Online proctoring for HE

How does it work?

Proctored by Pearson is a simple and effective proctoring solution, allowing you to invigilate exams set in your existing systems, such as your VLE or other web-based learning or testing experiences. Candidates use a plugin for the Google Chrome browser which captures the entire exam session allowing proctors to review the session for possible malpractice.

Who is it for?

Proctored by Pearson is for any educator who needs to deliver a secure exam experience. Our accessible pricing and flexible approach commitments mean that our service can be used for the smallest modules or scale to cover entire departments or institutions. Proctored by Pearson works with your existing systems, meaning that there is little to learn, integration is quick and easy, or if you don’t want to integrate our system can stand alone, allowing you to start examining students immediately.

Pre-exam checks and candidate preparedness?

Candidate preparation is key to providing a great student experience. We provide a candidate onboarding experience, allowing exam takers to experience the interface and check their system and internet connection. This familiarity helps reduce the stress of exam day. Students will be sent an email in advance of their test with full instructions. If they have any issues, they can access the 24/7 helpdesk for support. We can also provide pre-exam reports that let you proactively manage the onboarding process.

How is a candidate’s identity checked?

As part of the set-up process, students are required to show to the web camera their student ID card (or equivalent ID agree by the university). This ID is checked by a human proctor to ensure it is the right person taking the test. If there are any concerns about a candidate's identity you will be informed so you can make the final decision.

How do you record candidate's exam sessions?

Candidates install a simple Google Chrome plugin. Using this plugin our system can capture the audio and video feed from the systems webcam. In addition, we also capture the student’s desktop, allowing our proctors to assess both the environment and candidates’ answers.

Do you capture candidates screen as well as webcam?

Yes, we capture all activity on the candidate’s computer. Our system does not operate a lock down browser as some candidates may need to visit external sites during the exam. All websites that are visited are logged as part of the proctoring. We do not log candidate keystrokes, password or typing characteristics.

Do you capture candidate’s audio streams for monitoring?

Yes, we capture the audio stream from the candidate’s webcam.

Is there an audit trail provided?

We log all the activity the candidate undertakes during their exam session (we do not log candidate keystrokes, password or typing characteristics). This activity is available for your staff to review. You decide if a particular incident conforms to your own definitions of malpractice.

Do you log activity on the VLE?

Our solution integrates with your VLE to allow easy set up and onboarding for candidates. We do not capture the details of a candidate’s VLE session, with the exception of those visible in the screen recording. We do not log candidate keystrokes, password or typing characteristics.

Where are you proctors based?

If you choose to use our proctors in place of your own, they are based in Europe (Croatia), India and the United States of America. All our data is hosted in Europe and conforms to UK and European GDPR requirements. You can provide your own proctors if you choose to.

What do proctors check for?

Currently the solution uses human proctors to identify suspicious activity during a test session, which offers several benefits. Human proctors can also record any other possible malpractice that is not whitelisted for your review, in addition to the following events:

• Loss of gaze
• Suspicious objects such as phones or books
• Candidate missing from the view of the camera(s)
• Candidate speaking
• Multiple people in the room
• Suspicious hand movements

Can I customize the things that proctors are checking?

If there are specific things that candidates can or cannot do in your exam simply write your instructions to proctors when you set up the exam. These might include toilet breaks, permitted books, note making, or diagrams or sketches.

Do you use Artificial Intelligence to proctor exams?

We use human proctors to review exams. We believe that human proctoring is the best solution, capturing more malpractice and overcoming inbuilt bias in AI and Facial recognition technology that exists today.

Accessing files on the device

We understand that in some exams candidates may be allowed to access files or notes on their device. If this is the case, simply inform our proctors during exam set up. By default, we will flag the use of non-exam materials as potential malpractice for your review.

Room checks

If you need to ensure that candidates have no other devices connected, we can use our mobile app to capture images of the entire workspace and ensure that candidates do not have headphones.

Ear checks

When utilising our mobile app, we ask candidates to show images of their ears, this is to ensure that they do not have earphones which can be used for collusion.

Depending on your requirements, both of these checks are optional features.

Do you support screen readers and accessibility tools?

We support all accessibility tools that work with Google Chrome.

How do you handle extra time accommodations?

We work with our clients to develop policies that will best support their students. Our system can support extra time accommodations; please consult with us for the best approach for your situation.

Where is Proctored by Pearson hosted?

Pearson’s online proctoring service runs a secure, cloud hosted solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The solution can be run either as a standalone instance or can be integrated to your existing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This supports Single Sign On (SSO) and allows exam sessions to be linked in a seamless fashion from the existing course structure. The solution is hosted in the EU. The primary hosting is on AWS Frankfurt, with failover instances in the AWS Paris and Dublin datacenters. Data will not be transferred outside the EU.

How is data security handled?

Data is encrypted both at rest (AES256) and while in transit (SSL). Server-side encryption protects data at rest using encryption keys (SSE-S3) and strong multi-factor encryption. Our service is hosted by Amazon using S3 server-side encryption utilizing one of the strongest block ciphers available, 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).

How long to you keep data for?

The period of data retention is set in consultation with our customers. We can accommodate any period that is reasonably required by your institution. Data will be deleted upon request.

Do you support Single Sign On?

Our solution integrates seamlessly with all major VLEs via proprietary APIs and using LTI for secure transfer of the required candidate information. This enables a seamless experience for candidates and secure transfer of any required candidate information.

Which VLEs do you integrate with?

We integrate with all major VLEs used in the UK market, including Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas and D2L.

Is there real-time candidate support?

Candidates have access to 24/7 candidate technical support via instant chat message before and during their exam session. It is encouraged that all test takers run a system check in advance to ensure everything is working correctly. Most issues can be resolved at this point either by the candidate themselves or with support from the technical team. In the instance that technical support cannot resolve a candidate issue, a report will be raised to second line support engineers and a report raised for your review.

What is your support SLA?

Our response time for high impact issues is 30 minutes and for medium severity issue no more than 2 hours. The scope of technical support covers the integration and running of your instance and support for candidates taking an exam session on your instance. Our system uptime is 99.9%.

What is your RTO?

Our Recovery Time Objective is 1 hour. This is enabled by failover support in two EU data centers.

What is your RPO?

Our Recovery Point Objective is 24 hours. While it is technically possible to reach shorter RPOs, we have seen little practical application in online proctoring situations using Pearson’s other online assessment solutions. Our system uptime commitment is 99.7%.