FAQ for students

You are registered if your exam shows up in My Courses in the Student Portal.
Contact your faculty Exams Coordinator for further information and support

Your digital exam password is the same password you use to log on to any UM service. When taking a digital exam @MECC you will be using a Chromebook, it is good to know that these do not support any foreign special characters. If your password contains foreign characters or one of the following symbols – €, ^, ~, £ – we advise changing your password prior to your exam. You can change your password via the myaccount webpage.

TestVision uses Single Sign On (SSO) to sign you on to their platform so you need to use your UM account to log in to TestVision.

If your UM account is not working and you are registered for a digital exam, you can check your account status or contact the ICTS Service Desk for help. If your UM account is working but you cannot log in to TestVision, contact your faculty Exams Coordinator for support.

If you receive a message stating "The user who logged in via SAML is unknown in TestVision" most likely a different log in is preventing you to log on e.g. your google account.

To fix this issue, log out of all your accounts and close the browser. Then restart your browser and log on using your UM credentials. Another solution is to log on via a different browser. If the problem persists, contact your faculty Exams Coordinator for support.

Your course coordinator will inform you about the exam format, including whether it is a proctored exam. This should be clearly mentioned in the course information on the Student Portal (Canvas).

Students who have serious objections to proctoring can choose to not take part in a proctored exam. You will be allowed to take the exam at the next opportunity. This may however, also be a proctored exam. Maastricht University is not responsible for any study delays incurred as a result of your decision. In this case, please notify your Board of Examiners of your objections 5 working days before the exam date.

If you miss or cannot take the exam, the same rules apply as for being absent from other exams.

If you have been granted special arrangements – such as extra time – these will also apply to your online or proctored exams, when possible. The University cannot provide additional resources at home, so any provisions to your room will need to arrange yourself.

If you do not have the faculties to take your exam at home, contact your faculty Education Office for a solution.

Here is a list of things you should avoid

• Eat meals during the exam. Only light refreshments or snacks, which do not cause noise are allowed. You can however drink coffee, tea and water.
• Wear nor use earplugs or headphones of any kind, with the exception of hearing aids for medical reasons. This includes earbuds for noise reduction since for the reviewers it is very hard to verify what type of earplugs you are wearing.
• Use an iPad, tablet or e-reader, unless the instructions specifically allow this. Your course coordinator will inform you in advance what materials you are allowed to use.
• Do the roomscan too quickly, it needs to take around 30 seconds.

On the contrary, you should

• Be alone in your room when you take your exam.
• Keep your desk clean. This means there should be no desk pads our mousepads on it and any eventual 2nd screens need to be covered.
• Let your ears be clearly visible during the exam. Students who wear a headscarf (hijab or similar head covering) must show their ears to the webcam at the start of the exam.
• Take off your watch and use a clock, kitchen timer or alarm clock to keep track of time
• Use the proctorio chat if you need assistance during your exam. Please note, you need to have the plugin installed for this link to work

Please refer to the instructions on Student Portal (Canvas)

To take a proctored exam you will need:

• A laptop or computer with a webcam and microphone
• A stable internet connection
• Google Chrome or another supported browser, with the Proctorio plugin installed
• Your UM card or legal ID

For technical specifications, see the Proctorio support site for test-takers.

For pen-and-paper exams (where you need to write your answers on paper, then scan and upload) you will also need:

• Paper, pencil, ruler etc. to write your answers.
• Blank A4 paper, i.e. without lines.
• A telephone with camera to take a photo of your handwritten answers after you finish the exam.
  Tip: use a pdf scan app to convert the photos to pdf’s quickly.

Students who cannot meet the minimum requirements to take a proctored exam can apply to take the exam on campus. (Government regulations permitting.)

Contact your faculty Education Office to apply, at least 3 working days in advance. Places are limited and admission is based on first come, first serve.

You will need an upload speed of at least 0.092 Mbps – 0.244 Mbps.

Proctorio uses methods to reduce the amount of bandwidth needed as much as possible, so you do not need a fancy internet connection for it to work. However, it is still important to ensure that you have a stable internet connection. Wired internet (ethernet) is preferred over WiFi.
The University cannot help you resolve network or hardware issues in your home.

Using wired internet (Ethernet) during your exam should be the preferred method since wired connections are usually faster and more dependable than WifFi.

You can test your upload speed here: https://www.speedtest.net/
Choose a Dutch server: click on change server and type KPN and choose Amsterdam.

