Connections drop, laptops die and children appear. Here is what each of those actually costs the candidate, so you can answer them accurately.
What is safe
Their answers. Each answer is saved to our servers when it is given. Closing the browser or losing the connection does not lose answers already submitted.
Tests they have finished. Those are done and they do not lose them.
What is not
The clock does not pause. On a timed test it keeps running if the candidate closes the window, loses their connection or walks away. Only answers saved before time runs out count.
That is the honest answer to "my internet went down, can I have another go?" The time is gone, and we cannot give it back retrospectively.
What you can do
Let them carry on. If they can get back in before the clock runs out, their saved answers are there and they continue from where they were. Their link works.
Extend the deadline, if the assessment has one and it is the deadline blocking them, not the test clock. See edit, duplicate or archive an assessment.
Read the answer-by-answer chart before you decide anything. A candidate whose connection failed usually shows a clean run of answered questions followed by unanswered ones, which corroborates their account. See read a candidate report.
Judge the assessment as partial. A result from a disrupted test is evidence about a disrupted test. You are entitled to weigh it accordingly, and to take the other tests at face value.
Asking us to reset a test
If a candidate genuinely lost a test to a problem at our end, or to something clearly outside their control, email support@testcandidates.com with the assessment, the candidate's email address, which test and what happened. We will tell you what is possible.
Be even-handed about it. If you reset a test for one candidate, the fair thing is to apply the same standard to anyone else who asks, and to note in the team note that you did.
Preventing it happening again
- Say in your invitation that the clock does not pause and that they should start when they have a clear run at it.
- Point them at the candidate help centre before they start rather than after something goes wrong.
- Offer adjustments, and say that you do. See timing, extra time and adjustments.