An update for Primary FRCA MCQ proctored candidates

On Friday 28 August, our remotely proctored Primary FRCA MCQ exam experienced a series of technical failures which caused significant delays and stress to a large number of candidates.

On Saturday 29 August, I issued a statement acknowledging and apologising for the unacceptable situation which exam candidates found themselves in.

Before I provide the below update on the investigative work undertaken so far to understand more about the issue, I would again like to reiterate my sincere apologies for the difficult and stressful situation candidates were placed in. I would also like to provide assurance to all current and future FRCA examination candidates that this matter is being taken very seriously by your College and is currently a priority for me as President, Jono Brüün as CEO, and a significant number of other senior College Council members and staff.

Investigation

Since the day of the examination and over the August Bank Holiday weekend, our Examinations Team and members of our Senior Management Team have worked closely with the supplier, TestReach, to obtain a detailed report into the issues experienced on Friday 28 August.

We are working not only to identify the root cause for the issue, but are seeking further information and assurance from our supplier that requested improvements in the technical and communication performance of the proctored examinations (including the helpdesk service and website communications) will be implemented so as to provide us with confidence in its ability to continue providing this service on behalf of the College.

This detailed investigation is on-going.

No candidate to be disadvantaged

As I mentioned in my statement on 29 August, I am determined that no candidate will be disadvantaged by the technical failure they experienced during their examination.

Please bear with us and be assured we are working on this as an urgent matter. As soon as we have an update, we will inform candidates of the next steps.

Unprecedented situation

While I can understand the distress caused on the day and the uncertainty which may be being felt by these and future FRCA candidates, I can only stress in the strongest terms how seriously this issue is being taken by the College and the supplier of our proctored examinations. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed all Medical Royal Colleges in an unprecedented situation. The need to move our examinations to an online format, and do so at speed, in order to ensure that our Anaesthetists in Training continue with their progression unhindered by the global pandemic, has been a significant challenge. The large amount of work undertaken to choose the current platform was very detailed, transparent and in full collaboration with our Education, Training and Examinations Board which includes trainee representation. What has happened is not acceptable and we are working to rectify the situation in the swiftest and fairest way for all.

Seeking your feedback

In order to help candidates affected and to ensure that no one who sat the exam is disadvantaged, I would again like to offer the opportunity for candidates to email an appraisal of your experience to exams@rcoa.ac.uk explaining what went wrong, and sharing any specific details you feel we should know about the examination or the proctoring service you encountered.

We are already using this feedback to request relevant and necessary system and process improvements of our supplier.

Again, I offer my sincerest apologies to those candidates who have been affected. I will make further statements as our investigation progresses.

Thank you,

Professor Ravi Mahajan

President, Royal College of Anaesthetists