Hey what’s up everybody it’s Caroline here from the DET team with tips to help you test your best! This week we are talking about the four most commonly broken rules on the test and how you can avoid them. So to help me talk about this I have a special guest with me, this is Vanessa.
Vanessa can you tell them a little bit about what you do? Sure, hi everyone, I’m Vanessa, and I am an operations manager for the DET. I look over our proctoring team and make sure that our proctors review your tests accurately and in a timely manner.
So we’re going to tell you about these four most commonly broken rules and how to avoid them. The first one is a common one we hear from test takers about and it is looking away from the screen for an extended period of time. Vanessa, can you tell us a little bit about this rule and how to avoid breaking it?
Of course. So this rule has everything to do with making sure you’re in a secure testing environment. So there are many benefits to taking an online test.
You can take it from anywhere, you can take it from your bedroom, you can take it in your kitchen. So because we’re not there with you while you’re taking the test, it’s just really important that you keep your gaze focused on the screen. Yeah, and I do hear a lot from test takers that sometimes this might seem unnatural.
And if that’s the case, I always recommend taking a practice test and trying to focus just on that skill for example and maybe not focusing on the questions so much. But just making sure that you’re looking directly at the camera or the screen the entire time. What about looking down to type, is that allowed?
Yeah, this is a question again that we get a lot from test takers. And I think, again, remember that a human is proctoring your test and they understand that certain glances down or away every once in a while might be natural. So don’t get too wrapped up in trying to, like, bore into the screen the whole time.
But, that being said, if you do catch yourself looking down or away a lot, try to refocus your eyes on the screen. The second most commonly broken rule is about using external programs. What are external programs, and what’s this all about?
Yeah so again, your test center is your laptop, right, so we need to make sure it’s a super secure environment. And that means no programs can be interfering with your test. So no Grammarly, you guys, no screensharing, no chats, no web browsers.
If you want to know how to start up your test session with no other programs running, I actually made a video only about this topic for both Mac and Windows users. I’ll link it down below and also up here in the screen. But yeah you’ve got to make sure there are absolutely no external programs running on your computer.
And this also applies to things like your phones, your tablets, your smart watches. Please keep those in another room. You don’t want to be tempted to look at them because that will result in an uncertified test.
And I think it’s really important to remember that even though you are taking a test in the comfort of your own home, having your cell phone near you is still not allowed, because you are taking a test after all. And when it comes to external programs and understanding whether or not you’re using them, just make sure you check out our website. We have information on that and we can help you disable anything that you need to.
Totally. I will link that FAQ question in the description below as well. So the third most commonly broken rule is that you were not alone in a private, quiet room.
What’s the rule around this Vanessa? So while taking the DET it’s really important that you always take the test in a private environment. Please, if you live with any friends or relatives, or anybody at all, just make sure that you ask them to give you about an hour of free time so that you can take this test and so that we can make sure that nobody is assisting you with your responses.
Yeah and this is a really simple tip but I always tell people to you know, stress the importance of the test to your parents. You could really get your test invalidated if they, you know, knock on your door and come in and offer you a snack. So just make sure you tell them that this is a high-stakes English proficiency test, I need this for my university entrance exams or whatever you’re using the test for.
And make sure you really get that across. I completely agree and I think a great tip would be to maybe leave a sign at your door. Just make sure your door is closed and just put a piece of paper on the door saying “I’m taking a test!
Come back in one hour. ” The fourth most commonly broken rule is all about preparing answers in advance. So that can be reading something that you prepared in advance, or responding to something during our speaking section that was prepared in advanced.
Yeah so for this one, even if you’ve practiced similar types of questions in advance, respond in the moment using your own words. We’re looking for a natural, conversational response that really answers the question that’s being asked. So again don’t prepare any responses in advance, and don’t memorize any sentences or phrases.
We really hope that going over these four most commonly broken rules was helpful to you. Just keep in mind, we’re rooting for you, we believe in you, and we are looking forward to certifying your test. Leave us any other questions that you have about rules and requirements down in the comments below, and I’ll try to get to as many of them as I can.
If you have a question, you can also always reach out to our support team, who are happy to help you regardless of whether you’ve taken the test yet or not. And please like and subscribe. We’ll see you in the next video.
Good luck on the test and we believe in you! Bye test takers!
