The Exams Assist module from SchoolWorkSpace is a collection of functions to help the Exams Officer organise and run the Exam Season.

• Review of Entries

• Access Arrangements / Modified Papers Recording

• Organising and Scheduling Invigilators

• Seating and timetabling - either import from SIMS or do it all in Exams Assist

• Real time communication from Exam Room to Exams Officer (EO)

• Invigilators can Take Exam Attendance - EO alerted to absent candidates.

• Printing Seating plans, Timetables, Candidate Cards & Labels

• Writeback of AM/PM attendance from Exam Attendance (SIMS only).

Full info can be found at examsassist.co.uk

Currently Exams Assist is configured to work with SIMS (via Xporter), Arbor (direct), Bromcom (direct), iSAMS (direct via the BatchAPI), Go4Schools (direct) and other MIS (via Wonde). Future phases of development will address compatibility with other MIS as required.

You can still benefit from using Exams Assist, as we can utilise data imports from Wonde, but you will have to set up your candidates and seasons manually and some of the functions, such as writing exam attendance back, will not work.

If you have no MIS then you can import an Excel document for you candidates and parent details. Then import/add the entries and create the exam timetable.

For SIMS, Exams Assist uses Groupcall Xporter as a sub-processor (API) to extract data from the MIS. This license is provided as part of our product functionality at no additional cost to the school. As Xporter is already setup in a majority of UK schools there is usually no need for an extra install. There is also a manual import of AA and Statement of Entries from SIMS exams as there is no automated way of getting this data.

For Arbor, Bromcom, iSAMS and Go4Schools we interface directly with their APIs. Other MIS are provisioned via Wonde.

We also have an outgoing interface with Edulink One so exam timetables created in Exams Assist can be shown in their portal.

All 'modern' browsers should work - Chrome and Edge on a PC and Safari and Chrome on Mac / iOS. For security, browsers should always be kept up to date so latest versions are supported.

Exams Officers and invigilators login to the website schoolworkspace.co.uk - either with a username & password or SSO via Microsoft, Google or Groupcall. Invigilators can also be sent a 'magic link' to enable them to access their personal schedule without login.

For SIMS - vi Xporter

AM and PM session attendance or Lesson can be written back for students present/absent in an exam.

For future exam days attendance notes can be written back to flag students scheduled to be in an exam for the session.

On the day of the exam if the invigilators have marked candidates as present / absent then these marks can be converted into AM/PM (and/or lesson) attendance/absence.

**For Arbor **

Lesson attendance and notes can be written back for students present/absent in an exam.

Arbor does not support writeback of attendance notes for future lessons.

On the day of the exam if the invigilators have marked candidates as present / absent then these marks can be converted into Lesson attendance/absence for the periods covered by the exam.

**For Bromcom **

Lesson attendance and notes can be written back for students present/absent in an exam.

For future exam days attendance notes can be written back to flag students scheduled to be in an exam for the session.

On the day of the exam if the invigilators have marked candidates as present / absent then these marks can be converted into Lesson attendance/absence for the periods covered by the exam.

** Other MIS **

Sorry attendance writeback not currently supported.

Please email sales at: [email protected] to request a demo.

Yes! A free one month trial is available (except during the main summer season May-June and over Christmas). Just fill in the Order Form

• For sales or any queries around the ordering process please use the email address [email protected].

• If you need technical support, then email [email protected].

Full details and an order form are available on the examsassist.co.uk website. The product is offered at a flat price per school per year.

Full details and an order form are available on the examsassist.co.uk website. Up to date price information is on the order form.

All SIMS schools who fill out an order form are sent a Groupcall Xporter data sharing email.

• Once consent for data sharing is in place SWS syncs the data.

• After this is successfully achieved you will receive logon instructions.

For other MIS, you will be advised of the applicable data sharing agreements that need to be completed when you place your order.

As soon as the data sharing is actioned the system should be ready for you to start using it. The most common cause for delay is in data officers not responding to data sharing requests/ not completing data sharing arrangements. We cannot supply the system until this is in place.

Your data is hosted on Microsoft Azure data servers with cloud functionality. Our data sharing agreement may be found here https://schoolworkspace.co.uk/Help/DataSharing

Once you have received your login details you can access Exams Assist on the SWS website from a laptop, desktop, smart phone or tablet.

Exams Assist is an online service hosted in Microsoft Azure. Data aggregators (Xporter or Wonde if used) may require a school side installation.

There is no software to download for Exams Assist - it is a cloud hosted web solution.

