We’ve had a call from a Tester who said the pause button on the online assessment exam has been removed – which means that if you need to consult the manual you can’t pause the test, where last year you could. ABC and IMI said the pause button has been removed, someone else said they did it through RMI and it was still there. So, not a ‘level playing field’.
We took this up with the DVSA and suggested that the pause button was helpful as it mimicked the situation in a ‘real world’ MOT inspection where a Tester can refer to the Manual during a Test. This was their response:
“The online assessment was never intended to have a pause function and is set out in our agreement with the providers (of the tests – Ed). A one-hour time limit is set and (the test) must be completed in one sitting.
It did come to light last year that one of the providers’ online platforms did incorrectly have a pause function.
Following our investigation this was immediately rectified with the withdrawal of the facility to do so, though an error in the content of some automatically generated emails from providers did state the assessment could be paused, this too has now been rectified.
You refer to real life and the assessment being open book, it is our view that if a Tester has prepared correctly, the one-hour limit to complete the test and use of the manual and testing guide is currently sufficient”.
We have spoken to Testers on this, and the general consensus is that an hour is adequate to complete the annual assessment. However, if they approach the assessment with the expectation that there is a pause button available (because it was there last year), so they can take their time to look things up and need not prepare beforehand, then this year that could be a problem.
So, for all Testers: if you are expecting to have a ‘pause’ facility when completing the Annual Assessment because it was there last year, take note – it won’t be there this year!