Students were told that they could sit the exam at Pearson VUE testing centres or virtually from home, with online proctoring. However, many students were unable to get a slot at a testing centre and were forced to sit the exam online from home.

One student told The BMJ that she had been disqualified from her exam for taking notes on a blank notepad despite having sent an image of her desk, including the notepad, to her invigilator before the exam started.
Another student said that they had been disqualified for playing the audio of a video question out loud from their laptop speakers. Before doing so they had asked their invigilator whether this was allowed but received no response.

“They indicate that the treatment for some students undergoing the exams has been unfair, unacceptable, and in some cases inhumane,” they said. “This is the latest in a line of issues with the SJT [situational judgment test] delivery for this year, and we have serious concerns of the impact this will have on final year students.

“It’s clear that this is a totally unacceptable situation, and we will be taking this up with the UK Foundation Programme as a matter of urgency.”
They have written to the UKFPO calling for it to consider the allegations against Pearson VUE’s mishandling of the exam, review its online proctoring policy, and offer further extensions for students to resit the test where relevant. The UKFPO has said that fewer than 20 students—less than 0.25% of the 8000 applicants—were disqualified from the exam by a Pearson VUE invigilator for “prohibited actions.”

Mike Masding, co-chair of the UKFPO, said that he was working with applicants whose tests were discontinued and “where appropriate will offer the option to re-book.”

The Doctors’ Association said that, while it welcomed this “gesture of good will,” it had received complaints of students being forced to resit exams when they had covid-19 symptoms and of candidates not being allowed to use the toilets at test centres.

Freya Rhodes, medical student representative for the Doctors’ Association UK, said, “Telling students that their appeals have been rejected, and then days later offering resits, is a U turn that demonstrates poor preparation and lack of understanding from UKFPO and Pearson VUE.
“Furthermore, these resits have been offered with limited flexibility and extremely short notice, with some students being asked to take the examination while being unwell with covid-19. We must continue to support our final year students who are also facing the challenges of graduating during a pandemic.”

Read the full story here.

The difficulties emerged as medical schools said that ensuring students graduate and become doctors is now a priority.
Some students have found the situational judgement tests prematurely terminated because of technical difficulties – or because of, alleged, minor infractions of rules, the Doctors’ Association revealed.

It said candidates had finally been offered resits – but that problems are continuing. Students are being told they must undertake their resits even when they have COVID-19 and some have been told they cannot use toilets at test centres, the association said.

The tests have been contracted to a large educational company Pearson Vue and the association said it was concerned the company has a “monopoly” on postgraduate exams for at least four medical colleges.

Anna Sigston, who sits on the association’s medical student committee, said: “Candidates are being failed for errors within Pearson Vue’s system, but instead of apologising, they, along with the UKFPO, have refused to take responsibility and subsequent action while ignoring serious concerns. Reports of candidates not being allowed to use the toilet and of those forced to sit the exam while suffering from COVID-19 is not only immoral but refuses to take into account the needs of individuals. “This is only the start, as more medical exams occur virtually, more issues and inequalities will arise.”

Fellow committee member Freya Rhodes added: “These re-sits have been offered with limited flexibility and extremely short notice, with some students being asked to take the examination whilst being unwell with COVID-19. We must continue to support our final year students who are also facing the challenges of graduating during a pandemic.”

Read the full article here.

“Less than an hour before it emerged that some students would be able to resit their SJT, the Doctor’s Association UK (DAUK) released an open letter urging the UKFPO to urgently address how grades would be allocated for students who had been interrupted and to arrange resits where necessary.

Anna Sigston, who sits on the DAUK medical student committee told HuffPost UK: “We have received concerns from a number of students whose SJT exam’s were cut short due to technical difficulties and unclear guidance. Ultimately the communication from the UKFPO to these students was poor at best.

“Graduating medical school is a stressful time, especially during a global pandemic, let alone when a major exam was cut short due to errors with the system. The delayed and dismissive communication from the UKFPO has only made this experience more taxing, negatively impacting many student’s mental health.

“Not only this, but we believe it will negatively impact students applications for an error that was not their fault. Pearson VUE and the UKFPO should take responsibility for their technical faults and unclear guidance, rather than punishing students for their failures.”

Read the full article here: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nhs-u-turn-final-year-exam-students-inhumane_uk_600ac50cc5b6d64153ab15ca?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubGlua2VkaW4uY29tL2NvbXBhbnkvdGhlZG9jdG9yc2Fzc29jaWF0aW9udWsvcG9zdHMvP2ZlZWRWaWV3PWFsbA&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABltF_lIcEmfG0w2GXjRzpbscRnUHP_Z6_MFyn9GiE-BCJpwRl_jE0vZgUY2c92wIGdVziqoF9niDApaeeeOTpAvPRH5EWfkMXVoipSlN_ZD6uROLY9ShiVnV4dQj68N_X_Gwaod0qfkr5ykIpb34aLxaKO7B9pAXcKZKBb7kSFM