Surpass Platform Changelog

In this article

Coming soon: Surpass Release 24.1 (ETA: 2024 Q1)

Item Authoring

New

• If item language variants are enabled, a new option when using Bulk Update to update item content lets you automatically add any missing language variants to the updated items (30267).

Improved

• Item sets can now be updated when updating unit conversions, comments, item owners, and tags with Bulk Update (24413).
• The source code can now be edited for answer options as a table in Multiple Choice questions (30276).

Fixed

• When importing items via a spreadsheet, HTML paragraph tags (<p>) are no longer removed causing spacing issues in question stem and answer option text (23779).
• The date and time in the Last Edited At and Created At columns in Item Search now display the correct date and time according to the Surpass instance’s set date and time zone (23244).

Tasks

New

• In Authoring (Create New Items) tasks, items can now be created from item templates and task managers can now limit which item types and templates can be created by assignees (25249, 27593).

Improved

• All task exports to Word now include item set information (23939).

Setup

New

• If Surpass Copilot is enabled, it can now be enabled at subject-level in the Subjects screen (30811).

Improved

• Up to three tag hierarchies can now be configured per subject (30268).
• Up to three tag groups can now be featured per subject (30269).

Performance improvements

• For subjects that have an active subject master list:
  • Moving items between subjects and importing items into existing subjects now take less time.
  • Deleting items is now a quicker process in both the Surpass UI and API.
  • Saving items is now a quicker process, including items in item sets.
  • The Item API resource now responds quicker when creating (POST) or updating (PUT) items not at live status, and the ItemSet API resource now responds quicker to POST, PUT, and DELETE requests.
  • Responses from the LanguageVariant API resource are now returned in less time when creating (POST) item language variants.
  • Subjects that contain a lot of items are now more performant.
• Bulk Update is now more reliable and takes less time when used to update items in subjects that contain a large number of items.
• Review tasks are now more responsive, particularly where items in the task contain lots of tags in tag collections and where there are multiple task assignees working in a task simultaneously.

Surpass Release 12.34 (December 2023)

Test driver

Improved

• You can now zoom in and out of the test driver in SecureClient for Windows using Ctrl + + (zoom in), - (zoom out), or 0 (reset) on your keyboard’s main keypad (24970).

Item Authoring

New

• Tag values can now be assigned to an item from a new ‘tag hierarchy’ created and defined in Setup > Subjects. If enabled, a shortcode can be created for each tag value. When a tag value is assigned to an item, its shortcode and the shortcodes for every parent tag value on the same level of the hierarchy as the assigned tag value are combined into a new ‘combined shortcode’ tag value, which is also assigned to the item (21971, 21972, 23696).
• The new Surpass Copilot can help item authors generate Multiple Choice distractor answer options. Generate more focused content by providing Copilot with additional context/instruction. If you would like to use this feature, contact your Surpass Account Manager (24960).

Improved

• The formatting toolbar has been updated. Functionally it remains the same, but visually the formatting options’ containers are now consistent in design (16331).
• Item sets can now be previewed, and site administrators can determine whether item content is represented when item authors preview item sets using a new Hide item content representation in item set preview site setting (23937, 29615).
• If item language variants functionality is enabled, an item’s default language is no longer changed when moved to a subject with a different language as its default language (23941).
• The parent item’s unique identifier is now displayed when editing and previewing the variant instead of the item language variant’s unique identifier, if item language variants functionality is enabled (26792).
• The Save Changes to Live Item dialog when editing items in Item Authoring and Tasks can now be removed. If you would like to prevent this dialog from appearing in Item Authoring and Tasks, contact your Surpass Account Manager (8353).

Fixed

• Tags in tag collections updated via bulk update are now also updated in the tags columns of the Item Search grid (19920).
• Advanced Essay item language variants now inherit the parent item’s settings as expected (22165).

Tasks

New

• Assignees can now view public item comments during a Shared Review task without having to edit an item, if task managers have enabled a new View Comments setting (8345).
• Authoring tasks can now be configured to allow task assignees to create new items directly into a specified subject. Task managers must allocate each assignee a quota of items to create in the task (24324).

Improved

• Authoring and Review task managers now have the ability to allow lead assignees to edit task settings (8373).
• Subcollections of the tag collection marked as the latest tag collection are automatically expanded when the item tag collections panel is opened (23938).
• You can now attach multiple files to a task at once, and the maximum amount of attachments that can be attached has been increased from 30 to 40 (24417).

Fixed

• Returning to edit an item after it has been previewed, with any changes prior to previewing the item discarded, no longer disables the Preview button in Authoring tasks or the close button in Review tasks (27239).

Test Administration

Fixed

• When marking an item, scrolling now continues to work as expected after applying a symbol annotation (22937).
• Finished test sessions in which candidates receive the same test forms are now warehoused correctly and consequently cleared from the Invigilate screen (27977).

Setup

New

• One tag group can now be set as a subject’s ‘featured tag group’. All tag values in the featured tag group that are assigned to items are visible on items in Item Authoring and Tasks (21973).

Fixed

• The Subject Details tab in the Subjects screen and the Edit Roles dialog in the Users screen are now consistent in their display and count of centres shared with subjects (23782).

Reporting

Fixed

• Custom report templates over 128KB can now be uploaded with a web application firewalls (WAF) enabled (18117).

Site Settings

New

• A new Item Prefixes and Sequential Numbering site setting enforces users creating new subjects to define a prefix that is automatically added to the name of all new items, along with a sequentially generated unique six-digit suffix (21969).

API

New

• A new TagHierarchy API lets you list, retrieve, and create tag hierarchies using the API v2 (23695).

Performance improvements

• Searching for candidates in the Candidates screen is now more performant where there are a large number of candidates in the system.

Surpass Release 12.33 (September 2023)

Home

New

• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) can now be enabled for Surpass (15175).

Test driver

Improved

• SecureClient is now supported for Macs and can be downloaded from the App Store via the Secure Delivery section of the Launch Test screen.
• Candidate review sessions can now be sat for standard (HTML) tests (14395, 14415).

Fixed

• Changes to colour preferences now affect source materials correctly (14508).
• Multiple Choice answer option images are now aligned and centred (14556).
• Azerbaijani translations now fit the button element on the System Check dialog buttons (14579).
• The formula editor dialog in the notepad tool now has styling consistent with the main dialog (15531).

Item Authoring

New

• The formatting toolbar available to candidates in Advanced Essay items can now be configured to contain no (None), some (Basic), or all (Full) formatting options (14680).
• A new, configurable Table item type can be created in standard (HTML) subjects. A Table question lets candidates submit a data grid in response to a prompt. You can either provide a partially-filled table or give candidates the tools to create their own (8711).

Improved

• The order of an item list can now be sorted by items’ tags using new tag group columns in the Edit List screen (8124).
• Item sets complete with their items can now be displayed as one entity in the Item Search and Item Lists grids, as opposed to item sets and their items being separate entities (8128).
• Changes to an Advanced Essay item are now detailed in its Item History. Advanced Essay items can also now be exported to Microsoft Word and be included in printable tests (15875, 16819).
• A new Item Content option for Bulk Update lets you export and replace question stem and answer options text via CSV for item sets, Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, and Either/Or questions (8712).
• When using Bulk Update to convert units (Unit Conversions) on selected items, units can now be converted for all of the items’ language variants, the default item language only, or the variants of a specific language, if item language variants functionality is enabled (8280).
• If the relevant item language variant exists and if item language variants functionality is enabled, the next or previous item is opened in the same language when navigating between items. This change improves the user experience for item authors authoring all variants of a specific language in one sitting (13019).

Fixed

• Bulk updates now support unit conversion for over 100 items (15706).
• The sample XLS file for importing items into subjects now includes instructions on importing custom tag groups (17929).
• CSV reports of Item Pools now display acquired enemy relationships as well as principal enemy relationships (20920).

Tasks

Fixed

• Version Compare in Review tasks now display answer options in the correct order (17926).

Test Administration

Improved

• Purchase Order Numbers can now be entered when scheduling tests from the Schedule (Standard) screen, if required (11339).
• Candidates can now be added or removed from scheduled test sessions in the Edit Test screen of Schedule (Standard) (15875).
• The option to Reset individual column filters has been renamed to Clear across all Test Administration grids as, in the case of any default date ranges such as the Date Scheduled column in the Schedule (Standard) screen, this option does not reset the filter to its default value but instead clears it entirely (16710).

Reporting

New

• A new Show all subjects option lets you see the reporting data for all subjects even if no tests have been delivered for a subject. This change makes the Item Bank report viewable and item production reports available for those subjects (20806).

Fixed

• Grading scale values are now retained when leaving and returning to the page (9916).

API

Improved

• Item version numbers are now returned in GET requests to the Result API’s /{id} and /{keycode} endpoints (20058).
• Candidates listed using the Candidate API can now be filtered by candidate tags (20166).

Fixed

• Test form randomisation now has a more equal distribution when scheduling tests via the API (15164).

