With about a fortnight left for CAT, tension is running high among the more than 2 lakh candidates who will take the test in the computer-based format. As doubts about the new format linger, Prometric — the US-based testing and assessment services company that has inked a $40 million deal with the Indian Institutes of Management to hold the exam in 32 cities — has come forward to lay apprehensions to rest.

The company, which has been holding testing programmes like the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Test of English as a Foreign Language (Toefl) since the early 1990s, feels anxiety about the test is totally uncalled for. Ramesh Nava, vice-president and general manager, Asia-Pacific, Japan and Africa, says the new format will not be different from the paper-based one. “For example, in the paper format, candidates could mark out relevant sections of passages on which they are being questioned. In the computer-based version, there will be text highlighting facilities within passages which will offer them the same ability. In addition, candidates will be able to move forward and back during the exam to mark, review and change responses,” he says.

The review screen will provide a quick overview of which questions a candidate has completed, not attempted or marked for review, making it easy for him or her to move to a specific question or review only the incomplete or marked ones without having to flip through pages of paper.

To make the task of time management easier for candidates, there will be an on screen timer at the top right-hand corner of the screen. According to Prometric, this counts down from 2 hours and 15 minutes so what you see is the time remaining for you to complete the test. Candidates can get a feel of the computer-based testing environment by logging on to www.catiim.in.

Prometric’s short tutorial before the test will guide candidates on using a mouse, navigating around the screen, attempting questions, reviewing questions and highlighting text. The company plans to release a short video that will illustrate all of the test-day activities.

The company has specially prepared 105 secure computer-based testing facilities to ensure that the exam goes without a glitch. “Every potential site was evaluated to ensure that it meets our standards for candidate access and convenience, hardware and software, connectivity and security,” says Nava.

To enable candidates to write exams in comfort, the centres will be air-conditioned, with individual seats having partitions on either side as well as the front, for privacy.

In case there is a power failure or a workstation crash, all of the candidates’ responses will be safely housed on the server’s hard drive, backed by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). “When power is restored, or the candidate is transferred from the defective testing station to another computer, the test can be resumed exactly where the candidate left off, with no loss of time on the test,” says Dave Meissner, vice-president, solution services. So, just focus on the test and leave all the worrying to Prometric.

Source: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)