Oxford MAT disruption today?

[reegee]

I've just received a message from DS's school to say that there was serious disruption to the Oxford MAT today due to issues at the Oxford IT side of things. DS not due home for a few hours so not sure exactly what happened. It sounds like they managed to eventually get through it but I don't know about the extent or implications of these disruptions.
Does anyone else know any more on this?

There is no Oxford MAT, do you mean the LEA?

No I mean the Oxford Maths Admissions test my son was sitting this morning.

There are a few posts about it on the Oxbridge 2023 thread. Sounds chaotic.

Argh Oxbridge 2024 I mean.

My daughter's MAT was disrupted too. I had a shuftie on The Student Room and it seems a bit hit and miss: some people don't seem to be reporting any problems, others saying the server crashed. I don't know how much she completed, but the school will be asking for consideration. 🤷‍♀️

Oh well, in that case... a few years ago the medical admissions test went horribly wrong, they really shouldn't run these things online.

My DS's MAT exam took more than twice the length it should have as the system kept crashing. Absolute nightmare for him, he was doing fine on the past papers and he totally lost his concentration due to the technical issues at Oxford's end

I'm an EO.

The exam crashed for some people. Some. Schools were sent a file to download and print off an exam paper and told to give the students the full time to complete it.

The ELAT also had problems, there was a significant typo and it started late due to the probs with the MAT.

All exams officers hoping that we revert to paper for tomorrow's remaining Oxford tests.

Very stressful for all concerned.

Do you know when you'll find out if you are reverting to paper tomorrow?

I'm not sure it will actually happen tbh. I've been checking email all afternoon and nothing. But I am going in early in case I need to print off the exams.

I should think Oxford and TCS had some stressful meetings this afternoon to find out what went wrong.

My dc’s mat exam messed up today. Wouldn’t load for some, IT people working in the room whilst some kids working on exam. My dc eventually got it loaded, then it cut out - did it partly from the screen and partly from a printed copy. Going to be a bit difficult for Oxford now - perhaps they will have to give more interviews than planned.

It's not just Oxford, though: other universities ask for a supplementary paper. Durham, Imperial, Warwick... TMUA possibly - or MAT if you're already taking it.

Issues with the ELAT? Oh no. My students didn't mention any. Said it was rather lovely extracts this time.

DD sat the paper TSA yesterday where no issues as paper. She said today quite a few students at school had technical issues with the tests. She mentioned that before 12 noon the school said they had a statement from Oxford saying something like wouldn't make any difference if sat or not due to technical issues (though this is third hand) so one of her friends gave up at that point, another sat it at 12pm on a second attempt and a third had no issues. On the Oxbridge thread 2024 issues with both tests today being reported. I would imagine DD is referring to the MAT. Was given to a new company to administer this year. TSA is run by a different company.

TMUA was yesterday and I'm not aware of any issue with it.

TMUA was still run by Cambridge as a paper based test & there were no problems.
Oxford outsourced MAT to third party to run - it was the first time it was run online. The servers couldn't cope & kept crashing.
I have put in multiple requests for special consideration. Have also emailed complaint to Oxford asking for assurance that no candidates will be disadvantaged due to their fuck up. It was nowhere near good enough.

Yes, I know - but my daughter didn't take TMUA & opted for the MAT instead.

So can I ask will the issues experienced be taken into consideration when marking the MAT
my son is autistic and he had to wait 3 hours before sitting it … he was not in the best state of mind by this point.So incredibly unfair

So who have you written to and are you a parent?
My son had to sit and wait 3 hours not knowing what was going on and he’s autistic
He was all over shop by time he got the paper

My child is still shaken by today's farce of a MATS exam. As a person on the autistic spectrum, having to sit doing and saying nothing under exam conditions for 2 hours was sheer torture. All the while waiting to start at any moment. Watching other students gain access from time to time and wondering when they would get a chance.
Finaly the paper version arrived but by the end they had spent five and a half hours in that exam room.
You don't treat people this way, they are harmed now and at a pivotal time of their life.

@Grumpyoldguy this is what happened to my son
Just awful for them
His words bless him that he was exhausted before he even started the paper 3 hours later … no one knew what was going on as he was only student at his school sitting the paper
He is so deflated

Hi
My son sat the MAT at 9am. Was waiting until 11.30am before he could get on. Not allowed to leave the room except for toilet break. Visibly upset and tired. But did his best. Going to complain to school tomorrow and hope they make a formal complaint to the organisers. This has definitely effected all the students sitting exams in his school

It's horrible for those students who were affected today.

Just so everyone is clear, the problems were all caused by the TCS servers, it was nothing to do with the schools.

All test centres had to go through a test to make sure our computers could connect properly and run the tests. Today was entirely due to issues at the other end.

Regarding the pupils who were kept in rooms for a very long time, the invigilators and exams officers were doing their best to manage things. It was a total unknown to us. We didn't even know how to launch the tests until two weeks ago when we got a short training session.

There were few comms coming out of TCS this morning, if anyone got through to the one helpline number it was sheer luck.

I got all my information from other exams officers in the area, we were all chatting to figure out how to respond.

We were all guessing and basically managing things the way we would if an Alevel was going wrong. So, keeping pupils in exam conditions would be the proper thing to do.

However those pupils with access arrangements should have been treated appropriately if possible. The problem is that if the test had 'started' then it had to keep running unless the pupil had designated rest breaks. So letting the pupils get up for a break may not have been an option.

All the centres will have complained to Oxford, I know we have. And they should all have applied for special considerations too.

The PAT test is now on paper tomorrow and we've been told a decision is pending in the morning to run HAT on paper too. We find out at 9.45am.

HAT has been delayed to 11am also.

My Son is in exactly the same situation. He said he felt so stressed, he couldn't think straight and was exhausted by the end of it. He thinks he won't have even got half the score he had been getting when doing the past papers. Its awful for them.