Performance improvements

• Opening tag collections in the Item Search and Item Lists screens is now more performant.
• Importing items with lots of tags into subjects with lots of items now takes less time.
• Review tasks have been optimised for a more reliable user experience where there are lots of items in the task and up to 100 concurrent assignees.
• Responses from the TagGroup OAPI GET method (specifically the /{id} endpoint) are now returned in less time.
• Responses from the ItemSet OAPI PUT method are now returned in less time. Simultaneous requests to all methods of the ItemSet API (v2) can now be made more reliably.
• Simultaneous PUT requests to the ItemMetadata/ItemTags/{id} OAPI endpoint can now be made more reliably.

Surpass Release 12.32 (April 2023)

Home

Fixed

• All links to the Surpass Help Site now work correctly (DE47002).

Test driver

Improved

• The Confirm Candidate Details and Agree to Terms screens in the test driver are now WCAG 2.1 compliant.
• Anonymously shared tests now launch in standard (HTML) delivery.
• The standard (HTML) version of the keycode screen is now presented in SecureClient.
• There is a new design on the hover/focus style for answer options presented as a table for keyboard users.

Fixed

• HTML Source Material windows can now be resized without issue (DE47210).
• Plus symbols now display in the question boxes for Select From a List items (DE46611).

Item Authoring

New

• A new protractor tool can now be added to items, which allows candidates to measure on-screen elements.

Improved

• When adding enemy items to an item in Item Authoring, the enemies of that enemy item are now inherited automatically.
• Sorted data in the Item Search and Item Lists screens now persists at browser session-level, including when leaving either screen to view an item.
• Item language variants let you author variations of an item in different languages. Language variants can only be created for Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Either/Or, and Essay item types, and only exist across the Item Authoring and Tasks screens.

Fixed

• Wording and UI inconsistencies in the Templates tab have been fixed (DE47155).
• Items moved across subjects will continue to be shared with the subjects they were previously shared with (DE47302).
• When the citations tab is opened you no longer have to save changes to citations if no changes have been made, allowing you to save the item and navigate to a new one (DE47360).
• The Download Printable Test  wizard now lists test form names instead of test names (DE44477).
• Wording inconsistencies in the Test Wizard when the user language is set to US English have been fixed (DE45849, DE45848).

Tasks

Improved

• The user experience when configuring tag collections during task setup has been improved.
• The Advanced mode for Essay items is now supported in Comparison View.

Fixed

• When exporting a task as a word document fails due to an HTML error, an error report is now generated (DE46041).

Test Administration

Improved

• Markers can now use the Tick, Symbols, and Comments options from the annotations tool in the standard Test Administration screens.

Fixed

• When scheduling HTML tests with the Deliver different tests to candidates setting enabled, there is now no limit on how many candidates can be scheduled for that test regardless of the number of live test form versions available (DE45989).
• If a candidate’s script was escalated, it will now be removed from the live Invigilate table once warehoused in Audit (DE46713).

Test Creation

Improved

• In test profile settings, alt text can be included for logos so that candidates using screen readers can check they are on the correct test before entering their keycode. The alt text for the default Surpass logo has been updated to be more descriptive and compliant with WCAG 2.1.

Setup

Fixed

• Site-level users with the Manage Users permission can now view users that do not have any assigned roles (DE45438).

API

New

• LanguageVariant and ItemSetLanguageVariant APIs and item language variants-related properties in the Task and Item APIs.

Improved

• The notepad tool is now supported in the Item API.

Performance improvements

• Responses to GET requests sent to the TagCollection OAPI endpoint are now returned quicker.

Surpass Release 12.31 (December 2022)

Test driver

New

• Azeri is now a supported language for tests.

Improved

• End of Test Feedback can now be applied to packaged tests.
• All media file types added to items as a shared resource are now supported in standard (HTML) delivery modes.
• The special characters and symbols available to candidates in Essay item types in standard delivery are now consistent with those available to item authors.
• The Confirm Candidate Details screen and Colour Preferences panel in the test driver are now compliant with WCAG 2.1.
• Page content, titles, and footers are now announced in the correct order by the JAWS screen reader.
• The contrast ratio of the test driver’s default colour scheme is now compliant with WCAG 2.1.
• Changes to colour preferences in SecureClient tests now affect animated and HTML source material.

Item Authoring

New

• An Advanced mode for the Essay item type that allows candidates to respond to questions via multiple response boxes.
• A notepad tool can now be added to items, which allows candidates to record their workings out and submit them as part of their response.

Improved

• All shared source material file types can now be previewed within Item Authoring. Source material must be downloaded from the Media Library or when previewing an item.
• An extra column showing the number of child items within an item set has been added to the Item Search and Item Lists screens.
• You can now define the order of answer options in Select From A List questions.
• Items and item sets can now be moved, duplicated, and deleted from within filtered results.
• Item settings, item duration, and content delay settings can now be accessed from the right-hand panel when editing an item.
• The Select All Options menu has been reinstated in the Item Search and Item List screens. This allows users to search for items across either all pages or the current page.

Fixed

• Issues with creating a Fraction Entry item type when the user’s system language is set to Dutch have now been fixed and items can be saved as expected (DE45839).
• When creating/importing items that contain maths equations, changing the font no longer causes issues and items can be saved as expected (DE46822).
• Default subject fonts now display correctly when creating items (DE46879).
• Newly added tag values will now always appear within the Tag Groups column in the Item Search screen (DE46915).

Tasks

Improved

• Lead assignees can now promote changes to tag values in Individual Review tasks.
• The CSV export from the Task Summary screen now contains information for item sets.

Test Administration

Improved

• Markers can now use the Highlight Line option from the annotations tool in the standard Test Administration screens.

Fixed

• Centres with just globally shared subjects are now selectable within the Schedule screen (DE45899).

Setup

New

• Subject content is now created in HTML by default and is the only available content type. This change reflects HTML content being the standard test content type .

Fixed

• Candidate review sessions can now be scheduled for tests in globally shared subjects (DE45844).

API

Fixed

• The testFormComments property now returns test form comments properly when calling the TestForm API using the GET method (DE46438).
• The ItemMetadata OAPI now returns an error message informing the user that one or more tag values have been duplicated in the body of a PUT request (DE45244).

Performance improvements

• Searching by subject and using filters in the Item Search and Item Lists screens now performs quicker where there are lots of items (DE46010).
• Filtering by tags within subjects now takes less time where there are lots of tags (DE46631).
• Importing items into subjects with lots of items now takes less time (DE46867).
• The Bulk Update process for changing item status and updating tag values is now more performant (DE46901).
• When scheduling tests the list of available subjects now loads more quickly where there are lots of subjects (DE46863).

Surpass Release 12.30 (August 2022)

Home and Surpass Help Site

Improved

• Our legacy documentation website, the Surpass Knowledge Base, has been retired. Key content from the old Knowledge Base has been rewritten, improved, and moved to our award-winning Surpass Help Site (right here!). Our legacy video tutorial website, the Surpass Learning Portal, has also been retired and replaced by our new Surpass Learning training platform, which you can learn more about on the Surpass Learning article in the Resources section of the Surpass Help Site. The Surpass Home page buttons and related site settings referring to the older resources have been updated to reflect these changes.
• As part of the above changes, you can now find a brand new Developer documentation section here on the Surpass Help Site. This section includes the new Surpass API v2 documentation, completely rewritten in an easy-to-read format to capture the full and extensive capabilities of the Surpass API for your integration requirements. The links on the Surpass API v2 test console, accessible by adding /api/v2 to your Surpass URL, have also been updated to point to this new information. In September, this documentation was chosen as a Merit Award winner at the 2022 UK Technical Communication Awards.

Test driver

Improved

• The Surpass Launch Test screen has been redesigned to improve the user experience of this area of Surpass and to reflect the HTML delivery options being the standard Surpass test delivery offering, with Flash test delivery now considered legacy functionality. Additionally, SecureClient is now supported for iPads and can be downloaded from the App Store via the Secure Delivery section of the redesigned Launch Test screen.
• Unlocked sections can now be delivered in standard tests in SecureClient.
• The Enter Keycode screen is now compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA.
• Computer-based projects are now supported in standard web delivery as candidates can close them without submitting their answers.
• The Show ‘Page Requires Scrolling’ Alert setting in Test Creation now affects standard test delivery methods, letting you disable the alerts.
• Changes to colour preferences applied to tests in web delivery now affect HTML source material.

Fixed

• Accessibility issues with vertical navigation and Next/Back navigation buttons, Introduction and Finish Pages, and the progress bar have now been fixed.
• All error codes presented in SecureClient are now correctly translated into every language supported in Surpass.
• When using SecureClient, keycode and test data is now removed from SDF or DB files after being uploaded into Surpass after any period of time (DE46427).
• Long test names now display correctly on printed summary feedback (DE46545).
• When starting a test with lots of items, the first question number in the breadcrumb is no longer obscured (DE46546).

