Clarifications and outstanding questions on the PEB online exams

http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2020/07/breaking-eqe-to-be-held-online-next.html
Many readers will have attended yesterday’s CIPA seminar on the upcoming PEB exams. If you missed it, a recording of the webinar can be heard here. Vicki Salmon (chairman of the CIPA Education Committee) introduced the webinar. Mike Williams from the PEB Governance Board first provided some further details on how the exams will be conducted this year. Parminder Lally (CIPA counsel member) and Carolyn Palmer (Honorary Secretary of the Informals) then did an excellent job of putting candidates’ questions to Mike Williams. Julia Gwilt (formerly of the PEB) provided the perspective from a trainer. There was much to be reassured by, but also a number of outstanding issues that we will hopefully receive clarification on soon.

The form of the exam

Mike Williams is relatively new to the PEB governance board, having joined in April of this year. Mr Williams first went through the arrangements that are being made for the remote exams. The exams will take place using automatic proctoring software provided by the external provider, Proctor Exam. Mr Williams suggested candidates take a look at the “demo for candidates” on YouTube – see here. The software will require a laptop webcam and a phone camera to monitor candidates whilst they take the exam. Candidates will have the opportunity to test the system themselves in September.

Julia Gwilt gave a perspective from a patent firm – with all the I.T and technical challenges this represents. Issues with printers remains one of the main concerns, given that many candidates have a work laptop that restricts what can be installed (e.g. driver software for printers). Candidates from larger firms will most likely receive more support in this regard than candidates from smaller firms or those who work in-house.

Answered questions

First, the exam will still be closed book. The possibility of changing the exam to open book was briefly considered, but was thought to be too big a step on top of the changes that will already be taking place this year. However, importantly, screen breaks will be provided: a 10 minute break for 4 hour exams, and 20 minutes for the 5 hour exam. The format of the breaks has not yet been determined. In view of the time pressure of the exam, it seems unlikely to this Kat that, given an extra 20 minutes, many candidates will not just struggle on without a break if given the chance.

Mr Williams assured candidates that a flaky internet connection will not result in an automatic fail. The issue will be flagged by the proctoring software and followed-up on. Furthermore, an emergency contact number will be provided in case of serious technical issues. Candidates will only be permitted to work from one monitor, but there will be no restrictions (so far as Mr Williams is aware), to the size or type of this monitor. Food and drink will be permitted, but drinks containers will need to be transparent.

Thankfully, the proctoring software will permit candidates to take toilet breaks. Candidates will have to “announce” to the system that they are going to visit the bathroom. 

Unfortunately, it seems that there will not be any flexibility with regards to the 31 August 2020 cut-off date for candidates to specify where they will take the exam. This may cause difficulties for candidates who are moving house, moving jobs, or are located in an area that becomes subject to local lock-down. However, Mr Williams assured candidates that a pragmatic approach will be taken in exceptional circumstances, such as a local lock-down.

Candidates with busy houses (children, partners, cats…) may also have difficulties, as any disturbances will be flagged by the software. Candidates were also warned off from taking the exam at work in glass offices.

Unanswered questions

Questions that remained unanswered include:

  • will the exam paper be searchable, and will candidates be able to copy and paste from the paper?
  • will the word template into which candidates enter their answers have the full word functionality, e.g. spell check?
  • how much time will there be before and after the exam to complete printing and scanning?
  • will a candidate’s printer and scanner need to be in the same room as where the candidate sits?
How should candidates prepare?
Julia Gwilt, formerly of the PEB, commented that she is asking trainees to type their answers to practise papers – and that they were consequently a lot easier to mark. Finally, there was assurance that employees should not be treating any one who passes the exams this year any differently from previous years. It was noted that it was partly to prevent any negative effects of this kind that the exam was being kept as close to the usual format as possible, e.g. closed book (as well as to not pre-empt any recommendations from the Mercer Review). 
CIPA and PEB are still welcoming questions from candidates. The PEB is planning to launch some FAQs on the website by the end of this month.

IPKat will also bring you any further news on the EQE as soon as we have it.  

Useful links
Registration – Deadline 31 July 2020

Content reproduced from The IPKat as permitted under the Creative Commons Licence (UK).