This article addresses the rules that apply when there are candidates allotted extra time, combined with a set maximum test duration. How much time do these students/candidates have available? Which rules override others?
Firstly, there are standard end time and duration settings that are defined during test construction. These settings apply to all candidates.
Standard end time: This is when the test closes. When this time is reached, the candidates who are still in progress will be automatically redirected to the submit page where they can now submit their answers. Once the time has passed, the candidates will no longer have access to the questions.
Duration: The field "Duration" is used to limit the time the candidate can use for completing the test. E.g. if the test starts at 09:00 and ends at 13:00 and the duration is set to 2 hrs. the candidate can start at any time between 09:00 and 13:00, but have only two hours to complete the test.
Note that the Standard closing time will apply also in this case, and the test will close at this time, even if the candidate has not yet used two hours.
Extra time
The rules that apply when candidates are assigned extra time is best explained using a practical example:
Test Duration: 3 hours
Test start time: 8am
Test end time: 12pm
Students/Candidates:
A – Standard time
B – Standard time
C – 1 hour extra, ie 4 hours total
D – 1 hour extra, ie 4 hours total
E – 2 hours extra, ie 5 hours total
F – 2 hours extra, ie 5 hours total
A logs in at 8am. They get 3 hours and so they must complete by 11am
B logs in at 10am. Because there is only 2 hours left in the window, they will only get 2 hours to do their exam even though the standard time is 3 hours. At 12pm, after only 2 hours of their exam has elapsed, they will not be able to do anything other than submit
C logs in a 8am. They will get their full 4 hours (3+1)
D logs in at 10am. There is only 2 hours left of the window but because they get 1 hour extra, it will let them work until 1pm and submit. This means they have had 3 hours in total, not 4 as originally planned
E logs in at 8am. They will get their full 5 hours (3+2)
F logs in at 10am. There is only 2 hours left of the window but because they get 2 hour extra, it will let them work until 2pm and submit. This means they have had 4 hours in total, not 5 as originally planned
Duration and Extra time
If a test has a duration time and the candidate does not finish the test within the duration but before the test end time, the student will not be able to reenter the test (due to being timed out) as the duration has passed the moment they start the test.
Adding Extra time is possible and consideration to the elapsed time is required to ensure the candidate can complete the exam: (current time - duration time finished) + X Extra time.
If a test:
- Started at 12pm
- The current time is 2pm
- The duration of the test is 10 minutes
- The test finishes at 3pm
- As a result, the extra time needed for the candidate will be 130 minutes.