Item Authoring

Improved

• Citations and item lists are the latest functionality to now be located in the right-hand panel of the Item Authoring screen instead of in section 5.
• The validation error message on Numeric Entry questions now remains until the user moves away from the element or adds a valid entry.
• A new Balanced marking setting gives the option to not deduct marks from candidates if they drag an item into an incorrect drop zone in Drag and Drop questions. Superscript, subscript, and symbols are also now available to author within Drag and Drop question answer options.
• Users in both Item Authoring and Tasks can edit the shared text of an item’s parent item set whilst working on the item and without having to navigate away from the item editing view.
• Candidates can now select incorrect matches up to the total number of matches defined by the item author when Many to many marking is enabled on the Extended Matching item type.
• HTML animations (packages) added to items in standard tests can now be delivered in web delivery.
• Custom Question Types can now be found using Item Search and their name and version number displayed.

Fixed

• HTML source material title tabs now display correctly if a hyperlink to a different location on the same page (e.g. to return to the top of the page) is selected (DE45042).
• The drop-down menu when adding tags to an item no longer experiences a delay in loading (DE45719).
• If a user is deleted between the creation and the running of a bulk update, the failure now results in a failure email being sent and the items are unlocked (DE46426).

Test Wizard

Improved

• Computer-based projects can now be configured when creating tests in the Test Wizard.

Tasks

New

• A new “Item Analysis” Review task lets task managers assign items to assignees for analysis and to submit recommendations by leaving comments. Lead assignees can review assignee recommendations and amend answer options.
• Task managers can now choose whether assignees can see all comments and/or have the voting options active in Review tasks.

Improved

• Lead assignees can now edit items in Shared Review tasks regardless of whether editing privileges are enabled (this does not affect pre-existing tasks).
• Source material can now be popped out of the right-hand panel and dragged around the screen.
• More information can now be retrieved from the CSV report exportable for tasks.
• When users open an item that is part of another task, a notification now appears detailing any other tasks the item is included in.
• In “General” Review tasks, a new toggle button can be used to show/hide correct answers and item feedback. The toggle only shows/hides item feedback in the new “Item Analysis” Review task type.

Fixed

• Tags can now be edited as expected if the Customise tags option is used during the initial task setup (DE46449).

Test Administration

Fixed

• The completion date now uploads correctly when uploading OMR CSV files to the Results tab of Surpass (DE46001).
• The Schedule (Standard) screen no longer shows tests that have been scheduled for invigilation as not invigilated in the Invigilated column (DE46013).

API

New

• A filetype property has been added to the Media API’s GET response.
• You can now configure tests for standard (HTML) delivery when creating a test using the Test API.
• A PIN can now be set when scheduling a test using the TestSchedule API and retrieved using the TestSession API.
• Listed TestSession API results can now be filtered using a LastUpdated parameter.

Improved

• The order of items in an item list exported using the GET method of the ItemList API should now match the order of the items in the UI.
• You can now schedule tests in all supported languages using the TestSchedule API.

Performance improvements

• Performance issues no longer occur when moving more than 1000 items into a different subject at once.
• Tag collection groups now load more quickly when filtering with complex search criteria in Item Search.
• Requests to the TagCategory and ItemSearch OAPIs now take less time.

Surpass Release 12.29 (April 2022)

Home

• The privacy section window on the Home page has been replaced with a link to our terms and policies to ensure that the information is always up to date.

Test driver

New

• As part of an architecture upgrade, candidates will now navigate back to the Launch Test page when selecting the Back or Refresh browser buttons in web delivery. Browsers will present a confirmation window to candidates (unless they are using an iPad). Test timers stop counting down when this window is open, but update to the correct time when the candidate returns to the test.

Improved

• The Fraction Entry item type is now supported in SecureClient and packaged tests.
• The wording on the keycode entry screen has been updated to become clearer to candidates.
• Checkbox elements are now focusable and users are able to gain access to checkboxes via voice activation.
• When an invigilator pauses a test and the candidate is presented with the Test is Paused dialog, assistive technology provides this information to the candidate.
• The Results dialog is now accessible for screen reader users.
• Improvements have been made to help screen reader users to understand the context of all dialogs with two or more buttons presented to them.
• The Close button on the This page requires scrolling notification now has a descriptive label that is read out by a screen reader.
• The colour contrast on the Close button on the This page requires scrolling notification has been updated so that it is clearer to read for candidates with accessibility requirements.

Fixed

• An issue with the browser tab (in web delivery) not translating the page name to the test driver language selected during scheduling (DE46140).
• Long tag value names are now formatted neatly in tables in the Test Feedback screen (DE45986).
• When answer options are displayed as a table the correct answer is no longer indicated in the summary feedback where the candidate has answered incorrectly (DE46024).

Item Authoring

New

• Supporting content can now be added so that it appears in a two-column layout for Multiple Choice questions in HTML subjects.

Improved

• The size of the Essay item response box can now be customised by defining the number of lines in the answer box.
• Labels for the Fraction Entry input fields (numerator, denominator, and integer) are now displayed when creating the item and in delivery.
• Item comments and enemy item information are now located in the right-hand panel of the Item Authoring screen, instead of in section 5.
• More than one tool can now be added to a single item.
• Multiple assistive media files can now be assigned to the supporting content of Multiple Choice questions.
• The Fraction Entry question button, a core question type, now appears before the Custom Question type button in the Create New Item menu.
• The Hot Text Custom Question type can now be computer-marked and its candidate logging implementation is improved.
• The Unit Conversions functionality now recognises commas as a part of numbers and leaves in spaces that have been intentionally included by users.

Fixed

• One item containing HTML/URL source material now needs resaving for any changes to the source material to take effect across all items it is shared with (DE46035).
• Previewing media is no longer blocked by web application firewalls (DE46372).
• Users are now able to edit and delete tag groups despite the amount of text the tag group’s name contains (DE45612).

Tasks

New

• Users can now create item and item set duplicates (successors) within Review tasks using a new Duplicate button.

Improved

• The close button has been replaced with a Return to Tasks link to prevent confusion about what is being closed when any information in the right-hand panel is open.

Fixed

• Text deleted from item rationale in Review and Authoring tasks is now also deleted from the item itself after submitted as part of the task, as expected (DE46092).
• Standard Setting tasks now export to Word successfully (DE45604).

Test Creation

Fixed

• Test forms containing sections with pooled time can now be deleted (DE36936).
• The project (subject) table in the Create Parameter dialognow reflects when a subject’s name has been updated (DE45011).

API

New

• A number of additional filters have been added to the TestSession API.

Fixed

• The description property in the Media API now updates the media’s alt text as expected (DE46147).

Performance improvements

• The way permissions are checked each time the Invigilate screen is loaded has been optimised, which has improved the speed of the screen and particularly benefits site-level users.
• Updating test form sections using the TestForm API has been optimised and now responds quicker.
• The Subjects page now takes less time to load.
• Deleting items from the Media Library now performs more quickly.
• An internal server error no longer appears when opening Candidate Review.
• Multiple markers’ quotas can now more reliably be updated simultaneously.
• Items can now be deleted more quickly.

Surpass Release 12.28 (December 2021)

Test driver

Improved

• A Close Source Material button has been added to opened HTML source material to ensure the dialog adheres to WCAG 2.1 accessibility criteria by having the button clearly visible to candidates and readable by screen readers at the end of the source material.

Item Authoring

Improved

• Assistive media (MP3 files up to 1MB) can now be added to question stems and Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, and Either/Or question answer options in HTML subjects.
• Drag and Drop questions now support images in answer options in HTML subjects. A new Advanced mode lets you embed multiple drop zones onto a background image.
• The tag collections interface has been redesigned to improve the user experience.
• Following on from tags being moved into a new side panel for easier access in the last release, tag collections and hints have now been moved into the panel.

Fixed

• The Tags, Details, and Relationships tabs now display the correct information when searching for and viewing individual items in Item Search (DE45181).

Test Wizard

Improved

• Images (including alt text), mark schemes, and item sets can now be exported to Microsoft Word. You can also choose to mask any filenames included in the export, with the file’s unique identifier shown instead.

Tasks

Improved

• The tag collections interface has been redesigned to improve the user experience.
• Tasks assignees no longer have to provide a comment when approving items in a Shared Review task.
• The same item can now be edited in multiple Review tasks simultaneously.

Test Administration

Fixed

• Scripts containing human-marked items sat by candidates with reasonable adjustments enabled now display correctly in the Standard Mark screen (DE45711).
• The ratio of test forms scheduled when test form selection is randomised is now more balanced (DE42533).

Setup

Fixed

• Subjects with a much larger number of items can now be exported without issue (DE45225).
• Tag values with a name longer than 95 characters can now be edited and deleted (DE45746).

API

Improved

• Assistive media added to items in HTML subjects is now supported in the Item and BasicPage API resources.

Fixed

• Items moved from a deleted subject are now retrievable from a GET call using the Item OAPI resource (DE45891).

