instructions: icdl test administration€¦ · ordering icdl ids and tests 1) ordering icdl ids...

Version October 2018 1/19

Instructions: ICDL Test Administration

I. Test Centre Data and personal data .......................................................................... 2

1) Roles ....................................................................................................................... 2

2) Change address and personal details ..................................................................... 3

II. Ordering ICDL IDs and Tests ...................................................................................... 4

1) Ordering ICDL IDs ................................................................................................... 4

2) Ordering ICDL Tests ............................................................................................... 4

3) View orders ............................................................................................................. 4

III. Managing candidates and tests ................................................................................. 5

1) Registering candidates ............................................................................................ 5

2) Allocating exams ..................................................................................................... 8

3) Activating exams ..................................................................................................... 8

4) Access codes for diagnostic and assessment tests ................................................ 9

5) Access codes for Typing Skills tests ..................................................................... 11

6) Reports ................................................................................................................. 12

IV. Notes on taking exams and their evaluation ........................................................... 12

V. The test software ....................................................................................................... 14

1) Download and save test software ......................................................................... 14

2) Client Requirements .............................................................................................. 15

3) FAQs ..................................................................................................................... 16

VI. Continue a test after PC or software crash ............................................................. 18

VII. Contact und Support ................................................................................................. 19


I. Test Centre Data and personal data Login to administrate tests at: www.icdl.ch (click on “Login Admin ICDL”)

Choose your language and select your role.

1) Roles

a. Center Master i. All rights

b. Tester i. Can manage candidates ii. Can activate and allocate exams

c. Tester (external) i. Can activate and allocate exams

d. Administrator i. Can manage candidates ii. May not activate exams iii. Can order ICDL IDs and tests

http://www.icdl.ch/


2) Change address and personal details

Test Center Data contains information on:

• Address (Testing location)

• Billing address

• Staff

• Products (ICDL Base / Standard, ICDL Advanced)

• Contract date Please notify us of any change of address directly via [email protected]. Change personal information under My personal data and view your products as well as which Test Centers you have access to. Change your password, as well as the question to retrieve your password under My login data.

mailto:[email protected]


II. Ordering ICDL IDs and Tests

1) Ordering ICDL IDs

Every candidate needs to be registered with an ICDL ID before they can take their first certificate exam. A candidate without an ICDL ID cannot take a certificate exam. Enter the number of ICDL IDs you would like to order, as well as for which segment (if necessary) in the tab order.

A billing preview is shown and you will be asked to confirm your order. The ICDL ID stock is immediately updated and displayed.

2) Ordering ICDL Tests

Tests are invoiced monthly per use. Test Centres offering tests to candidates in furthering training or for the unemployed can also buy 200 tests or more prepaid to benefit from a reduced price. Enter the test type in the tab orders as well as for which segment you would like to purchase tests. The tests are immediately allocated to your stock and displayed. Any tests taken after your stock reaches 0 are invoiced at the end of the month against the pay per use price.

3) View orders

View past orders under past orders. Filter the orders by specifying the product type and a time period.

Any Remarks are printed on your invoice (e.g. SAP No).

Messages are sent to PSI Services (Switzerland) Inc. and are not printed on the invoice.


III. Managing candidates and tests Candidates are registered in a hierarchical folder structure. The default setting allows all subfolders and candidates to inherit the properties (modules, language) of their parent folder(s). Candidates have to be added to the right segment (if more than one segment is available). You can add to the folder structure by creating your own folders and subfolders.

Create a new folder

1) Registering candidates

a. Registering a single candidate

Register a single candidate with the button:

Fields with a * are mandatory fields. Check the box ECDL/ ICDL ID if the candidate is going to take certificate exams.

You can change or modify entries later by selecting the person and clicking on or by double clicking on a candidate.


b. Importing candidates

Candidates are imported with the button

In the tab Documents you can download a template for a candidate import .xls file. Search your files for the .csv or .xls file you would like to upload. Before the candidates are added an import window is shown. You can edit information here if necessary.

