The Challenge will be available for administration between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM on the competition dates.
The Challenge must be administered under standard testing conditions with invigilation. Students must not open different tabs or browsers during testing. Teachers should strictly supervise students to ensure compliance.
This article includes:
Preparation
The following steps need to be completed ahead of time. For more detailed instructions on how to complete each step, please refer to the relevant Help pages or speak to the person responsible for managing your school’s account.
- Check the technical requirements and run the browser exam from a student device to identify any potential technical issues.
- Schedule the competition time. ACER recommends that the competition is administered in the morning and not immediately before or after an exciting school event.
- Ensure the Account section of your school's online account has been updated. Please note only account administrators have access to this section.
- Download and provide staff with the administration instructions for each Challenge learning area.
- Ensure that the staff invigilating the competition have access to your school's account and have access to assign tests in case they need to make any changes.
- Ensure that all students are listed within your account and have been assigned the appropriate Challenge.
- Download or print a list of your students’ login details from the Students page within your school’s online assessment account.
- Make note of your school’s online assessment login page, or make sure that the URL is saved on student devices, or available to your students as a link. The address will be similar to https://oars.acer.edu.au/your-school-name.
Materials
- Students should be provided with your school’s online assessment login page ( https://oars.acer.edu.au/your-school-name) and their unique usernames and passwords.
- Students are permitted to use pens/pencils and paper for working out during the Challenge.
- Calculators are permitted for the Mathematics challenge and test interface includes a built-in calculator.
- Students should not have access to support resources such as an English dictionary, thesaurus, a list of multiplication tables or a word list for any part of the competition.
- Bilingual dictionaries or other translation devices may be using during the Mathematics and Science challenge only. They are not to be used during the Reading challenge.
Administering the Challenge
- Consistent administration of the Challenge is important for the validity and comparability of the results.
- For security, where possible, the Challenge must be administered at the same time to all students within the same year level within your school. For example, all year 4 students should sit their Mathematics Challenge at the same time.
- Students’ focus and energy levels are important factors in their capacity to accurately demonstrate their ability on the assessment. For this reason, it is generally best to test students in the morning and not immediately before or after an exciting school event.
Administration instructions
Scripts and detailed administration instructions are available to help guide your students through sitting the Challenge. These scripts should be downloaded and provided to the teachers supervising the Challenge on the day.
Please advise us of any special considerations that your students may require and we will work with you to provide appropriate accommodations. Accommodations must be approved by ACER prior to students commencing the Challenge. To lodge a request, please email us at gachallenge@acer.org.
Delivery
- If a student navigates away from a test screen, they will see a warning box appear saying: ‘Please do not leave the test’.
- The online interface monitors student behaviour during the test (e.g., when they navigate away from the test) and records this detail.
- Students are also unable to copy and paste from or into the test screen.
- Students will not be automatically locked out of the competition after the allowed time passes. You must monitor and manage the time, including accommodating toilet breaks or other interruptions that may occur.
- Student responses are automatically saved each time they navigate to another question.
- If technical problems cause the need to postpone the competition please pause the session within the Sessions interface and advice ACER as soon as practically possible.
iPads and tablet devices must be held in landscape orientation.
