Developing a robust, online, remote assessment solution for international students to increase opportunities to access Higher Education institutions in the UK

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NCC Education is an awarding organisation and global provider of British education.The Innovation Fund will be used to develop a robust, remote assessment methodology which meets regulator requirements, whilst allowing access to assessments for progression for students from varied geographic and socio-economic backgrounds, including those where the digital infrastructure is fragile.This will enable students from around the world to take assessments, where they would not be able to otherwise.Due to immediate changes in the global education space, mostly by the recent Covid-19 crisis and its effect on transnational education, millions of students globally can no longer access assessments conducted under traditional and rigorous 'exam centre/hall' conditions; considered acceptable for many UK Universities and Higher Education Institutions.Currently nearly all assessment centres globally are closed, creating an urgent need for a global online assessment solution, as many international students now have no route to UK higher education with traditional assessment methods.NCC Education aims to challenge this by developing an online, robust method of invigilation, the findings will form a case study for education establishments in the UK and internationally and will be shared as best practice with the Moodle community of over 156,000,000 education sites.The online assessment methodology and development will be a collaboration of partnerships with NCC Education's 180 Accredited Partner centres around the world in over 50 countries.Unlike current remote assessment methods (such as downloading questions and uploading answers), this project will retain the principles of traditional exam methods; with robust and tried and tested approaches. Without compromising assessment integrity, students will have access to remote assessment atmospheres where they can perform to their best ability.Whilst online invigilation is becoming popular in the UK, in International markets, it is a barrier to student assessments[\[EC1\]][0] . Many countries are tentative to adopt such approaches, preferring traditional assessments.To date; there hasn't been one universally-accepted approach which is robust enough to penetrate digital international infrastructures which may be weak.NCC Education would like to develop a solution using a globally-tested assessment methodology which meets regulatory requirements and education principles, but can, in a cost efficient way, be deployed remotely to countries with a mix of IT and digital infrastructures: online and offline.This will allow students globally to continue their studies uninterrupted, gain their qualification and progress to the UK and assist the UK in growing a valued community of international students.[0]: file:///C:/Users/kerry.voellner/Desktop/Innovation%20Fund/Public%20description.complete.docx#_msocom_1