Once you have filled in the order form we check your school details and depending on your MIS then next step is:

• For SIMS we send out an Xporter data sharing request

• For Arbor we send a request to connect via Arbor.

• For Bromcom we wait for your school Bromcom admin to enable the SchoolWorkSpace app

• For Wonde we send a data connection request.

Once data consent has been granted:

• For Xporter as soon as access is granted SchoolWorkSpace will start a data sync. Once finished an automated email is sent.

• For Arbor once access is granted we get sent an email, we then have to setup your school with your Arbor config, once we do that the Arbor data sync takes 20 minutes or so.

• For Bromcom once access is granted you need to tell us so we can setup your school with your Bromcom config. Once we do that the Bromcom sync takes only a minute,

• For Wonde as soon as access is granted SchoolWorkSpace will start a data sync. Once finished an automated email is sent.

When we set up your school we configure data sync depending on what type of MIS your school uses:

• SIMS via Xporter (we always us Xporter if possible as it provides exam data from SIMS which is not covered by Wonde)

• Bromcom direct from Bromcom

• Arbor direct from Arbor

• iSAMS - direct from the iSAMS Batch API

• Go4Schools - direct from the Go4Schools API

• Other MIS (e.g. iSAMS) via Wonde

What data is covered is documented in the MIS support table here

There are many optional data items - we configure these in SchoolWorkSpace with the most common settings, these can be changed at any time to add or remove optional data items.

Using Groupcall Xporter and manual extracts from SIMS Examinations Organiser.

The sync from Xporter happens overnight or on request from School Settings > Fetch Data Now. Additionally if the exam timetable and seating is being imported from SIMS then a request to refresh this can be made from the overview tab for the exam season in Exams Assist.

Detailed instructions for importing data from SIMS be found here

We interface directly with the Arbor API to import Core data (Student, Staff, Parents groups etc) plus exam entries and access arrangements for both domestic and exam board defined exams.

The sync from Arbor happens overnight or on request from School Settings > Fetch Data Now.

Additional exam results EDI files can be imported for exam results from the exam boards (GCSE/GCE etc).

We interface directly with the Bromcom API to import Core data (Student, Staff, Parents groups etc) plus exam entries and Access arrangements for entries made for exams in Bromcom.

The sync from Bromcom happens overnight or on request from School Settings > Fetch Data Now.

Additional exam results EDI files can be imported for exam results from the exam boards (GCSE/GCE etc).

Bromcom permissions are initiated in Bromcom see here for details.

For iSAMS the best method is via the iSAMS Batch API - more details

For Go4School we go via their API - more details

For iSAMS and other MIS systems we use Wonde to import the core data (Student, Staff, Parents groups etc).

The sync from Wonde happens overnight or on request from School Settings > Fetch Data Now.

For exam entries data we can import the EDI files you send to the exam boards to combine with the basedata to re-create the exam entries and the exam timetable.

Other files can also be imported for international Cambridge, Baccalaureate and Edecxel exams.

Staff will be imported from the MIS as part of the data-sync process.

Additional staff can be added on the School Settings > Other Settings > Staff Roles where you can also configure what roles the staff have for access to SchoolWorkSpace.

Via assignment to role- based security groups.

In SchoolWorkSpace visit School Settings > More Settings >Staff Roles

Minimum data is displayed. GDPR does not differentiate between electronic and paper – your school policies should require adequate vetting of staff.

Not at present.

Training is currently offered separately by Exams Officers and Data Solutions Ltd. examofficers.co.uk

A training 1/2 day can also be included at order or renewal time on the order form

To create a training session you need to navigate to the Season Dropdown menu on the Exams Assist page and select Add/Edit Training Season and then Add New Training Season. Then add the other information.

The training session creates everything for the user from Entries, Access Arrangements Rooms, etc. All candidates used in a training season are dummy data but the training season will use the Access Arrangements that are used by the school. Once the training season is completed the season can be deleted. All functionality within a training season is the same as what is contained in a normal season, the only difference is Attendance Data will not be able to be written back to SIMS.

• Many pages in SchoolWorkSpace have an in-app help page that can be viewed by clicking the help button top right.

• Support documentation is updated frequently so it is worth checking back regularly to see what new topics have been added.

• You can download the manual from https://schoolworkspace.co.uk/Help/examsassistgettingstarted

• There is also an active Exams Assist Facebook group which is a useful source of help from experienced users as well as hints and tips.

• For any technical problems you can email [email protected].

We are always improving the system in response to user suggestions. Let us know what you think at [email protected]