Gateway Qualifications is allowing learners to take Essential Digital Skills live assessments remotely from 8th February 2021.
This move extends the recent adaptation for mock assessments to include the live assessment as well. Centres registered to deliver Essential Digital Skills Qualifications (EDSQ) with Gateway Qualifications will be able to allow learners to sit live assessments remotely from 8th February 2021 during the current national lockdown.
Centres must continue to register learners in Quartzweb as usual. You can find guidance on booking assessments in the EDSQ Surpass Guidance for Centres available to download in Prism.
Assessments must take place under supervised conditions. Centres could undertake supervision via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, for example. The supervisor must be able to authenticate the identity of the learner, monitor the assessment and ensure that the work is the learner’s own unaided work.
Any room in which an assessment is held must provide learners with appropriate conditions for taking the assessment. In addition, as required by the specification the supervisor would need to ensure verification of the Learner’s identity. The supervisor will also need to keep a record of the location and time/date of the assessment.
If you are planning to allow your learners to sit the live assessment remotely, you may find it helpful to consider the following:
- the learner’s hardware and software meets the system requirements for Surpass, available on our website
- the learner has sufficient access to devices to complete the assessment, especially if they are sharing devices with other members of the household
- the learner has access to a reliable internet connection
- you have a secure and reliable means to distribute keycodes and pins to learners
- providing learners with an opportunity to take a mock assessment remotely, to ensure that learners and staff are familiar with the systems, requirements and supervision set up
You should also share the EDSQ Surpass Candidate Guide with your learners, which is available to download from Prism.
Centres should also refer to the Centre guidance for adaptations to of Essential Digital Skills Qualifications 2020-21. This contains useful tips on how to access and deliver the assessments.