Changing a candidate's schedule during an exam

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Last updated: Jul 31, 2018 by Will Garnett

As Practique has been designed to be able to run offline all the exam details are locked then pushed to the iPads in advance. It is possible to make changes close to an exam, but once the exam has started we do not advise making any changes and updating the iPads as this increases the risk of losing marks that have not been submitted.

What we suggest

There are two primary options that we suggest to easily cope with last minute changes to an exam, such as a candidate turning up late. A third option is also available, but is probably more suitable for MMIs. 

If the candidate is only slightly late

If the candidate just misses the first 1 or 2 rounds of the session, they can be re-run as a carryover at the end. For example, if the candidate missed the first 2 rounds of a 10 station exam, they would start on their station 3, carry on with the exam, when everyone finishes their 10th station, the candidate goes back and does station 1, then station 2.

This means that they can be marked easily on the iPad, as they are still taking the exam in the same session and circuit that they were assigned.

If a candidate misses their session

If a candidate misses their session completely (or you decide to not run them through as described above), the best option is to mark that candidate on paper. This requires you to have an available 'slot' in an alternate session/day. You would keep the allocation of the candidate the same, mark them on paper, and then transcribe that one candidates set of marksheets.

  1. Have some blank marksheets prepared before the exam so that the examiner can easily mark the station on paper filling the correct details themselves.
  2. This information can then be manually entered when the exam is finished. We suggest keeping the session open so that this can be done via the iPad for ease of use. 

Prepare exam with some "free" slots (either in each session or at the end of the day)

If the candidate misses their whole session, regardless of how it is managed in Practique, you must physically have room for them later in the day (ie, an incomplete circuit).

if you have an incomplete circuit, you could slot that candidate in, and then mark them on paper
  1. Prepare you exam with free slots:
    1. For example: you are running an exam for 55 candidates.
    2. Set up the exam with 3 sessions, 2 circuits, and 10 stations (including rests etc) then you have 60 possible candidate slots (“Maximum Candidate Capacity”)
  2. Have some blank marksheets prepared before the exam so that the examiner can easily mark the station on paper filling the correct details themselves.
  3. This information can then be manually entered when the exam is finished. We suggest keeping the session open so that this can be done via the iPad for ease of use. 


Create Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) with one circuit and one session

The simplest way to ensure that you can manage any candidate coming late or out of order is to schedule all of your candidates in 1 session and 1 circuit. 

This will allow the examiner to choose the correct candidate from the list regardless of when they appear. The disadvantage of this option is that the examiner will be presented with a list of all of the candidates scheduled for that day. If there are 40 candidates then the list will be 40 to choose from. We suggest therefore that particular effort is made to double check the name of the candidate as the enter the station. This also makes the Marshal tracking and monitoring less useful during the day.