Ticking the checkbox ID required, allocates an ICDL ID from your stock to the imported candidates automatically.

c. Move / delete candidates

Copy /paste candidates

Delete candidate (not possible if candidate has taken a certificate test) To restore a person who was deleted by accident, right-click on a folder and select „Restore / transfer person“. Enter their first name, surname and date of birth and click on „Search“, select the candidate and click “Transfer”. The candidate now appears in the selected folder.

d. Transferring candidates from another Test Centre

Right-click on the folder you want to transfer the candidate to and select “Restore / transfer person” from the context menu. Enter their first name, surname and date of birth and click on “Search”, select the person and click “Transfer”. The candidate now appears in the selected folder.

e. Allocating an ICDL ID to candidates You can allocate an ICDL ID after importing or registering a candidate. Open the

properties window of a candidate with the button or via the context menu.

In the tab personal data, click on assign. Assigned IDs with no results can be detached from a candidate and returned to the ICDL IC stock.


f. Access to the online profile After their first certificate test candidates have access to an online profile, which shows them their results and allows them to view their certificates as pdf. To log in to the online profile a candidate needs his / her ICDL ID Number and password. These are printed on the ICDL ID PDF. Candidates log in under www.icdl.ch/profile

Click on print PDF to view the PDF. After the first certificate exam the ICDL ID PDF is automatically sent to the candidate’s e-mail address once. The password for the online profile can be reset. It is displayed on the screen.


2) Allocating exams

Exams and diagnostic tests can be allocated to a folder or a person. Exams allocated to a folder are allocated to all elements and persons within that folder, unless set differently. Open the properties window of the folder or person by double clicking on it or with the

button .

• Inherit = The module is allocated automatically if it has been allocated to a parent folder. If a person is moved to a different folder, where the module is not allocated, the candidate „loses“ the module.

• ON = The module is allocated and remains allocated independent of what is changed in the parent folder or if a person is moved into a different folder.

• OFF = The module is not allocated and remains not allocated independent of what is changed in the parent folder.

A module name in bold means it is allocated. A blue dot indicates that a module has been inherited.

3) Activating exams

a. Activating exams in the same folder Exams can be activated individually or more than one at a time. Click on the small arrow next to a candidate or display all allocated exams by clicking on

.

Select the exams you want to activate. Click on or activate the exams via the context menu.

b. Activating exams with a code

Click on the button . The plus sign generates a new code. Limit the code by setting a date, time and duration. Existing codes can be re-used by setting a new date and time.

Example / properties of a single candidate Word processing: not allocated on folder level Spreadsheets: allocated on folder level, inherited by candidate Databases: deactivated on candidate level Presentation: allocated on candidate level IT-Security: allocated on candidate level, language changed to German


The codes are valid for all allocated exams at your Test Centre. Candidates enter their code after starting the test software and click on „Refresh“ to display the allocated exams.

In the administration view testers see activated exams displayed with a green check mark. In addition a status bar shows the test being taken in real time.

4) Access codes for diagnostic and assessment tests

Candidates log in to take a diagnostic or assessment test with an access code. This code can be created when allocating the test. By default, the code properties are set so a specific test can be taken once. This limit can be changed manually. The same code is valid for any diagnostic, assessment or Typing Skills tests assigned later.


In order to assign access codes for all persons in a folder who do not have an access code yet, please right-click on the corresponding folder and choose “Assign access codes to all persons in this folder”.


In this example, an access code has already been assigned to “Test Anna” at an earlier point in time. That is why only the two other persons get a new access code.

You now have the possibility to create a report about the access codes (see 3) d.) by clicking on the button “Export CSV”.

Alternatively, you can create the report at a later date by clicking on the button .

5) Access codes for Typing Skills tests

To start a Typing Skills test, candidates enter the same access code as they would for a diagnostic test.