Performance improvements

• Subjects with large amounts of items now load quicker, and items take less time to be deleted.
• Media can now be more quickly deleted from the Media Library.
• Items can now be viewed in multiple Review tasks simultaneously more reliably.
• The loading time of the tag collections panel in Standard Setting tasks has been reduced.
• The Candidate Review screen can now be more reliably accessed by multiple users simultaneously.
• The performance of the TestForm API resource has been improved.
• The Item API resource now responds quicker to allow for faster creating and updating of items.

Surpass Release 12.27 (October 2021)

Test driver

New

• Tests can now be downloaded to an external device for offline distribution and then, after completion, uploaded back into Surpass once internet connection is restored.

Improved

• If candidates are disconnected from a test accessed where the keycode was included as part of the launch test URL, they are now presented with a holding screen until the connection is restored.
• Test Feedback in the HTML test driver can now be displayed by learning outcome. Candidates can also now access item-level feedback when reviewing answers, and print a summary of their feedback.
• The Standard Invigilate screen has now replaced the Legacy Invigilate screen in the SecureClient Admin Console.
• More areas of the HTML test driver now conform to WCAG 2.1 accessibility criteria.

Item Authoring

New

• A new Fraction Entry question type can be created in HTML subjects.
• Tags have been moved from step 5 of items into a new side panel for easier access.

Improved

• HTML and PDF files from the Nuxeo media repository can now be added to items.

Fixed

• Answer option labels for Multiple Choice and Multiple Response questions now display in the correct order when downloaded as part of a printable test after an answer option has been deleted (DE44678).
• Items with a space as the first character of their name can now be imported into an item list (DE44782).
• The word ‘Mark’ no longer appears with the word ‘Grade’ when adding marked (graded) learning outcomes to items when the system language is set to US English (DE45151).
• Strikethroughs and underlined text now display as expected when editing items and affected text is highlighted (DE45036).
• When previewing an Essay question, content pasted into the answer field that exceeds the defined character limit now pastes the characters up to the limit, rather than nothing at all (DE45148).

Test Wizard

Improved

• Learning, formative, summative, and paper and onscreen test types are now available when creating tests in HTML subjects.
• Multiple test forms per test can now be created. More test and test form settings have also been added to the Test Wizard, including Test Feedback settings. These changes bring the functionality available more in line with Test Creation.

Tasks

New

• You can now specify an item number to go to within a task, which is useful for navigating tasks containing lots of items.

Fixed

• Changes to candidate feedback by assignees are now highlighted to lead assignees reviewing items (DE42943).

Test Creation

Improved

• Item sets can now be grouped in LOFT sections using a new groupSets attribute on the order node in the LOFT rules XML file.
• A new aggregate function sum can now be used in the type attribute with numeric tag values in LOFT sections, for example to define a target difficulty using a range of p values.

Test Administration

Improved

• The HTML / Flash toggle has been renamed to Standard / Legacy to reflect the intended status and use of the remaining legacy Test Administration screens.
• The Legacy Invigilate and Results screens have been removed from Surpass as they are no longer required.
• You can now view candidate responses in the Standard Results screen.

Fixed

• HTML subjects containing an ampersand (&) in their title now display candidate responses properly in the Audit and Re-mark screens (DE44302).

API

New

• POST and PUT methods can now be used in the TestForm API resource to create and update test forms.

Performance improvements

• Creating subjects, deleting items, and downloading printable tests can now be done quicker and more reliably in large volumes.
• The Media Library now contains paging to improve performance where a library contains lots of media.
• The time it takes to schedule the same test form for lots of test sessions has significantly decreased; it is now up to 31x faster.
• The performance of Test Creation (and in particular cloning test forms) has been improved.
• Retrieving results and reporting data via the OAPI takes less time.
• The Folder API and TagCollectionGroup OAPI resources now respond quicker.

Surpass Release 12.26 (August 2021)

Test driver

Improved

• Test Feedback in the HTML test driver can now include candidate details.
• Candidates can now review their answers in Test Feedback in the HTML test driver.
• More areas of the HTML test driver now conform to WCAG 2.1 accessibility criteria.
• Audio Capture items are now compatible with HTML web delivery, tablet delivery, and packaged tests. All Audio Capture items will need to be republished before being used with tablet delivery.
• HTML Essay questions are no longer spell checked by browsers (excluding Firefox). All Essay items will need to be republished for this feature to take effect.

Fixed

• The first drag option is now randomised along with the other drag options in Drag and Drop questions in the HTML test driver (DE43284).
• Logos applied to a test profile now stay in their expected position in the HTML test driver when there is a large NDA (DE44679).
• Candidate responses are no longer spell checked in HTML SecureClient (DE43963).

Item Authoring

New

• Select from a List questions can now be created in HTML subjects.
• Users can now view statistics relating to the reliability of test forms in a new Statistics tab in the Item List screen. Statistics are generated using an external application. For more information on how to set this up, speak to your Surpass Account Manager.

Improved

• Item History now details any changes made to media/source material using Bulk Update.
• SVG and MP3 files can now be added to items as media from the Nuxeo media repository.

Fixed

• The item order of item lists can now be amended via CSV upload (DE44576).
• An issue where the first item name was not displaying correctly when pasting item names into the Name search parameter in Item Search (DE44244).

Test Wizard

Fixed

• Tests with the Exclude from random Test Form Selection setting enabled can now be scheduled for quality review tests from the Share Test menu (DE43647).

Test Creation

Fixed

• Sorting the Search Results grid by usage count when adding items to test forms now displays correctly (DE42757).

Test Administration

Improved

• HTML Test Administration grid columns can be pinned in place and their positions are retained when the screen is reopened.

Setup

Improved

• Up to 150 tag groups and 16,000 tag values can now be added to subjects in the Setup screen.

Fixed

• Permissions inherited through a subject shared with a centre no longer persist when removed (DE44001).
• Users can now scroll on the Candidates screen when filtering by centre (DE43512).

Site Settings

Improved

• Up to 20 custom workflow statuses can now be created in the Site Settings screen.

API

New

• Media data can now be retrieved using a new {id}/Data endpoint in the Media API.

Fixed

• Subcollection tag values can no longer be added to items that do not contain a parent tag collection using the ItemTagValue API (DE43995).

Performance improvements

• The performance of the Item Authoring and Tasks screens have been improved where there are lots of concurrent users.
• Items in a subject’s recycle bin can be deleted more reliably.
• Response times in the Test Wizard have been optimised where there are a lot of items and tests in the subject.
• The Schedule screen grid can now be filtered in less time.
• The Invigilate screen now performs more reliably and automatically refreshes every 2 minutes.
• ItemAuthoring API v2 methods now respond quicker.

Surpass Release 12.25 (March 2021)

Test driver

Improved

• Standard (HTML) and legacy (Flash) can now both be started from the same keycode screen, accessed by adding /takeatest to your Surpass URL.

Fixed

• Scrolling on Drag and Drop items now works correctly (DE43415).
• The JAWS screen reader now reads question stem and answer options in the HTML test driver (DE44355).
• Information Pages in tests delivered in Spanish are now translated correctly in the HTML test driver (DE42574).
• Candidates can no longer change their given answers behind the Finish Test dialog in the HTML test driver (DE44014).
• Source material now opens correctly in HTML packaged tests (DE43163).

Item Authoring

New

• Search criteria combinations can be saved in the Item Search screen for later use, and managed from the new Saved Searches screen.
• We have started to develop custom content packages that can be imported into the Media Library and added to a new Custom Question type. Please speak to your Surpass Account Manager if you would like more information about this functionality.

Improved

• Item History now details changes to item sets and changes to item’s media/source material.
• Source material can be viewed side-by-side with item content when editing items.
• Comments can be added to item sets.

Fixed

• Short Answer questions now save correctly in HTML subjects (DE43091).
• Item text containing a + symbol now displays correctly when downloading a printable test form from the Test Wizard menu (DE43107).

Tasks

Improved

• Changes to item sets can now be made/promoted in Individual Review tasks.
• Changes made to item sets are now reflected in Item Authoring only when the item set is submitted in Individual Review tasks, or when a final decision is made in Shared Review tasks.

Fixed

• A dialog mistakenly informing task assignees they have not finished their Review task no longer appears when closing a completed task (DE41386).

Test Administration

Improved

• Additional files can be uploaded to File Attach questions in the HTML Mark and Moderate screens.
• Default filter behaviour has been changed on the HTML Results screen to hide voided tests.
• Pagination across the HTML Test Administration screens is now consistent with other areas of Surpass.
• Scrolling with a mouse now works where there is a table within a page, such as when scheduling a test.

API

Fixed

• Reduced ItemList API resource response times (DE43300).
• Reduced Folder API resource response times (DE43299).
• Tag groups can now be posted simultaneously using the TagGroup OAPI resource (DE42842).

