© Copyright ALTE 2015
Administration
and Logistics
Julia
Todorinova
2 © Copyright ALTE 2015
ALTE Quality Standards
Associated with Administration and Logistics
Pre-conditions and Responsibilities for Examination Centres
Maintaining Confidentiality and Secrecy of Examination
Materials upon Delivering to the exam centres and returning
back
Support Systems for Exam Centres and Candidates
Protection of the Security and Confidentiality of Examination
Results and Certificates
Arrangements for Candidates with Special Needs to ensure
fairness
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Examination Centres
Selection criteria and procedures
Documents provided in relation to examination administration
:
Examination regulations
Guidelines for examination administration
Handbook for supervisors/administrators and/or instructions to invigilators
Registering for the examination and entry requirements for candidates
Training for administrators, invigilators and supervisors
Procedures for checking irregularities during the examination
administration
Quality control of service:
Monitoring procedures
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Examination Materials
Delivering examination materials to exam centres
Maintaining confidentiality and secrecy of examination
materials:
Before the examination
During the examination
After the examination/Post-examination arrangements
Procedures for checking on the quality of materials before the
examination
Regulations on returning and/or destroying materials after the
examination
Controlling the quality, in case the examination centres have
some responsibility for processing some component of the
examination
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Support Systems
Support system for exam centres before, during and after the examination:
Training for staff responsible for administering and/or processing of the examination
Hot-line and/or help-line
All the necessary documentation: exam administration regulations, guidelines, instructions, etc.
Communication channels with exam centres on administrative matters:
One-to-one communication
Telephoning or fax
Online (intranet system, websites, e-mails, videoconferencing, electronic forms of data transfer, etc.)
Social media
Support system for candidates before the examination
:
Support materials for candidates including information on how to prepare for the examination and sample papers, how results are reported and how to register for the exam, exam dates and examination centres
Prior training and/or counseling on the examination format, timing, content, etc.
Communication channels with candidates before, during or after the
examination:
In-person communication
Telephone lines or fax
Online (e-mail, websites, etc.)
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Examination results and certificates
Procedures to guarantee security and confidentiality of all materials at the
exam centres or in transit:
Secure storage facilities
Password protected database
Data protection procedures to guarantee the security and confidentiality of the
exam results, all associated data/materials and certificates:
Confidentiality procedures for releasing examination results and maintaining all related data
storage in accordance to the local data protection law
Special regulations or administrative procedures for accessing data, data archive and copying
documents
Password system
Procedures for issuing and handing out the certificates to guarantee
protection against impersonation and illegal copying
Procedures for dealing with fraud and malpractice
Candidates’ rights concerning their access to the examination results, seeing
their exam papers, re-taking of the examination, storage of their personal
information, usage of their exam results for research purposes, etc.
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Candidates with special needs
Special examination arrangements for candidates:
With long-term/permanent physical disability or illness
With temporary disability at the time of assessment
With learning disability or difficulty
Under confinement (hospital, in prison or in religious orders)
Special assessment adjustments which may be provided:
Modified examination materials (Braille modifications, enlarged or coloured, etc.)
Assistance (an oral language modifier, a sign language interpreter, a reader, a lipreader, voice
activated software, etc.)
Additional time
Rest periods or supervised breaks
Separate accommodation
Special furniture
Presentation of responses, etc.
Informing candidates about their rights
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ALTE membership and especially QMS greatly assisted
the Standardized Test in Bulgarian to improve
Test Centre was established to:
Assure the quality of examination administration
Provide assistance and methodological help
Train and certify all the staff involved in the assessment
Conduct qualitative and quantitative research
Examination Board of the Standardized Test in Bulgarian as a Foreign
Language was founded in order to:
Constitute the policy of testing
Regulate, monitor and control the assessment administration
Deal with all the administrative issues related to the exam administration
Both conducted ALTE audits as well as the application of the ALTE QMS
procedures contributed to
successfully address the requirements and improve
the:
Quality of service at our 5 operating examination centres abroad
Training intended for administrators and invigilators
Support and communication systems intended for candidates and for exam centres
Procedures for confidentiality and security of all examination materials, examination results and certificates9 © Copyright ALTE 2015
Improvement of the quality of service of our
examination centres abroad
Clear criteria and procedures were established for:
Selection and contracting
Effective co-operation
Ensuring that candidates have complete access to all the information and materials needed regardless the country where they take Standardized Test in Bulgarian as a Foreign Language
Examination Regulations were elaborated so as to describe in detail:
Examination administration procedures
Organisational guidelines for administrators, supervisors and invigilators
Guidance for exceptional situations
Roles and responsibilities of supervisors, administrators and invigilators in relation to exam administration
Training provided to the staff working for the examination centres is:
Compulsory
Carried on a regular basis
Intended for administrators, supervisors and invigilators
Monitoring procedures and inspection system were installed:
To check and/or correct irregularities
To offer additional training, if needed10 © Copyright ALTE 2015
Improvement of the training targeted to the
staff from our examination centres
Annual review of our exam centres’ performances was introduced
Face-to-face training is held once a year at the exam centre and/or in
Sofia
Training is provided to administrators and invigilators on how to
administer the exam
Special training is provided to supervisors
Materials for use are provided when training administrators and
invigilators
Support visits are provided for new examination centres during their
first examination session
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Quality improvement of the support we provide
to the examination centres and candidates
All the necessary documentation is supplied to the examination
centres
One mobile hot-line is available during examination administration
Another telephone line is available throughout working hours
Support visits for new examination centres during their first
examination administration
Free training is provided to the staff from the examination centre
Support materials for candidates are available in leaflets and on the
website
Prior training and face-to-face counseling on the examination level,
format, timing, content, etc. are provided in Sofia and, if possible, at
the examination centre or online
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