The Typing Skills access code is identical to the diagnostic tests and is assigned the same way. However, Typing Skills tests do need to be supervised. Therefore, if the candidates already know their access code, you should assign them the Typing Skills test shortly before the test is about to begin.


No ICDL ID is needed to take the Typing Skills test. If a candidate does not have an ICDL ID, they will not be assigned an online profile until they take their first ICDL certificate exam. All candidates with an online profile will have the results of their Typing Skills exam and their Typing Skills certificate displayed in their profile.

6) Reports

Click on the folder for which you want to run the report and then the button to create a report.

Specify which report you would like to create. Check the box „include data from sub folders“ if you want a report over all elements in a folder. If the checkbox “Export CSV” is not activated the report is generated as PDF. The following reports are generated:

a. ICDL ID statistics This report displays the number of ICDL IDs used in a specific time period.

b. Test statistics This report displays the number of tests and test results of all candidates in a specific folder for a specific time period and test type. It also shows if the exam was taken in-house or externally.

c. Detailed test report This report shows the results of the candidates overall, as well as by ICDL Syllabus category

d. Certificate statistics This report displays all certificates achieved.

e. Candidate report This report displays the access codes of all the candidates in the selected folder. This report can be generated as a .csv file so it can be used for a mail merge.

f. Volume report This report displays all exams taken and assigned IDs per candidate.


IV. Notes on taking exams and their evaluation

• Every multiple choice question has only one correct answer.

• Start the test before you start any applications (like Word, Excel…). This prevents the possibility of security warnings popping up, e.g. in Access.

• The test software creates a new drive for all work files (Usually P: If P: is already in use, Q: or R: etc. are created).

• Word processing tasks in the module Computer Essentials and Online Essentials must be performed using MS Word, not WordPad.

• If part of the application window is covered by the test question window, maximise the application window. The maximised window is set to fit the screen above the test window.

• If – depending on monitor size – the test questions in the test question window are not shown completely, activate the magnifying glass symbol to make the text smaller.

• For technical reasons, not all print orders can be suppressed during the exam. Please destroy all printouts. This issue is minimised by printing via the tab File.

• If there are no detailed instructions for a question, use the suggested or default settings.

• Only answers meeting the following conditions can be assessed o Entries must be completed correctly. (when naming folders and files in the module

Computer Essentials or when entering formulas in the module Spreadsheets, e.g.) o Dialogue boxes must be closed o Objects in data bases (tables, forms, queries, reports ) must be closed. Therefore,

always „save as…“ before closing a file.

• After clicking “submit answer” the test platform only checks if a problem has been solved correctly. The method used to carry out the task (Office ribbon/ menu, symbols, context menu, shortcuts etc.) is irrelevant.

• If you make a mistake while answering a question, you can correct it by clicking “undo”

• Click on “reload question” to restore the original work file.

• Not all typing errors will cause you to lose points/ reduce your score: capitalisation does not matter and typing errors in longer texts, e.g. emails, are allowed.

• Typing errors are not allowed when entering file names, object names or email addresses.

• All of the questions you skip (during the test) will be asked again at the end of the test.

• Five minutes before the end of the test an information window will appear to notify you that the test will end soon.

• In Windows 8 you must start the browser from the desktop (not the Metro interface).

• You are only allowed to use the Google search engine to perform searches on the internet.


V. The test software

1) Download and save test software

• No server installation required

• Sophia is a Windows application: Sophia.exe (approx. 15 MB)

• Save the program locally; either on the PC the test will be taken on, or on a USB stick. Network drives are not suitable.

Recommendation: Create a new folder, e.g. C:\Sophia or D:\Sophia. Save Sophia.exe to this folder. On the desktop, create a shortcut to the .exe file. Have candidates use this shortcut to start the test software. Background information: During a test, a temporary subfolder called \testing is created in the folder the .exe file has been saved to. For technical reasons, this subfolder must contain a copy of the test folder with the work files. This copy of the test folder may not be used! Candidates must only use the test folder specified in the questions – usually P:\ECDL_Test. Sophia only awards points if you work with this (correct) test folder.