Performance improvements

• Improved response times when navigating to Item Authoring by not sending unnecessary tokens.
• The number of candidates visible on each page of the Candidates screen has been increased to 100 and its performance improved.
• Test web links can be generated by multiple users simultaneously without errors.
• Item Pools can be updated regardless of the number of tags assigned to items.
• Items are now locked (for example, when being bulk updated) quicker and more reliably.
• Custom Reports can now be generated with a larger number of values.
• Sharing Subjects now performs more reliably.
• Markers can now mark a much greater number of exams simultaneously.
• The API calls used to retrieve data in the HTML Test Administration grids have been changed from GET to POST to increase performance when filtering lots of data.
• The TestSession API resource has been optimised to improve the performance of our remote invigilation service.

Surpass Release 12.24 (December 2020)

Item Authoring

Fixed

• Item lists now import successfully from a CSV file (DE44235).

Test Creation

Fixed

• Pre-test rules inside section selector sections now display correctly in the Test Form Rules tab of the Edit Test Form window (DE43493).

Test Administration

New

• A native HTML version of the Schedule screen has been added to Surpass, allowing you to schedule, edit, and delete test sessions, print invigilation packs, and show additional test details.

Improved

• More functionality has been added to the HTML Invigilate screen, including the ability to re-assign user associations, upload responses for paper tests, manage candidate resume codes for BYOD tests, and modify the duration of tests and project submission dates.
• Default filter behaviour has been changed on the HTML Results screen to hide voided tests.
• Column filters have been improved in the HTML Test Administration grids, allowing for searching within column contents.
• Checkboxes have been added to the HTML Schedule, Invigilate, and Results grids to make multiple selections easier.
• The Reset Filters button in the HTML Schedule, Invigilate, and Results screens is disabled when no filters are applied.
• The Customise Columns capability in Site Settings now affects the HTML Schedule, Invigilate, Mark, and Results grids.

Fixed

• Column header filters now filter correctly when selecting to filter by lots of options (DE43345).
• Deferred tests can now be downloaded using the SecureClient Admin Console (DE44154).

API

Fixed

• Tags can now be added to items using the OAPI regardless of whether any item versions are locked (DE44168).

Surpass Release 12.23 (November 2020)

Surpass Help Site

The Surpass Help Site launches with the 12.23 release of Surpass, featuring completely redesigned and rewritten documentation. All help links () in Surpass now direct you to the relevant areas of the new Help Site.

In September, the Surpass Help Site was chosen as the Overall Winner at the 2020 UK Technical Communication Awards. For more information, read our official press release.

Test driver

Improved

• The Surpass audio player now supports accessible keyboard navigation in the HTML test driver.
• The word count and character limit features have been redesigned for Essay items in the HTML test driver.

Item Authoring

New

• Item lists can be created, updated, and reordered using a spreadsheet import.
• Images can be enlarged in the Edit screen when creating and editing items.
• Media can now be added to item sets.

Improved

• The Bulk Update interface for adding and removing tags has been redesigned.
• More special characters have been added to the formatting toolbar.
• ‘NOT’ logic has been added to certain search parameters in Item Search.
• Extended Matching items now support images in answer options.
• The formatting toolbar for Multiple Choice and Multiple Response answer option tables has been updated.
• Each profile in Unit Conversions can now have its own glossary.

Fixed

• Images in answer options now preview correctly in the HTML test driver (DE39395).
• Text in table header rows now aligns correctly (DE39402).
• Changing the order of items in a subject now behaves as expected (DE39849).

Tasks

New

• Standard Setting tasks have been added to Tasks, allowing assignees to rate items and calculate cut scores according to the Angoff method. Standard Setting tasks support tag collections and CSV exports.

Test Creation

Improved

• Test forms with less than 12 sections or 50 items/rules are now expanded by default in the Edit Test Form window.

Fixed

• Test forms now validate when containing Drag and Drop items with answer options including ampersands (DE42687).
• The duration of computer-based test now displays as minutes rather than days when changing from a computer-based project (DE40664).
• Dynamic rules now work as expected when using ranges that do not meet the maximum number of required items (DE42891).

Test Administration

New

• Native HTML versions of the Invigilate and Results screens have been added to Surpass. Access these screens by selecting HTML on the Flash / HTML toggle. Some functionality of the Flash screens is yet to be converted to HTML and will be available in a future Surpass release.
• A feedback button has been added to all HTML Test Administration screens, allowing you to provide us with feedback on the areas as we continue development.

Improved

• The HTML Mark screen is now out of beta and can be accessed by selecting HTML on the Flash / HTML toggle.
• A data grid detailing additional files uploaded by markers to HTML File Attach items has been added to the View Responses dialog in the Moderate, Re-mark, Audit, and Results screens.

Setup

Improved

• The default Content Type for all newly created subjects is now HTML instead of Mixed.
• Site administrators can control which tags are published from Item Authoring to Test Creation.
• Validation has been added to prevent duplicate tag creation when double spaces are identified in a tag value name that already exists with single spacing.

API

New

• The OAPI and API include a new publishable property for tag groups (POST, GET, and PUT).

Improved

• Ordering of tag collections and subcollections can now be defined using POST and PUT calls.
• Bulk POST and PUT calls can be performed for tag collections using the OAPI.

Performance improvements

• Subjects containing items with lots of tags now load quicker.
• Subjects containing items with lots of tools now publish in less time.
• Multiple users creating subjects simultaneously can now do so in less time.
• Bulk updating tags is quicker and users are sent a report via email when the process is complete.
• Items now perform more reliability when being previewed by lots of task assignees simultaneously.
• Items in the same subject that are updated simultaneously now update quicker in higher volumes.

Surpass Release 12.22 (June 2020)

Test driver

New

• Candidates can now close docked source material in SecureClient. This is controlled by a setting in Test Profiles.

Improved

• Essay items with the formatting toolbar are now compatible with JAWS screen readers. However, these items cannot be delivered, previewed, or marked in Internet Explorer due to compatibility issues.
• Multiple Choice items can have checkboxes next to answer options, allowing for compatibility with JAWS screen readers.

Fixed

• Hints now work as expected in the HTML test driver (DE41863).
• Source material loads faster in the HTML test driver (DE41623).
• Audio Capture items stored on an offline device running SecureClient will load correctly on other machines (DE41418).
• The correct message now displays on the PIN screen for French language tests running in BYOD SecureClient (DE38560).
• The spacing between buttons in the Item Comments dialog has been fixed for French-Canadian tests in the HTML test driver (DE40344).

Item Authoring

New

• A new user interface has been added to Item Search to allow for complex Boolean search logic, including stackable “AND” and “OR” operators.

Fixed

• Items with tracked changes no longer preview with deleted content visible (DE41390).
• The pencil icon no longer appears against items that are not being edited (DE39187).
• The correct answer in HTML Multiple Choice items with Answer options as a table enabled no longer changes when adding a new row (DE41003).
• Items containing tables with ampersands and greater-than/less-than signs in merged cells can now be exported to a Word document (DE40088).

Test Wizard

Fixed

• Learning outcome boundaries now work as expected when sharing a test using a weblink (DE41971).
• The Select Test Form search bar in the Share Test dialog is now visible when the Surpass UI language is set to Dutch (DE38084).
• The Quality Review panel now displays as expected in Japanese language tests (DE39801).

Tasks

New

• Tag collections can now be used in Authoring and Review tasks.

Fixed

• Users can preview items in Authoring tasks even if they have pasted multiple lines of text into the answer option rationale (DE40833).

Test Creation

New

• All items in an item pool can now be updated to their latest version at the same time using Update Item Pool.

Improved

• Item sets can be split in LOFT rules XML files so that pre-test items can be distributed across sections and are not ordered consecutively.
• Test form sections are collapsed by default to improve loading speeds.

Test Administration

New

• HTML test content can be viewed in the View Responses dialog in the Moderate, Results, Re-mark, and Audit screen. This includes File Attach items.
• The View Responses dialog now supports playback functionality for HTML Audio Capture items.

Fixed

• The viewing time in the Result Data database now matches the viewing time in the candidate interaction logs (DE41812).
• All feedback options are now available when scheduling a candidate review session (DE40729).

Setup

New

• Tag values can now be edited in the Subjects screen.

Improved

• Roles can be assigned to subject-level users either on a centre or subject priority.

Fixed

• Candidates can no longer be uploaded to subjects marked as Active (Registration Closed) (DE28937).
• Subject groups can be now be created when subject or centre names contain special characters (DE40508).
• Centre names containing ampersands now appear correctly (DE40513).

API

New

• A new optional flag in the TestSchedule API POST method has been added that auto-groups items when they are sent to SecureMarker.
• A new ScannedItemResponses POST endpoint has been added to the TestSession API that uploads scanned paper responses to Surpass and SecureMarker.

Fixed

• User names and references used when creating a user via the API can no longer be used when creating a user in the UI (DE41400).

Performance improvements

• The update process for SecureClient has been enhanced to reduce errors and take less time.
• Saving items in Item Authoring now takes less time.
• Moving items to folders or other subjects in Item Authoring now takes less time.
• Large tag collections now update in less time.

