Test manual 2019

1. School ID and verification of data in the form

You can find your School ID in the confirmation email received right after your registration.
Students entering the site with the test will see as the first field in the form the School ID. When they start to type the 1st letter the available School names will start to appear in the field below it. Once they see your School name on the list, they can just click on it and we have a perfect match. The system validates all School IDs, so without a proper one, the students won't be able to access the test.

My English Language Background* - field

This information must be confirmed when the student is filling out the test form before entering the test.
It is requested that students whose first language (mother tongue) is English shall not participate (students clicking on this option will be disqualified).
Students who lived abroad in an English speaking country for a longer time (more than 18 months) and students who come from a multilingual family that is using the English language for communicating within the family shall click on this option and compete in a separate category.
All other students will compete in the regular category with all other students studying the English language without "special advantages". It is the central option: "I'm not a native speaker. I haven't lived abroad in an English speaking country for more than 18 consecutive months and I don't come from a multilingual family where English is being used on an everyday basis."

2. Test

1. Link to the test will be activated in the morning on the 29th of November 2019 at 8:45 Central European Time (UTC +1). The session will be active in general until 12:00 CET. Students within the same school have to log in at the same time (+-5minutes)!
2. Doublecheck you have 2019 on top of the test page for each student
3. The test will close down for each student after 60 minutes if not finished and submitted earlier. In both cases, the answers will be saved to cookies and sent to our database. The test itself starts once the student will press the button at the bottom of the test page “Begin the test” - then the countdown of 60 minutes starts to roll. The application will be opened until 12:00 for the students starting at 11.
4. Each computer can open the test only once for a student.
5. Students may use their own devices but must be supervised by a teacher.
6. Students must be equipped with headphones in order to finish all Listening parts of the test.
7. No teacher should be taking and submitting the test
8. The most important is to have Cookies enabled on the devices.. The test application will be checking the cookies on each computer when entering the test (new feature). If there should appear on the top of the page a red alert stating that the browser is blocking cookies don't enter the test further, close window, go to advanced settings of the browser and enable cookies. If you are not aware of how to do it tell the student to take a different computer/device instead.

3. Rules of the contest

You can read complete rules of the contest online here (we recommend reading them very carefully, to prevent any complications or disqualifications):

4. Emergency contacts

• +420 777 879 192 Andrea
• +420 776 367 740 Jindrich (WhatsApp activated)
• +420 211 221 501 regular land line
• +420 228 226 184 IT support
• +420 777 721 762 Monika
• +420 734 445 646 Magdalena
• +420 776 367 840 Premysl
• email: info@bestinenglish.org

5. Link to the videos/audio

Please download the files.

What to do with it?
1. Download it now so you have the file ready for future use. Don't leave it until the last moment since the traffic on the BIE website on the 29th will be huge and the download could be really slow or even impossible. The test itself is hosted elsewhere and the traffic does not influence it (it's stored on Google servers). A password to the file will be sent on the 28th at 16:00 over email and SMS.
2. Prepare a projector and a computer for emergency offline use in your computer room or copy the files to each computer to be used (better option)
3. Use it in case the videos/audio will not work properly online directly in the test.

6. Software recommendations:

The Test is optimized for the newest version of Google Chrome for OS 8.1, 10, and also for mobile devices with OS Windows 8 and Android 4.4 or newer. It was successfully tested on Firefox 70, Apple devices with iOS 13 and macOS Mojave. However, some errors or failures of the system may occur for MS systems, like Microsoft EDGE featured some problems with the videos if not used with a full screen using F11 on the keyboard. Microsoft Explorer is not supported. It is quite possible that the Test will work on every device made ever since the year 2000.

7. Taking Pictures

Please take and share photos with us. Here is our FB :

8. Basic troubleshooting

1. Videos or corresponding back up Audio version is not running during the online test = Solution - use the downloaded files and play them using speakers/projector or copy them on each computer.
2. Computer/School PC not working = Solution - students may use their own laptop or tablet or smartphone
3. The test suddenly stops counting time and is unresponsive and this does not change within 30 sec. = Solution - press F5. If this action does not help, try to re-enter the test by shutting down the web browser and opening it again. In case the Cookies are working properly the entered answers by the student previously should be saved and should appear again on the screen in the test. Then the student can continue and submit his answers. If the Cookies are not set on the particular computer (enabled) the entered answers and data will not be stored. In that case, there is no solution. We cannot allow the students to start writing/filling the test after it has crashed again on another computer because the student will have a significant time advantage.
4. The test does collapse as in b above at the moment the student submits the test and the final screen with the test result, score and time with sponsor information does not appear = Solution - Give it a max. of 1 minute. If nothing changes, the browser is still searching, and the final screen does not appear then try the steps as in paragraph c above. This may result in: 1. You will see the answers again due to saved cookies and can submit the test again. 2. You will be redirected to a final screen showing the score 3. You will get a blank test again (cookies not working properly) 4. NO final page screen will appear after F5 and resubmit. For point 3 and 4. send us the student's email address and the name and we will search for his result if it was saved to the database.
5. The computer/device will restart by itself (for example due to automatic Windows updating system or a power failure) = Solution - open the browser, test again and if you see the answered questions with the time still running and not showing again 60 minutes, the student may continue with the test. If the test progress is not saved and it shows no answers previously entered, the student is not allowed to start all over again.
6. The Internet connection at the school is not working. In that case, students can use their mobile phone data with their own laptop or tablet (it will consume app. 100MB of internet traffic data).

9. Results

The students will see their results (their score and time) right after the test.
However, global results and rankings will be available within 2 weeks after the test. We will send you an email and SMS with the final results. Please, be patient. We must review the submitted tests and review the result which is done partially manually as well including contacting the first 20 best students to make sure they meet the test Rules and Conditions. We expect to have the final results by December 15th at the latest.

10. GOOD LUCK IN THE CONTEST!