▪ The folder \testing is set as hidden. However, if Windows Explorer is set to display hidden files, the folder \testing might be seen and used by candidates.

• Or save Sophia to a USB stick. (During the test the USB stick may not be removed.)

• Start by double clicking (the .exe file)

• Sophia will create a folder called \Sophia_Logs in the folder the .exe file was originally saved to. This folder always contains two files per test.

o A local back up file of the exam results called: Date_Module_ICDLIDNo.tsi o A log file of the test called: Date_Module_ICDLIDNo.log

During a test, the test software creates the following two files in the folder containing the .exe file: sophia.log test_out.tsi

Only in exceptional cases- if the test cannot be concluded properly- will these files be kept. Usually, at the end of the test, the two files are renamed automatically and moved to \Sophia_Logs. Recommendation: We recommend keeping the archived files for 6 months – the files could be needed, e.g. for complaints or objections.

• Automatic update: The test software checks the server on start up to see if a newer version is available. If so, it will update itself. A connection to the internet, protocol http, port 80 are required. If Sophia cannot update, the exam will be carried out with the currently installed version.


• Proxy server: If you are using a proxy server, you must enter the IP address and port in Sophia in step 1 under “settings”.

• User settings No administrator rights are necessary for ICDL tests, they can be run with very limited rights. However, the test software Sophia does require write access for the folder it was installed in (for setting up work files, updates).

2) Client Requirements

• Microsoft .NET Framework (Version 2.0, 3.0 or 3.5) If an error message appears that the application could not be installed properly when opening the test software, Microsoft .NET Framework has probably not been installed.

NB: In Windows 8 you need to activate the .NET Framework 3.5 (Control Panel / Programs / Programs and Features / Turn Windows features on or off)

• Office suite: Only one version of MS Office should be installed on the PCs being used for testing (e.g. 2007 or 2010). Parallel installations are not supported and can cause problems during the test. Possible solution via virtualisation

• MS Outlook – multiple email accounts/ multiple data files:

If multiple email accounts have been set up: In the module Online Essentials the test software always uses the default account. If multiple data files are available: The default data file must be the one assigned to the default email account.

• Outlook Express cannot be used with Sophia.

• The module exam “Online Essentials” cannot be taken when IMAP Outlook accounts are in use.

• In the modules Computer Essentials and Online Essentials the candidates must input their answers into pre-prepared *.docx work files. These *.docx files must be opened and edited in MS Word, not WordPad – points are only awarded when you edit the files in MS Word.

Therefore, in the Windows Explorer, MS Word should be set as the default program for opening *.docx files

• Interpretation of error messages:

Error 1: The test program cannot prepare the work files as it does not have write access for the folder that Sophia is stored in. In this case, the program sometimes shuts down without showing an error message. Solution: Save Sophia in a local folder with write access.

Error 2: Work files for the exams cannot be found (i.e. the local .exe file is most likely corrupted and must be downloaded again). Error 3: Drive P: (or Q:, R:, S: and so on, until Z:) cannot be created. Solution: Save Sophia in a local folder with write access.

Error 4: Error creating one or more work files. Solution: Save Sophia in a local folder with write access.


Error 5: Failed integrity check of work files. Solution: Save Sophia in a local folder with write access. Error 6: Preparation of emails in Outlook was not 100% successful. Restart Sophia and try again, check that Outlook is installed. Check whether more than one account or an IMAP account are installed. Deactivate these during the test.

3) FAQs

• The program will not start

o Is Microsoft .net framework (Version 2.0, 3.0 or 3.5) installed?

• Cannot update

o Make sure you are connected to the internet

o Are you using a proxy server? If so, have you entered the address and port of the proxy server in the program (i.e. Sophia)

o Do you have write access for a new file in the folder the test program is in? If you do not have write access, you cannot update to the newest version.