Surpass Release 12.21 (February 2020)

Test driver

New

• Integrated apps for opening and editing Word documents and Excel spreadsheets have been added to BYOD SecureClient, meaning Microsoft Office apps are no longer needed for these tests.
• The PDF Viewer is now supported in the HTML test driver.
• A formatting toolbar has been added to Essay items in the HTML test driver. This is not compatible with Internet Explorer. All Essay items with the formatting toolbar will need to be republished for this feature to take effect.

Improved

• Time warning alerts now appear over URL source material in HTML SecureClient.
• Browser controls (for example, Next/Back/Home buttons) can be used to navigate HTML and URL source material in the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• Tests sat in HTML SecureClient in Greek now display candidates’ first names correctly (DE39390).
• The Candidate Comments dialog now closes when navigating between items using the Section Review panel (DE39780).

Item Authoring

New

• Shared answers have been added to Advanced Numerical Entry items in HTML subjects, enabling pools of correct answer options that can be entered into any answer field.
• Advanced Numerical Entry items in HTML subjects now support tables with embedded answer boxes.
• Zipped HTML packages can be added as source material to items. This allows animations and simulations to be added to items.
• Bulk updates across multiple subjects can now be performed in the Item Search and Item Lists screens.
• Numerical data across multiple items can be converted to other units in the new Unit Conversions screen.
• Columns in the Item Search and Item Lists grids can now be sorted and reordered based on tag data.

Improved

• An Item ID search type has been added to Item Search.
• URLs in HTML and URL source material can be whitelisted in bulk using a spreadsheet.

Fixed

• Multiple Choice items with tables that contain ampersands can now be exported to Microsoft Word (DE39850).
• Repeated Bulk Update failures no longer cause Item Authoring to become unresponsive (DE41445).
• Items now open correctly, even if the browser was closed during editing (DE33906).
• Items now unlock properly after being edited, allowing further editing by another user (DE38163).

Test Wizard

Fix

• Tests with “-1” to “-6” in their names can now be exported to Microsoft Word (DE38703).

Tasks

Improved

• Authoring and Review tasks now reflect the correct ordering of items and item sets in list items.

Test Creation

New

• Additional information can be added to a test profile via a JSON file. This information can be extracted using the API.
• Items in LOFT item pools can be grouped into collections or randomised in delivery.

Test Administration

Improved

• The Candidate Interaction log now displays more information, including timestamps for when candidates enter and leave sections, information about PDFs, and response data for Short Answer and Numerical Entry items.
• The user who submits a script in the Mark screen is now visible in the Test Details section of the Audit Report.

Fixed

• The Candidate Review screen loads correctly even if it contains tests scheduled at deleted centres (DE40379).

API

Improved

• More detailed information about tests taken locally are sent to a central location to identify potential risks in advance.
• The Result API now exports full answer data for all item types in response to a GET request.
• The GET and PUT methods for the TestSession API and the POST method for the Token API have been optimised.

Performance improvements

• The speed of the Rescoring screen has improved.
• Data grids in the Tests and Test Forms screens are now paginated and have filter management to improve loading times.
• The storage of audio recordings and file submissions has been enhanced to reduce the impact of large files on system performance.
• Audio Capture recordings now upload to Surpass faster.

Surpass Release 12.20 (November 2019)

Test driver

New

• Mongolian, Thai, Nepali, Khmer, and Burmese test driver languages added.

Improved

• Candidates’ locations in URL source material persists when used across multiple items in HTML SecureClient.
• Candidates now see a dialog confirming their script has been uploaded to the server after submitting a test in the HTML test driver.
• A word count has been added to Essay items in the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• Grouped source material now appears to candidates in the order defined by the item author (DE35134).
• Microsoft apps now close as expected when launching SecureClient without having to terminate background processes (DE37921).
• Candidates can now copy to and paste from SecureClient when clipboard history and sync devices are enabled (DE40132).

Item Authoring

New

• Hints have been added to HTML Numerical Entry items. Hints are supported in forward only sections delivered in the HTML test driver.
• Exclusive answer options have been added to Multiple Response and Multiple Response Survey items, allowing a fixed “none of the above” / “all of the above” answer option that is not affected by alphabetical or randomised order settings.
• Shared information can now be added to item sets that will appear on all included items when delivered.
• Weighted marking has been added to HTML Drag and Drop items.
• Tags can be added to Information Pages in HTML subjects.

Improved

• Smart columns have been renamed Tag columns in Item Search and Item Lists. Tag columns can now be filtered.
• Version Compare now supports Essay items, item sets, candidate feedback, and citations.
• Item set owners can be now be changed.

Fixed

• Exported items now display in sequential order in Word documents (DE38983).
• The question character limit error message in Advanced Short Answer items can now be read by screen readers (DE38949).
• There is no additional spacing added to HTML source material text when downloaded to the Media Library (DE36694).
• Spacing issues with HTML Numerical Entry items with more than one answer box have been fixed (DE36701).

Tasks

New

• Review task items are locked for editing in Item Authoring if a user edits them during the task. Locked items are unlocked when the task is completed.

Improved

• Single Copy (Shared) and Multiple Copy (Individual) Review tasks have been renamed and unified under the Editing Mode parameter.
• Nuxeo media is now available in Review task Word exports.
• The Tasks screen has been redesigned to remove duplicate functionality.

Fixed

• Users can now export tasks containing media to a Word document (DE38806).

Test Creation

New

• Tools are now automatically added to test forms along with the relevant items.

Improved

• A warning message has been added when attempting to edit live tests and test forms.
• Item lists can now be found using a search bar when defining item pools.

Test Administration

Improved

• The SecureClient Admin Console has received a Send Failed Uploads function and the ability to generate candidate reports from locally stored tests.
• Tests at the Awaiting Upload status can now be voided.
• Calculator and caliper tools can now be opened in the HTML Mark Script dialog in the Mark (Beta) screen.
• The HTML Mark Script dialog now features a resizable image viewer and supports SWF files.

Fixed

• The section-level Randomise Items setting now works correctly for tests that have been bulk scheduled across multiple centres (DE38908).

Setup

Improved

• Users must now pass a validation check when attempting to create a site-level user.
• The order of user types in the Create User dialog has been reordered to reflect the most commonly used user types.
• The Move Items and Share Items permissions are now available to centre- and subject-level users.

Fixed

• An error concerning Single Sign-On (SSO) on environments with more than one web server has been fixed (DE38507).

API

New

• A selectedSections property has been added to the TestSchedule API POST method to schedule specific test sections by section name.
• An extendedDemographics property has been added to the Candidate API POST method to add extra information to candidates.
• A requiresCheckIn property has been added to the TestSchedule API POST and GET methods to ensure candidates are checked in before they can take their test. A new auto-void state has been added to account for candidates that do not check in on time.
• An {id}/StateChanges endpoint has been added to the Result API to enable GET calls for script state changes using either the ID or keycode as an identifier.
• A new filter has been added to the GET method of the TestSession API, enabling the retrieval of information about test sessions that are awaiting either marking or moderation.

Performance improvements

• The average loading time for opening and saving items has been reduced by 16%.
• Lazy loading has been added to the Enemy Items dialog.
• The PDF viewer opens more quickly when auto-launched in HTML SecureClient.
• Pagination has been optimised in the Setup screens.
• Bulk Update has been optimised to become more scalable and runs 80% faster.

Surpass Release 12.19 (August 2019)

Test driver

New

• Candidates now see a message confirming their script has been uploaded to the server after submitting a test in the HTML test driver.
• A new Managed mode for File Attach items lets candidates use stand-alone document and spreadsheet editors in BYOD tests.
• A visual indicator that recording is in progress now displays in Audio Capture items if the Record button is hidden.

Improved

• PDF Viewer controls can now be hidden if they are not applicable to the current document in a test.
• SecureClient now remains closed when candidates exit the application.
• The sequential delivery of multiple tests is now supported in the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• Mouse wheel scrolling now moves at a normal pace in SecureClient (DE37003).
• The Hide zoom controls button in the high-fidelity image viewer is now aliased correctly (DE37894).

Item Authoring

New

• A new Templates screen has been added to Surpass, allowing you to create item and component templates in HTML subjects.
• An item-level timer that determines how much time candidates have to respond to items can now be set in HTML subjects.
• A new Item Content Delay setting lets you hide the question stem, answer options, and source material from candidates after the item’s audio or video has finished or a specific time has elapsed.
• Additional media layouts have been added to Introduction Pages and Finish Pages.
• More functionality has been added to the Surpass media player, including the ability to limit the number of times media can be played.
• Multiple columns can now be sorted to reorder item lists.
• A new Resize button has been added to the formatting toolbar.
• Up to 30 media files can now be added to items.

Improved

• Item sets, Essay items, Information Pages, and custom tags can now be imported to Surpass with a spreadsheet.
• Mark schemes can now be upload to items as XLS, XLSX, or PDF files.
• Version Compare now supports Information Pages.
• Inline comments can now be added from the right-click menu in items.
• Users can now create item sets from the Create New Item menu.
• More special characters have been added to the formatting toolbar.

