Case Studies
Delivering ICT tests for the QCA
In 2003, RM was awarded a 6 year, £23m contract by the English schools' exam regulator, QCA, to deliver a system for assessing pupils' capability in ICT at the end of Key Stage 3 (age 14) across all secondary schools in England. In 2009, QCA was renamed to the QCDA, the Qualifications & Curriculum Development Agency.
The project required RM to provide the following:
A Test Delivery System, comprising three integrated software components:
- The Central Point System (CPS)
- The Administration Point System (APS)
- The Delivery Point System (DPS)
The Test Software, comprising two integrated software components:
- The Virtual Office toolkit
- The test execution and marking software
The KS3 ICT Test Materials and Electronic Mark Scheme, which includes:
- A complex test and mark scheme development process
- The production of familiarisation, practice and summative test packages
The Provision of Support Services for schools via a dedicated helpdesk facility including:
- Customer Services Support
- Technical Support
The Test Delivery System has been developed and deployed successfully in line with QCA’s requirements. It ensures the secure, robust and reliable delivery of scheduled high stakes tests to centres, their administration and return of candidate responses for results processing. It is also capable of delivering practice tests and formative assessments on an on-demand basis that provide the candidate immediate feedback (in the form of a report) upon completing the test/task.
To ensure the integrity and reliability of the data being delivered across the Test Delivery System, RM required all schools to go through an accreditation process that would test whether their network would support the operation of the Test Delivery System. Upon receiving the software, schools also have access to a range of training materials and technical guides to assist them in using the system to deliver and administer tests.
The system has been deployed in over 2,000 English secondary schools and used by a number of awarding organisations to deliver GCE, GCSE and Functional Skills tests. It has also been used by more than 700 schools to provide formative assessment of ICT capability during Key Stage 3.
In 2005, RM’s KS3 ICT Test system was awarded an e-Government National Award, and Innovative Project of the Year by the Computing Awards for Excellence.
The test delivery system was delivered on time and to budget. By April 2009, the Test Delivery System had been used successfully to deliver approximately 1 million assessment sessions.