the exam early. If it’s a 60 minute exam then you should have been allowed the full 60 minutes.

I do agree with pp though that it sounds unlikely that the extra 5 minutes would have been enough to get you a pass. Obviously I’ve no idea whether the unanswered questions were weighted differently, but getting from 60% to 75% within 5 minutes sounds like a bit of a stretch.

UhtredRagnarson · 18/04/2021 15:47

Doubling down on the bullshit is a pretty common tactic. Just a simple link will do.

Go on.

The fact is, pupils who have sat and left an exam in good faith are not forced to resit because the exam THEY HAVE LEFT ends early.

That is complete and utter horseshit and you know it.

There is no link. I can give you dates, names location, I can describe the invigilator’s outfit. But I won’t. You are free to believe what you like. I haven’t lied.

GreyhoundG1rl · 18/04/2021 15:51

The exam wasn't cut short for the one's who had finished and left the room, Uhtred
To insist that it was is an absurdity.

UhtredRagnarson · 18/04/2021 15:53

The exam was cut short for everyone. It won’t have impacted those who already left but it was cut short for everyone.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 18/04/2021 15:54

@memberofthewedding

Sometimes you just have to put your foot down in exam situations. At uni I took my exams in the department on a computer because a wrist injury made it difficult to write. Halfway through the exam the fire alarm went off and we all had to troop outside. When the exam re-started I asked for extra time as my "concentration had been broken" and was allowed an extra 20 minutes. I didnt really need it but it was the principle which counted. In the same circumstances I as the invigilator, would have offered the participant/s extra time because of the stress of having to break off and restart.

Nope! You can't make that decision. The Exams Officer fills out the usual form.for such happenings and the exam board applies the correction.

What you suggest would mean that the Centre as a whole would have their grades and procedures put through an investigation. Every exam, every candidate.

ShurImGrand123 · 18/04/2021 15:55

As someone with significant experience in this area, your first step is to write and explain that the examination was cut short by five minutes due to the Invigilator closing the session early, without warning.

Send copies of your letter to both the Head of Examinations and your Head of Department. Depending on the college set up, some examinations are managed entirely within the teaching department and the Head of Examinations may not be involved.

Invigilators do make mistakes sometimes, and it needs to be brought to the attention of whoever is responsible for managing them.

My experience is in HE and not FE so I assume you could also refer the matter directly to the Awarding body if the college response is unsatisfactory. (In HE, the matter would be dealt with internally, probably involving the external examiner for the Programme.)

GreyhoundG1rl · 18/04/2021 15:56

If the bus crashes after you've gotten off, you can't claim you've been in a bush crash. What happens after you've left the building has no bearing on you or your experience.

Butwasitherdriveway · 18/04/2021 15:58

My colleague got paid extra for working 3 hours extra . I mean, I left on time so wasn't there, but I should still get the money yeah?

frostyfingers · 18/04/2021 15:59

I am an invigilator and have been for several years now and we do not give 5 minutes notice. It is up to the candidate to manage their time as long as that is marked clearly - we put on the board start & finish times but not the length of the exam.

Having said that if the computer shows that you were given 55 minutes rather than the hour then take it up with whoever administered the exam.

Justgorgeous · 18/04/2021 16:00

JCQ - Joint Council for Qualifications. You don’t give a 5 minute warning. Of course if you were allowed an hour, you should have an hour.

UhtredRagnarson · 18/04/2021 16:03

@GreyhoundG1rl

If the bus crashes after you've gotten off, you can't claim you've been in a bush crash. What happens after you've left the building has no bearing on you or your experience.

Yes, entirely comparable.

Justgorgeous · 18/04/2021 16:05

@GreyhoundG1rl What???

GreyhoundG1rl · 18/04/2021 16:05

So explain, Uhtred, why you should be party to any adjustments made to something that didn't affect you?

FTEngineerM · 18/04/2021 16:05

@Pogmaasal I didn’t say ‘the OP would definitely have failed’ as you said though.. did I 🤭 Saying something ‘probably’ will happen isn’t anything like ‘definitely’ is it. So no I’m not being pulled up on a mistake.

QuarantineQueen · 18/04/2021 16:05

Definitely query this, regardless of whether it's likely you would have failed anyway. Because:

The other person in the room might not have noticed and have needed one extra question to pass.
I assume you pay for exams. They should allow you to resit at the college's expense.
You don't want it to happen next time. As you have evidence it is worth complaining.

DGRossetti · 18/04/2021 16:08

Quite astounded that no one accepts that the fucking software should have enforced any time limits, rather than leaving it to human error.

Over the years I've taken more online exams than I care to remember, and not one - not a single one - was ever ended by an invigilator (not all had invigilators).

I'm still curious as to what outfit is peddling such a crap system - that would have been outdated in 2001 - in 2021.

Butwasitherdriveway · 18/04/2021 16:09

Entirely compare @UhtredRagnarson

Daphnise · 18/04/2021 16:10

As with any complaint you have to assess whether it will get you anywhere, how much time, stress and frustration it may cause you, and the likely result.

It seems unfortunately that you were going to fail even with full time.

So it's not worth the bother.

That doesn't of course make what happened right- just unchangeable.

Original poster

NameChange2745637 · 18/04/2021 16:12

@DGRossetti

Quite astounded that no one accepts that the fucking software should have enforced any time limits, rather than leaving it to human error.

Over the years I've taken more online exams than I care to remember, and not one - not a single one - was ever ended by an invigilator (not all had invigilators).

I'm still curious as to what outfit is peddling such a crap system - that would have been outdated in 2001 - in 2021.

That might have actually been the case, I said it wasn't done by the computer but it might have been. I didn't get to 60 mins though so I don't know.

OP posts:

xyzandabc · 18/04/2021 16:14

@Gatehouse77

If it was under JCQ conditions they are not allowed to state how much time you had left. But if you didn’t get the fully allocated time, I would complain.

Sorry gatehouse, that's just not true. JCQ regulations 20/21 state that a 5 minute warning is permitted and is at the discretion of the centre. Section 26.1 www.jcq.org.uk › 2020/10PDF Web results Instructions for conducting examinations - JCQ