Fixed

• Inline comments are now added to the entry field when users select Reply (DE37848).
• The extra line break no longer appears above question text in items that were imported via QTI 2.1 files (DE37670).

Test Wizard

Fixed

• Dutch translations now appear as expected when creating paper tests (DE35107).
• Tests containing enemy items can now be edited properly (DE35652).

Tasks

New

• Up to 30 attachments can now be added to Authoring and Review tasks.

Improved

• Multiple lead assignees can now be assigned to Authoring and Review tasks.
• Item sets are now supported in tasks.
• Task managers can now enable tracked changes to record text edits made to items in Authoring tasks.

Fixed

• The item breadcrumb panel now works as expected in Review tasks (DE38217).

Test Creation

Improved

• Item pools can now be created and managed in the Item Pools screen.
• Branching XML logic now supports “No Action” as a valid response if candidates do not respond to a Multiple Choice item.
• More functionality has been added to the Test Profiles screen, allowing users to further customise the appearance of the test driver.

Fixed

• Users now can view item pools and rules as expected for LOFT tests (DE38056).

Test Administration

Improved

• A new Show each candidate view in Schedule screen setting in Site Settings determines whether the Show each candidate layout is enabled by default.
• A new Audit Report button has been added to the Audit screen.

Fixed

• Essay items now display correctly in Candidate Review sessions (DE36397).

Setup

New

• Users can now associate multiple subjects with centres and manage subject-level permissions.

Improved

• Centre-level users can now share subjects with centres.

Fixed

• Centre-level users can now see other users associated with the same centre (DE37887).

Reporting

Fixed

• The Raw Data Extract report is now working as expected (DE37214).
• Tests Delivered reports now display correctly (DE37293).

Site Settings

New

• Access to the Surpass API can now be restricted with whitelisted IP addresses.

API

Fixed

• Tests in any language can now be scheduled via the API (DE37601).

Surpass Release 12.18 (April 2019)

Test driver

Improved

• The Voice Capture item has been renamed to Audio Capture and can now be delivered in HTML SecureClient.
• More functionality has been added to HTML Audio Capture items, including a microphone check for tests containing Audio Capture items, a visual display of audio input, and a backup of the candidate’s recording every 30 seconds.
• File Attach items are now compatible with the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• The calculator tool now correctly translates to Japanese (DE35877).
• Candidates can now interact with the Surpass video player as expected when colour preferences are changed in the test driver (DE36062).
• Comments now appear as expected when downloaded from the quality review panel (DE36174).
• Marks can now be awarded to Table items in SecureClient as expected (DE37439).
• Tests no longer freeze when navigating between File Attach items and Multiple Response items in BYOD SecureClient (DE34290).

Tasks

New

• Tasks can now be ordered, filtered, or searched for in the Tasks screen.
• Access to tag groups in Authoring and Review tasks can now be customised.
• Users can now only be assigned to tasks if they are associated with the task’s parent subject.
• Review task items can now be exported to a Word document.

Improved

• Items in an item list now appear in Review and Authoring tasks in the same order they appear in the Item Lists screen.
• Lead assignees can now compare original items in a side-by-side view with assignees’ edited copies.
• Lead assignees can now promote selected changes from assignees’ edited copies of an item to the original version.
• Lead assignees can now view answer option rationale in Individual Review tasks.
• A new Extended History setting allows lead assignees and assignees in Authoring tasks, and lead assignees in Individual Review tasks, to view old versions of items and restore changes since those versions in the Version menu.

Item Authoring

New

• More functionality has been added to HTML Audio Capture items, including the ability to limit candidates’ attempts and configure audio cues (or “beeps”).
• Source material can now be attached to item sets.
• The Fix the order of items setting can now be applied to item sets when using Bulk Update.

Improved

• Tag collections can now be created and managed in the Surpass UI.
• Additional answer options can now be added to Multiple Response survey items.
• Major item versions are now created when changing an item’s status to live in Bulk Update.

Test Creation

Improved

• Test forms containing more than 50 items or rules can now be loaded in the Test Form Rules tab of the Edit Test Form window.

Fixed

• Sections can now be added to computer based projects (DE35354).
• Searches performed in the Item Search screen now work as expected (DE36840).
• Text now translates as expected from English to French Canadian (DE63114).

Test Administration

New

• A HTML version the Mark screen has been added to Surpass, allowing you to mark candidates’ completed scripts.
• A new Show to Centre setting allows centre-level users to view candidate responses in the Results screen.
• Users with the Invigilate and SecureClient Admin Console permissions can now access the SecureClient Admin Console, where tests can be downloaded to multiple devices in advance of a test session.

Fixed

• The Maximum Advance Schedule (Days) setting now works as expected (DE35497).
• Centre names containing special characters now display correctly when bulk scheduling (DE34240).
• Percentage marks are now calculated correctly (DE35668).
• Tests can now be flagged for remarking in the Audit screen after they have been marked in SecureMarker (DE36275).
• Searching for specific candidates in the Invigilate screen now works as expected (DE35855).

Setup

Improved

• Read-only tag groups can now be created in the Subjects screen of Setup.

API

New

• A new includeItems property in the GET TestForm API has been added to retrieve section and item information from test forms.
• A new sectionMediaReplays property in the PUT and GET TestForm API has been added to limit the number of times candidates can replay media in a section.
• A new returnDownloadData property in the TestSession and Result APIs has been added to retrieve information about the device that a test was downloaded to.

Improved

• GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE methods are now supported when using the TagGroups OAPI.
• The POST and PUT methods are now supported for Essay items when using the Item OAPI.

Fixed

• Rescoring changes are now reflected in the ItemResponse API (DE36223).

Surpass Release 12.17.1 (February 2019)

Test driver

New

• SecureClient now switches between the standard (HTML) and legacy (HTML) test drivers depending on the candidate’s keycode.
• Headers can now be added to item sets in the Test Profiles screen.
• Candidates’ last names now appear before their first name on the Confirm Details screen before a test and when a test is resumed after a break.

Fixed

• Candidates can now scroll as expected when using source material in the HTML test driver (DE35478).
• The correct message now appears when launching SecureClient BYOD mode with a Word document open (DE35408).
• Candidates can now use the highlighting tool and the document picker in the PDF viewer as expected when navigating more than one piece of source material (DE35367).
• The Total Test Time Remaining warning message now translates into Welsh correctly (DE35189).
• Cells in Spreadsheet items now remain the same height (DE30616).
• Start and end times of breaks are now logged in SecureClient (DE32646).
• Items now only open once in SecureClient (DE34466).
• “Yes” and “No” messages are now correctly translated from Welsh to English (DE34468).
• Tests now upload as expected across all time zones (DE35550).
• Item sets now appear as separate breadcrumbs when Item Set Numbering is disabled (DE35537).
• JAWS screen readers now read text properly (DE34947).
• Error messages are read as expected by JAWS screen readers (DE34948).
• JAWS screen readers now read header text properly (DE35103).
• Quality review tests can now be navigated as expected after downloading comments (DE36174).

Tasks

New

• Authoring tasks have been added to Tasks, allowing assignees to add content to blank or partially completed items. Lead assignees can view all assignees’ items and make any changes before submission.
• Individual Review tasks have been added to Tasks, allowing assignees to work on their own versions of task items.
• A new lead assignee job type allows users to review all assignees’ item versions and promote changes to the original central copy of the item.
• Task managers can now enable tracked changes to record text edits made to items in Review tasks.

Improved

• Item sets are now supported in Review tasks.

Fixed

• Votes are now correctly tracked in the progress doughnut for Review tasks (DE35287).

Item Authoring

New

• Inline comments that refer to a specific piece of written content can now be added to items.
• Voice Capture items are now supported in HTML subjects.

Improved

• Item Search and Item List columns can now be customised and filtered on.
• Users can now create HTML source code in HTML subjects.
• The Bulk Update functionality now supports Owner as an update type.
• Users can now specify an item owner when importing items with a spreadsheet.
• Inline Rationale has been redesigned to allow users to add rationale while viewing item content.
• The interface for adding tags to items has been redesigned to improve the user experience.
• Extended Matching items are now supported in HTML subjects.
• Many to many marking in Extended Matching items is now supported in HTML subjects.
• Hotspot items are now supported in HTML subjects.
• The Export to Word Document and Printable Tests features now support Advanced Short Answer items.

Fixed

• Text formatting in Spreadsheet items now behaves as expected (DE35225).
• Japanese text containing phonetic characters now display correctly when imported with a spreadsheet or via the API (DE30439).
• Subjects containing large amounts of items now export as expected (DE31375).
• Special characters can now be added in the Alt Text entry field in the Surpass Media Library (DE33920).
• Bulk Update now works as expected when updating items from Draft to Live (DE34110).
• Citations no longer appear on items after they have been discarded (DE34283).
• Media now opens as expected even when the file name includes an apostrophe (DE35067).
• Subjects can now be added to a subject group that contains archived subjects (DE35070).

