Adding candidates to the exam

Once the basic shell for the exam has been created, the next step is to proceed to the Candidates menu. The first task (and only option available at this point) is to add a date for the exam. Once the date(s) and the item set(s) have been added, further options in the Candidates menu become available.

There are several possible methods for adding candidates to the exam, each of which are discussed later in this article.

Selecting exam date(s)

To select the exam date(s):

• Step 1 of 2

  Within the Candidates section, click Specify exam dates.

  

• Step 2 of 2

  Use the calendar menu in the date field to select the correct date for the exam. If your exam is set to run over several days, you will set the first date, and the subsequent days will follow sequentially. To exclude any days of the week, specific dates or weekends from that sequential scheduling, you can select those from the Exclusion Dates menu. By default, Sundays and Bank holidays are excluded. 

  

  The date(s) applied to an exam acts only as a label. It does not have any functional purpose other than as a data field associated with the exam. It does not, for example, control when the exam becomes available to candidates or examiners.

  Click Save to commit the changes

Managing sessions

When the exam shell is first set up the system will create the corresponding number of blocks, circuits and sessions as requested either in the exam blueprint or at the point of creation. However, these can be further customised from the Candidates menu including adding, removing and renaming actions. This can be useful if you need to make unexpected structural adjustments to the exam or to label sessions with a particular naming convention to aid with the operation of the exam.

To start to make changes click Manage sessions.

From the next screen, you can make changes to individual sessions as well as adding both days and sessions to the exam. A common use case here is to change the default session names to something more descriptive (e.g. morning/afternoon session or exam location depending on the structure of the exam). This is shown in the image below.

Adding candidates

There are three possible ways to add the candidates to the exam.

1. Using a filter index to bulk identify a cohort
2. Bulk uploading candidate allocations directly via spreadsheet
3. Making manual changes to candidate allocations

Using the filter index

Using the filter index enables you to use any tagging that exists against the candidate records to identify which ones need to be scheduled for the exam. For example, let's say we previously created a blueprint dimension for Year group which we made applicable to candidates. Then when we created our candidates in the system we tagged each record to the correct year group. The filter index allows us to filter the candidate list to only those that have a specific year group tag and add them to the exam.

This is shown in the example below:

• Step 1 of 2

  Click Specify candidates.

  

• Step 2 of 2

  The next screen shows all the available filters (blueprint dimensions) that exist against the candidates. Based on the structure of the exam, the system tells us that it can accommodate 40 candidates. If we select Year 5 from the list, this will filter to all candidates tagged to year 5 of which, as shown below, there are 39.

  

  Click schedule candidates to add this group to the exam. This will assign them randomly to slots within the exam.

  If the number of filtered candidates exceeds the maximum capacity of the exam you will not be able to proceed and will see an error message. 

Candidate allocations via spreadsheet upload

The spreadsheet upload option enables you to organise your allocations outside of the system and then upload them directly to the exam. The system will accept either a structured list (candidates organised into specific exam slots) or an unstructured list (candidates in a list with no slot information).

To upload candidate allocations via spreadsheet:

• Step 1 of 5

  Click Specify candidates.

  

• Step 2 of 5

  On the next screen, click Upload candidate allocation.

  

• Step 3 of 5

  The following screen gives detailed information about the structure and format required for the upload spreadsheet. Click Example file to download a template.

  

  The ID is the only required field (providing candidates already exist in the candidate index). Uploading a list of IDs with no allocation information would allocate the candidates to random slots in the exam.

• Step 4 of 5

  The downloaded spreadsheet gives up to 5 example rows for each session in the exam (irrespective of the actual number of slots in each section). If there are more than 5 slots in the session you will need to manipulate the spreadsheet to include all of the information.

  A typical upload spreadsheet with structured candidate/slot data might look something like the below:

  

  In this case, our candidates already exist in our candidate index. Therefore, the ID number is sufficient (the names, emails and passwords will be pulled in from the index). If we were loading candidates directly into the exam but they did not yet exist in the candidate index, the name, email and password fields would also need to be present in the upload spreadsheet. 

  The data in the file does not need to match the exact number of candidates needed for your exam; you may upload fewer candidates than expected, but not more.

  The upload spreadsheet for a written exam is likely to be less complex with fewer, if any, separate blocks, sessions and circuits.

• Step 5 of 5

  Select your saved allocations spreadsheet from your computer and Upload file.

  

  In the example shown, candidates will be uploaded into the specific slots given in the spreadsheet.

Some key things to remember in terms of the relationship between the candidate exam upload and the candidate index:

• If the ID provided in the candidate allocation upload file does not already exist in the candidate index, then a new candidate profile is created in the candidate index using the provided data. If the password is not included in the candidate allocation upload, the password will default to the candidate's ID. You can verify this information on the make manual changes page. 
• If the ID already exists in the candidate index, the candidate's existing profile data (name, email, password) will be pulled into the exam.
• If the ID already exists in the candidate index but the data (name, email, password) within the allocation file differs from the existing profile data, the profile data will be replaced accordingly.

Making manual changes

The Make manual changes option enables you to make granular changes to the allocations either on records that have already been added using one of the bulk methods, or to complete the process entirely manually. Candidates can be added, removed or moved around in the exam as appropriate.

This view defaults to the first block and session of the exam. To change the block or session view choose from the dropdown menus and click Show candidates.

Add a new candidate to the exam

To add a new candidate to the exam:

• Step 1 of 4

  Click Make manual changes.

  

• Step 2 of 4

  At the bottom of the screen, click Add candidate to this session.

  

• Step 3 of 4

  On the next screen type in a search term and click Search.

  

• Step 4 of 4

  In the resulting candidate list (returned from the candidate index) any candidate who is not yet present in the exam will be shown with an Add button. Click the Add button to add them to the exam. The ones with a Reassign button are already present in another session in the exam. Using the Reassign button will move them into the session you are working in.

  

Remove a candidate from the exam

To remove a candidate from the exam, click Remove next to the candidate record:

You may want to remove a candidate if the candidate has withdrawn from the exam or if you notice that the password was not set up correctly and the candidate's records need to be updated. Instead of changing the candidate allocation spreadsheet, you can remove the candidate, update the candidate records with the correct password and manually add the candidate to the correct session, circuit, and room using the steps above.

Adjust a candidate's position in the exam

The candidate's position in the session can also be adjusted by selecting the required circuit or room from the available values in the dropdown:

For sites with multi-language support set up, you can also modify the Candidate's preferred language for this exam. This will only take effect on this exam. It will not update the language within their profile.

Bulk actions

It is also possible to perform batch operations on candidate allocations. To do so select the checkboxes next to the candidates for whom you want to adjust, then select the required action from the dropdown at the bottom of the page and Go.

Communicating allocations

Communicating their allocations back to candidates is covered in the dedicated article here.