• Candidate is unable to register

o Check login data. It must be identical to the data in the data base. Please pay attention to: spaces, dashes, umlauts, first names as last names and vice versa.

o Candidate cannot login using her name/ date of birth: try logging in with the ICDL ID number (including CH and zeroes)

o No exams are displayed. Check if the exams have been activated. If you activated the exams using an activation code, exams will only be displayed after a candidate has entered the code and clicked on Refresh.

• Proxy server

o Is the Test Centre using a proxy server?

o If it is: have the address and port of the proxy server been entered in Sophia?


• Parallel installations of Office

o Running several versions of Office (e.g. 2007/ 2010) in parallel is not recommended.

o One version of Office is always set as default. The files are opened with this version and the test software prepares the style sheets in it.

• The first possible answer for multiple choice questions is not displayed fully.

o The following setting must be adjusted:

▪ Win 7 / 8: Control Panel / All Control Panel Items / Display / 100%

• Printing

o A printer must be installed. If not, this will cause printing to a file, which could confuse the candidates when they are asked to name and save this file.

o Usually, no paper will come out of the printer. Only a few tasks do not allow the print command to be intercepted, causing paper to come out of the installed printer. Please simply destroy these print outs.

• The test shuts down after step 4 (start test)

o The test program does not have write access for the folder it was installed in.

• Network drive

o The test program may not be run from a network drive.

o A clear separation of the .log file and the .tsi file cannot be guaranteed.

o A local copy of the test programme must be installed on each PC being used for testing.

• Results were not transmitted to the database (error message on test PC).

o If, after starting the test, you are disconnected from the internet for the rest of the test, the results will not be saved to the database.

o In this case, please upload the .tsi file, located in Sophia_Logs (the compressed zip file can also be uploaded). Alternatively, send the file by email to PSI Services (Switzerland) Inc.

o A Tester may not change the password during the test, as the results cannot be transmitted otherwise. If the password is changed, the .tsi file must be uploaded with the original password.

• Unable to upload the results via the .tsi file

o The .tsi file must be uploaded by the person who activated the test originally. The password must not have been changed in the meantime.


VI. Continue a test after PC or software crash If a test crashes due to technical problems, you can restart and continue where you left off. You can either do this immediately, or in the next few days. In the meantime however, no other test (other module, other candidate) can be run on this PC.

• Start Sophia.exe and click OK.

• „Candidate Login“ must be carried out again. The option „restore and continue test after crash/ interruption“ is activated automatically.

• The window „step 3“ with information for the candidate is shown again. The test will continue with the last question asked.

• Checking test results If you continue a test after a crash, incorrect, incomplete test results with percentage scores that are too low can be shown. It is possible that the test result „failed“ will appear, even though the data base shows that the candidate did in fact pass the test! In this case, please check the test results in the database. If the results are not the same, the better result applies.

• If you are disconnected from the internet during the test, the test results are nevertheless calculated correctly. At the end of the test the test system will try again to upload the entire result to the ICDL data base. If this fails because there is no internet connection, the candidate(s) will see an Info window at the end of the test.

In this case, please save (e.g. to a USB stick) the results file called Date_Module_ICDLIDNo.tsi located in the \Sophia_Logs and send it via e-mail to PSI Services (Switzerland) Inc.


VII. Contact und Support If your question could not be answered by the FAQ or you would like to give us feedback regarding the question contents, you can reach us from Monday to Friday 08 – 17 o’clock at 061 270 88 77 or [email protected]

Technical support on Saturday mornings is available from 08 – 12 o’clock through our hotline 0848 365 444.

In case of technical difficulties

o Inform PSI Services (Switzerland) Inc., so that the service can be canceled.

o Send the log file (.log) and the results file (.tsi) from the \Sophia_Logs by email to [email protected]

o Please protocol the sequence of events as exactly as possible.

o In the question bar under the magnifying glass icon you will find the test set number (e.g. M6.3 question 14: presentation, Test Set 3, question 14).