Proctored Exam FAQ

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.

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!

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.