Digital exams 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.

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.

In short, yes they differ a little. The exam software is the same, but you will be working on a ‘protected’ Chromebook. This means there are a few limitations to the functionalities of the Chromebook. You can minimise your browser and you will be able to download, highlight and open PDFs. But you will not be able to use other programs on the Chromebook. Also, know that PDF highlights will only be saved while you’re logged in. Once you log out, the highlights will be gone too. Check out the “Exams on-site” video below, to get an idea of the differences.

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.

To open a PDF in a separate tab, simply click the PDF link in the question and TestVision will open it as an overlay. When you then click the “open it in a separate tab” link, your PDF loads in a new tab. You can open as many tabs as necessary and switch between the tabs to take your exam. To see what this looks like check out the video below.

Of course, once you’ve opened the PDF in a separate tab you can also use the anchored links. Just click on the chapter you want to open and the PDF will jump to the correct page. Minor detail: if you’re highlighting in your document you will need to get out of edit mode to get back to the links. How? See for yourself in the following video

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Please be aware that it only works for links within the document, if the PDF links to external sources you will not be able to visit them during your exam.

This depends, when you close your browser a pop-up asking if you want to ‘Sign out now’ appears. The easiest solution is to click ‘Cancel’. Then you will be able to open your exam again by simply clicking the Chrome button at the bottom of your screen.

If you were too quick and your Chromebook is restarting: Don’t panic. After the restart, the TestVision log-in page is automatically opened and you will be able to log in back to your exam.

Just click ‘Cancel’, and you will be redirected to your exam. It might not come as a surprise but printing is not allowed at the exam venue so this button has been blocked.

Curious to see what this looks like? Check out the video below.

If you’ve finished your exam, you can click the ‘Ready’ button in TestVision. You will get a pop-up asking if you want to finish your test. Check if you’ve filled out all your answers and click ‘Finish’. There is no going back after this pop-up so make sure you’re happy with the answers you gave. You will then be logged out of the exam and can go to the TestVision homepage. Here you can log out of the system as well.

Want to see it? Check out the video.

TestVision only shows one exam question at a time. You can, however, see an overview of the exam questions by number, with the ‘Overview’ button. Use the bar at the bottom of your screen to navigate through the exam. A pop-up will appear that shows you what questions you answered and what questions you flagged to return to later. Just click on the question to jump to it. You can use the CTRL + = and CTRL + – to zoom in and out.

For open-ended questions, the submit answer button is part of the text editor. Your answers will also be saved as you type, and you can go back and change your answer after you submit it, but you cannot go to the next question without submitting your answer.

Your exam was submitted correctly if you clicked the ‘Ready’ button and then confirmed your submission by clicking ‘Yes’; or if the exam time ended and the exam was closed automatically by TestVision. To go back to the exam, click “No”, or jump to a question from the overview. You cannot go back to the exam once it has been submitted.

If you did not submit the exam using the ‘Ready’ button (but instead closed the browser window) the exam will remain ‘open’ in the system. The exam needs to be closed in order to be graded. All exams that remain open after the exam time has ended, will be closed manually by your faculty’s administrator.

On the home page, you can choose English or Dutch as the language for the menus and buttons in TestVision by clicking on the corresponding flag.

You cannot change your preference during the exam, you must set your preferred language before you start. The chosen language does NOT affect the language of the exam questions.

If you’ve forgotten your password, you can reset your password via my account.

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 by your faculty a couple of weeks before the exam date.

You can also log in from your mobile phone or tablet. However, we strongly recommend using a laptop or PC with a mouse and keyboard for taking exams.

If you can’t log in, check if your UM account is active. 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.

Yes, your answers are saved continuously in the background. Once the problems with your computer have been resolved, you can continue where you left off, as long as the exam was not submitted (‘Ready’). At the end of the allowed exam duration, the exam closes 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.

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.

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

There is however a project launching this year, 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 must use the hardware that is provided. The keyboard layout is QWERTY.

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).

Please also read the Rules of Procedure for Exams.

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

Here is a list of things you should avoid:

• Eating meals during the exam. Only light refreshments or snacks, which do not cause noise, are allowed. You can however drink coffee, tea and water.
• Wearing nor using 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.
• Using 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.
• Doing 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 PDFs quickly.

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.

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

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.

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 support.

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.

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.

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.

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.
• Contact Proctorio via their chat.

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.

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.

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.