For a proctored exam you will need the following:

• A stable internet connection with an upload speed of at least 0.25 Mbps
• Windows 7 or higher, MacOS10.11 (El Capitan) or higher.
• Google Chrome or another supported browser, with the Proctorio extension installed
• Webcam resolution at least 320 x 240 pixels

If your device is younger than approximately 5 years, it will probably be supported.
For more details see the full overview on the Proctorio Support site.

Yes, you can use other Chromium-based browsers. Go to https://getproctorio.com/edge to download the plugin for MS Edge, Opera or Brave.

The Proctorio extension does NOT work with Firefox, Safari or other browsers.

No, if Proctorio detects that you are using a VPN or an anonymous proxy service you will not be able to take the exam.

Please contact Disability Support for more information. Note that both the application process and organising the arrangement itself may take some time, so file your application as early as possible.

If you are entitled to extra time you will still take your exam at the faculty.
Contact your faculty for more information.

To access TestVision, open the login page in your browser and log in using your UM account.

You must have both an active UM student account, and be registered within TestVision to log in. These registrations will be added to TestVision a couple of weeks before the exam date by your faculty.

Since TestVision is accessed via the browser you can also log in from your mobile phone or tablet, and you should be able to take the exam on your mobile device. However, we strongly recommend using a laptop or PC with a mouse and keyboard for taking exams.

On Chromebooks you can type in capital letters by using the SHIFT key. Good to know: the input in the password field is hidden, so you may be typing your password in the username field to test your typing. The username field does not accept capital letters, meaning that if you type a capital letter it will display it in lower case.
However, the password field is case sensitive and does accept capital letters, although this is not visible.

Try connecting to your home network using a cable instead of WiFi. Avoid using virtual desktops such as Student Desktop Anywhere, as these use more bandwidth. If possible, ask your roommates not to use the same network during your exam.

If that does not work, you can make a request for an onsite exam.

Your answers are saved continuously in the background. After a refresh or even a complete reboot, you can continue working where you left off, as long as the exam was not submitted (‘Ready’).

At the end of the allowed exam duration, the exam will close automatically. Your typing up to the moment of closing will be saved as well, even if you did not submit your answer via the ‘Submit Answer’ button.

You are allowed to bring a bottle of water and a small snack. To protect the Chromebooks we ask you to bring no more food than necessary and to refrain from bringing any sticky foods (such as bananas).

When you have finished your exam, please log out of TestVision and out of the Chromebook, and signal the invigilator that you are ready.

No, you must use the hardware that is provided. The keyboard layout is QWERTY.

Your answers are saved continuously in the background. Once the problems with your computer have been resolved (for example, you might be given a different computer) you can continue where you left off. As a rule you will be given extra time to compensate for the delay.

You should apply for a new UMcard. The new UMcard will be ready the next working day. A passport or other valid legal ID will also be accepted as identification at exams.

If you are not using a supported browser, please try again in a Chrome based browser and install the correct plugin if necessary.

If you are using a supported browser with the plugin installed, please contact Proctorio for sur support.

If you lose the connection to the exam for a few seconds, you will be able to continue the exam when the connection is restored.

If you lose the connection to the exam for up to 2 minutes, Proctorio will tell you it lost the connection to the server, and try to reconnect. You will be able to continue the exam where you left off.

If you lose the connection for longer than 2 minutes, Proctorio will close the exam window and log you out of TestVision. You will have to navigate back to the TestVision login page and do the pre-checks again before continuing the exam. Note: if you lose the connection for more than two minutes, your exam may be declared invalid because too much exam time was unsupervised.

If you run into problems setting up your computer (during the pre-checks) the best option is to contact Proctorio live chat. They will be able to offer help specific to your computer and system. Just click the shield icon in your address bar to start a chat session with an operator from Proctorio.

Unfortunately, Maastricht University does not provide hardware nor can we fix your home computer for you.

There is however a project launching this year and funded by the university called Digital Loan Service. This could possibly allow you to borrow a computer if you need one.

Alternatively contact your faculty Education Office for a solution, your faculty may be able to offer you the exam on campus. Note that places are limited and allocated based on first come, first serve.

No, you are not allowed to leave your desk during a proctored exam. Please go before the exam starts.

The maximum duration of a single proctored exam session is 120 minutes. Exams with a duration longer than 120 minutes will be split into two parts with a toilet break in between.

Proctorio will not allow you to refresh the exam page or try to navigate away. This will immediately pause your exam attempt. You will have to take the pre-checks again before you can continue your exam.

When you press F5, CMD+R, Reload or the navigation buttons of your browser, your full screen window will be closed immediately. In a session that does not force full screen, you will see Error 404 or the message: “Sorry, you clicked refresh or tried to use the back button during a secure exam. Click here to try and resume this attempt.“If your browser gets stuck during the exam, Proctorio will try to reconnect you. 

