Update for Primary FRCA MCQ proctored examination candidates

Since Friday 28 August, when our remotely proctored Primary FRCA MCQ exam experienced a series of technical failures, College Council members, senior management and exam staff have been working incredibly hard to not only address the issues faced by the affected candidates, but also to investigate the cause with the external supplier to minimise the chances of a similar issue occurring again.

Not only do I reiterate my apology for the unacceptable situation which our exam candidates found themselves in, but I also remain determined that no one will be unduly disadvantaged by this.

Important examination candidate information

The below decisions have been developed in collaboration with the General Medical Council (GMC) and TestReach and led, on behalf of the College, by Council Member and Chair of the Examinations Committee, Dr Mark Forrest:

• results for the 28 August proctored Primary FRCA MCQ exam will be emailed directly to candidates on Friday 18 September as planned, with formal official results letters to follow by post as usual
• the College has agreed with TestReach that any candidate who does not achieve a pass in the 28 August proctored Primary FRCA MCQ exam, will be offered the opportunity to re-sit the exam at no additional cost
• this free re-sit of the proctored Primary FRCA MCQ exam will take place on 19 November
• candidates who do not receive a pass in the 28 August exam will be booked for the free 19 November re-sit. For these candidates, there is no immediate action required as The College Examinations Team will be in touch with those members shortly to arrange their booking
• neither the 28 August sitting, nor this free re-sit in November will count towards your total tally of attempts at this examination. The College’s decision to grant a second sitting which does not count toward your total attempts is restricted to this specific cohort of candidates who have been impacted by the incident on 28 August
• the College can confirm that after discussions with the GMC, any candidate’s first attempt at an examination in the new proctored online format will not have that attempt counted towards the overall total of sittings, if they do not receive a pass.

Our response

Immediately after the incident, and during a significant period of investigation with the supplier, the College issued emails of acknowledgement and apology directly to the affected candidates. We released a series of public statements and social media posts and also established a communications route through which affected candidates were offered the opportunity to provide feedback of their exam experience. We have also kept relevant College groups such as our Examiners, College Tutors, Regional Advisors and Anaesthetists in Training Committee and our colleagues at the Association of Anaesthetists updated as we have progressed through our investigation.

Feedback continues to be received from candidates and I would like to assure all those members that your feedback is being used by the College in its on-going investigation of the incident and engagement with our supplier. If candidates from the 28 August examination have not yet provided feedback and would like to, I urge you to do so by emailing it to exams@rcoa.ac.uk.

The College has held multiple high-level meetings with the system supplier (TestReach) to understand what happened on the day and why. The College requested and received a detailed report into the incident and the cause. We now understand that there was an unusually large amount of data flowing into the TestReach database from an approved external source, at the same time the exam was being run. This caused the capacity of TestReach’s proctoring system to degrade to such a degree that it effectively stopped functioning. TestReach has assured the College that this was a one-off incident. Through our receipt of reports and our meetings with TestReach, we are able to inform candidates that technical improvements, fixes and enhanced communication processes have now been implemented at the College’s request. This close work between senior College staff and TestReach is on-going and the College appreciates the honesty, transparency and speed of work shown by the management and technical team at TestReach.

Looking forwards

While I understand the difficult and stressful situation candidates were placed in on the day of the exam, and that they and others may be concerned about their up-coming proctored exams, I can assure you all that I have seen the extraordinary detail and commitment from College members and staff to resolve this unacceptable situation. I, as College President and Jono Brüün as CEO have either been personally involved in meeting with TestReach or closely monitoring and advising on the above decisions. I believe the above decisions are a fair and valid way to address this situation for our members who have played such an integral and valuable role in the NHS’ fight against the Coronavirus.

2020 has been an incredibly stressful and, for some, a traumatic year. I accept this unprecedented situation was seen as yet another cause for distress for many of you. That said, your College has made huge strides over a short period of time to accept, acknowledge and rectify this error. Importantly, we have put in place mitigating actions with TestReach to do all we can to ensure our next proctored examinations do not encounter similar issues.

I sincerely hope to see a good pass rate for the 28 August exam, but to those members who, on this occasion, do not receive a pass, your College is here for you and will continue supporting you in every way we can.

Thank you,

Professor Ravi Mahajan
President, Royal College of Anaesthetists