Exam Upload Issues

Hi,

I'm writing this not because I had any issues personally with uploading my scripts, but because I have two colleagues and know of two other people who have been affected.

For all of these students, the upload platform failed for them when they were trying to submit their paper. They all have screenshots of the issues and immediately emailed their script to the institute as there was no alternative.

At this point, the institute is point-blank refusing to mark any of their papers, insisting the problem was not their fault. This seems extremely unfair on students who worked hard on their studies and took all reasonable steps to get their exam submitted.

I wanted to reach out to see if anyone else is in the same boat. Hopefully if students can approach them in a group rather than as individuals it might put more pressure on the institute to do the right thing and mark the papers.

If you have been affected, you absolutely have my sympathies. It could have happened to any of us and I hope the institute come around.

 

Hi Andrew,

I had issues too uploading my script.

Then I went back to the platform and clicked on "return to dashboard" and went back to the "exam paper section" to re-upload. A message popped up at that instance saying my paper was successfully submitted (without giving me the chance to re-upload). I was very nervous then wondering if my paper was "indeed successfully" submitted so I emailed the IFOA to confirm, they said they received it (to be honest I'm still bit nervous, I hope they received my full script with no errors or missing pages - I don't know if that's even possible or if I'm just being a bit paranoid!).

But yes, that 15 mins uploading time that they give at the end goes super quick when problems crop up, nevermind the stress that comes with it!

 

That's really disappointing to hear, particularly if the students have screenshots etc proving it was an issue with the IFoA system. Perhaps the candidates could pursue a complaint to escalate the situation if they aren't having any luck.

The FAQ web page states that if there's a failure of the IFoA platform then the students should be entitled to a refund. I'm not saying this is preferential to actually having the paper marked but it's better than nothing.

I hope things work out and the IFoA see sense - seems very unfair. Please let us know how things progress

 

Very predictable I'm afraid. Not just the technical problems but IFoA's attitude to complaints. If they fob off your complaints complain to FRC but don't expect much there. Notify your MP and research Court options, start with breach of contract. Get your employer involved in this. It's disgusting that they take no responsibility and expect you to pay them to sit it again.

 

I have faced a similar situation during my SP7 exam. I tried to upload the solution multiple times and was getting a technical error. I wrote an email to exam support attaching my script and the error message within the 15 minutes window. Since such issues on the online exam platform have happened in the past, I trusted the institute to accept my solution. To my dismay, I received a response from exam support stating that they cannot accept my solution. Initially, they incorrectly stated that I only started uploading 1 minute before the closing time which was actually my final attempt to upload the script. When I challenged them further stating the facts, they said there was no error on their platform and therefore, they cannot accept my script. I am quite shocked and disheartened as I don't believe it is fair to reject a submission from a student due to a technical glitch. This is also not quite logical as it discredits my time, effort and energy while preparing and writing the exam as it has been rejected without any evaluation.

I can imagine the plight of other students who have gone through a similar situation adding further distress to their lives which is already troubled by Covid-19. Hoping that the institute will come around as many of us faced a similar situation.

 

I am one of the colleagues mentioned by Andrew who experienced this issue. My exam was SP1.
Priyanka - my experience seems to be almost identical to yours. I was getting an error for each attempt during the upload window. Then once it ended after 15 minutes, it shut down so I had to email the paper to exam support. I expected this would be accepted due to the issues with the platform but the institute are accepting no responsibility and refusing to accept it.

I cannot see any reason for my paper failing each attempt. I also quite shocked by the responses received by the institute on this. They don't appear to have any sympathy for the situation or even acknowledge the details of the situation - instead just blankly refusing to accept the paper as it was emailed in.

Would be interested to see if many other experienced this same issue with other exams.

 

That's totally inadequate. People have invested significant time and money to sit these exams. They have to incur more to re-sit and may lose out on pay-rises and opportunities. Members should also raise their concerns with the IFoA Presidents and Council members. The situation is completely wrong. What are members supposed to do incur more time and costs pursuing these matters in Court when it doesn't cost IFoA much to simply mark the papers.

 

We seem to agree on your first sentence as per the last sentence of my post that you quoted.

To students affected by this issue: An email or polite message to the President, for example, from the affected students might be useful - he is on Linkedin so perhaps a friendly message detailing what's gone on might result in some positive action.

People almost always respond better to friendly, reasoned arguments rather than threats of legal action left, right and centre. The crux of the issue is that this was a fault with the IFoA system rather than your own.

 

None of the victims are to blame for the way they complained to excuse this latest failure by IFoA to put things right. That reminds me, it's what the CEO's complaints process is called and should be used immediately.

 

I think if you show evidence of having tested the platform before the exam (uploading a blank document) then there is a case but If you didn’t weren’t able to upload e.g by using Microsoft edge /old version of Mozilla or opera then it’s a more difficult argument. Some leniency should be given to be fair.

 

Have you managed to make any progress through any of channels we'd mentioned?