To keep track of the time you should use a clock, kitchen timer or alarm clock.
Do NOT use your mobile phone or watch!

For pen-and-paper exams at DKE, an additional 20 minutes is added to the official exam time so you can upload your answer sheets. During these 20 minutes you are not allowed to write or make any modifications, so make sure you set a timer!

The pen-and-paper exams at SBE are split into two sessions, so TestVision will end your attempt automatically when the official exam duration is over. In addition to clocks or timers, you can use the time warning built into TestVision to pop up when you have 5 minutes left.

No, it is not a problem if not all details are visible. Your uploaded pdf is the file that will be graded. The images from the webcam scan in Proctorio will be compared to the pdf you uploaded, to ascertain that no changes were made in between finishing the exam and uploading the pdf.

This depends on the level of proctoring that is applied to your exam.

For the highest level of proctoring, we will not only record your data but also use settings to ‘lock down’ your computer. This will prevent you from opening another window or tab, and keep you locked within the exam page in TestVision.

The plugin does NOT interfere with the applications on your computer but will prevent you from accessing them. As soon as the exam ends, Proctorio will stop the recording as well as the lockdown.

No. Proctorio will make a recording, parts of which will be watched after the exam by a human reviewer from Maastricht University. There is no one watching you during the exam. You should, however, note that anything you do during the exam may be seen by the reviewer.

Before the exam

• Go to https://proctorio.com/support for information about the setup for Proctorio;
• Contact your faculty for questions about your exam registration and procedures.

During the exam

Proctorio tech support

• During pre-checks: click on the shield icon next to your address bar to access Proctorio support pages and live chat;
• In the exam itself, you can use the Proctorio Quiz Tools to contact live chat or open the Help Center.
• UM Helpdesk Online Exams
  Call +31 43 388 2900 – during exams only
• Call your faculty for support on issues not related to Proctorio.

An exam room will be made available for students who do not have the facilities to sit their exams from home. If you are not able to take your exam you may apply for an onsite exam, provided that you are to come to the university in Maastricht AND provided that neither you nor your housemates show any sign of illness.

The onsite exam facility is for students who could not otherwise sit their exams because of connection or hardware issues. All students who are unable to take the exam because of technical difficulties can apply for onsite exams, including, but not limited to, students with special arrangements.

The safety of the students and staff is paramount. The University is taking all necessary precautions to ensure a safe exam environment. This includes extra cleaning, spacing of exams and seats and disifectant wipes for the computer and keyboard.

Apply by sending a message to your faculty’s Education office, no later than 2 weeks before the exam date. Please note that places at the onsite exam location are severely limited (max 110) because of Covid-19 precautions.

Because of the safety precautions against COVID-19, students who do not have a confirmed reservation will NOT be admitted to the building. Contact your faculty first.

The exam results will be announced 15 working days after the exam date on Student Portal.

Contact your faculty for more information. Some faculties offer the option to give feedback during the exam. Other faculties will schedule an exam inspection (review) a few days after the exam.

Log in to TestVision, and instead of take exam, choose ‘show results’.

In most cases you will not be able to review your answers except during the exam inspection/review as announced by your faculty.

The Rules of Procedure and the exam instructions will state what is and what is not allowed during the exam. Any behaviour or incidents that deviate from these rules are called irregularities. An irregularity will be treated as a suspicion of (an attempt at) fraud. Since it is often difficult to determine if there was an intention to cheat or not, any suspicion of fraud will lead to your exam being declared invalid.

After each proctored exam a team of invigilators – reviewers – will review the recordings, and report any irregularities to the respective Board of Examiners. These reviewers have no role in the education process, which ensures objectivity and guards against profiling (as laid down in the DPIA).

Any recordings that remain suspect after the first review will be reported to the Review Committee. This committee has representatives from each of the faculties, to ensure that all irregularities are treated equally across the UM.

Cases that the Review Committee confirms are suspect will be reported to the Board of Examiners of the students’ faculty, for further examination. At that point, the BoE will inform the student and invite them to provide their perspective on the matter before making a decision.

For online exams, students are taking their exam in a location that is not controlled by the university. In this situation proctoring is used to ascertain that the entire exam took place according to the Rules of Procedure and exam instructions, so the results can be validated.

Examples of actions or omissions that may be problematic:

• Using a mobile phone, or other devices that were not allowed;
• Wearing a watch or fitbit;
• Using software or websites that were not allowed;
• The photo on your UM card is not clearly visible;
• Using a copy or not a legal ID for identification;
• Having another person present in the room;
• The room scan does not clearly show your desk and field of vision;
• Leaving the frame of the webcam.