Test Wizard

Fixed

• The Share Test functionality now works as expected when importing items with a spreadsheet (DE33519).

Test Creation

Fixed

• Items now load as expected when previewing (DE29823).
• The correct error message now appears when opening a live test form (DE33050).

Test Administration

Improved

• Scripts now display as Exported in the Audit screen if results have been extracted via the API.

Fixed

• All items now display as expected in the Audit screen (DE35494).
• A two second delay now occurs before the correct answer is displayed in a candidate review session (DE23485).
• Users can now double click on marked scripts to open them (DE29402).
• The number of restricted characters when uploading File Attach files has been reduced (DE27856).
• A clear message now appears when printing an invigilation pack (DE31025).
• The correct name of the user scheduling a test using Share Test is now recorded (DE32714).
• Scroll bars no longer appear if they are not required when marking Spreadsheet items externally (DE34305).
• Scripts now move to the Audit screen as expected (DE34764).
• Tests can no longer be scheduled beyond the Maximum Advance Schedule date (DE35497).
• Tests are now scheduled even if the Schedule for Invigilate column in the Bulk Schedule spreadsheet was left blank (DE35593).
• Users can now assign marks to response as expected (DE32843).

API

Improved

• File Attach and Extended Matching items are now supported using the Item API.
• The Result API now supports item type and marking type.
• Authoring tasks can now be created and edited via the API.
• Item set headers can now be viewed via the API.
• Candidates can now be scheduled for tests via the API.

Surpass Release 12.16 (October 2018)

Test driver

New

• Item set numbering now lets candidates identify items that are part of an item set in the HTML test driver.

Improved

• A visual indicator that source material or tools are open now displays in the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• The keyboard is now hidden for HTML tests taken on iPads (DE32965).
• Horizontal scrolling has been added to iOS delivery (DE33894).

Tasks

Improved

• Item breadcrumbs now change colour to reflect assignees’ votes in Shared Review tasks.

Item Authoring

New

• A new HTML Likert survey item has been added to Surpass, allowing candidates to respond to a statement along a scale.
• Multiple answer options can now be added to HTML Advanced Short Answer items.
• Files in the Surpass Media Library can now be duplicated.
• A new Fix the order of items property can now be used to lock the order of items in item sets.

Improved

• Item enemies can now be created across different subjects.
• The Move Items functionality can now be used to move items to a different folder or subject.
• A free text entry field has been added to HTML Multiple Choice survey items.

Fixed

• The font in Spreadsheet items now defaults to size 12 (DE31227).
• Imported items containing grouped media now save correctly (DE32212).
• The Item Authoring screen is now stable when opening and editing items (DE33387).
• More special characters can now be added to alt text (DE33920).
• Citations can now be deleted as expected (DE34283).

Test Creation

New

• Feedback can now be added to the end of a section in a test.
• Users can now set up progress marks that allow candidates to resit a section if the required mark is not achieved.

Fixed

• The response time when adding multiple items to a test form has been reduced (DE20977).

Test Administration

Improved

• More functionality has been added to Bulk Schedule, including the ability to schedule tests at multiple centres.

Fixed

• Tests can no longer be scheduled beyond the number of days specified in the Maximum Advance Schedule setting.
• The date filters in the Mark screen now work as expected (DE30930).
• Timestamps are now added to the candidate log when candidates start and finish breaks (DE32893).

Site Settings

New

• Subject tags can now be created in Site Settings.

Improved

• The default view on the Schedule screen can now be customised to display tests by session or show each candidate.
• Users with access to the Nuxeo media repository can no longer use the Surpass Media Library.

API

Improved

• Likert survey items are now supported in the GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE methods in the ItemSet API.
• Advanced Short Answer items are now supported in the GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE methods in the Item API.

Surpass Release 12.15 (August 2018)

Test driver

New

• A new caliper tool has been added to Surpass, which allows candidates to measure delivery elements and media in centimetres, inches, pixels, points, picas, and twips.
• Candidates can now use a table of contents in the PDF viewer.

Improved

• The Source Material button is no longer visible if source material is set to automatically launch and if only one piece of source material is associated with an item.
• Comments can now be added to Introduction Pages using the Quality Review panel in the HTML test driver.  

Fixed

• Content now downloads only once and is displayed as expected when running tests in web delivery (DE19696). 
• The Preferences icon is now available to candidates regardless of the number of Introduction Pages (DE27880). 
• The question text stem now fits correctly within the frame when the language is set to Arabic (DE29080).  
• Candidates can now scroll to the bottom of the question as expected when viewing a question set for landscape view on an iPad in the HTML test driver (DE31770). 
• When using the HTML test driver on an iPad, questions are no longer considered unattempted when candidates move on to the next question with the keyboard still on-screen (DE32965).  
• Scheduled battery exams can now be sat as expected (DE32982).  
• PDF files now open correctly when delivering a test through SurpassLocal with no internet connection (DE33084).  
• Tests now end as expected when the Finish button is selected (DE33300).  
• The list of test forms is now displayed as expected when downloading printable tests from the Test Wizard (DE33096). 
• SecureClient submits and closes as expected when the test time expires. (DE24871). 
• The file upload manager changes colour according to the preferences that have been set (DE26310). 
• The text colour now reverts to black for marking in SecureClient (DE33427).  

Tasks

New

• Task managers can now edit General and Review tasks in both the Not started and In progress states. 
• Task managers can now view assignees’ votes on items in Review tasks and make final decisions. Task managers can add comments and change the workflow status of the item when making a final decision.
• Task managers can now access and edit tasks after their end dates. 

Improved

• The Item Information panel in the Item Review screen has new tabs for Item Tags, Enemy Items, Citations, and General Feedback.  

Item Authoring

New

• Negative weighted marks can now be set as answer options in Multiple Choice and Multiple Response questions.  
• Answer rationale can now be added to each answer option in Multiple Choice and Multiple Response questions.  
• Up to 60 PDF files can now be grouped in the Media Library in HTML subjects.
• Images can now be embedded in the middle of questions and answer stem texts in the HTML test driver. 
• Enemy relationships can now be created for item sets.
• Master lists for subjects can now be created in the Item Lists (Beta) screen.  

Improved

• Multiple tag values can now be bulk updated with a maximum of 5000 items being updated at once.  
• There have been some enhancements to the formatting options when creating source material in the Media Library.  
• Images can now be added to items’ question stems and answer options in HTML subjects.

Fixed

• Text now appears clearly with any colour preference applied in the Wiris editor (DE26804). 
• The keyboard keys now behave as expected when using the Spreadsheet item type which has an attached document (DE29126).  
• Japanese characters can now be entered when setting learning outcome boundaries on a test form (DE31605).  
• Word documents now open as expected from the File Attach question type (DE32810).  

Test Creation

New

• A new Survey Section section type has been added to Surpass, which is supported in the HTML test driver. Items added to this section type automatically become non-scored and this section is timed independently of the test.  
• A new Exclude Test Form from Random Selection setting has been added that excludes selected test forms from random selection at the point of scheduling. 

Improved

• The NDA confirmation screen text that displays to candidates can now be formatted using the formatting toolbar. Text can now also be imported from a Word document and retain formatting.  

Test Administration

New

• Marks can now be awarded for unattempted questions in the Re-mark screen.  

Fixed

• All feedback is now included when printing candidate feedback at the end of tests (DE33001).  
• Candidate reports can now be viewed as expected when the learning outcome contains an ampersand (DE32893).  
• The Dutch translation of the term “partial mark” is now translated correctly in the Candidate Review screen (DE32874).  
• Tests launched using the keycode command line now upload results as expected (DE33133).  

Site Settings

New

• The default settings in the Tests Delivered report can now be configured for values.

API

Improved

• The Item API now supports negative marking for answer options in Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items.
• The new Rationale field in answer options is supported by the Item API.  
• Items and item sets can be created or edited to have enemy relationships with another item or item set using the Item or ItemSet APIs.  
• Survey sections can now be identified in the Result, AnalyticsResult and HistoricalResult APIs.  
• Learning outcome and unit result information is now supported in the AnalyticsResult and HistoricalResult APIs.  
• Master lists are now supported by the Subject and ItemList APIs.  
• The Quality Review panel can be enabled in the HTML test driver using a new object when scheduling tests via the API.  
• Items can now be shared with a master list using the ItemList API. 
• If JSON or XML files have been uploaded to the Metadata Uploader of a test form in Test Creation, they can now be retrieved via the TestForm API.  
• The new Exclude from Random Test Form Selection setting is now supported in the Schedule API.  
• The PO number for a scheduled test session can now be extracted from the TestSession and Result APIs.  
• A caliper tool can now be added to items via the Item API.  

Fixed

• Tests scheduled via the API that contain an unscheduled break now start as expected when the keycode is entered (DE31534). 
• The Surpass UI now displays the plus symbol as expected when it is used in the Reference field in the API (DE32487). 

Surpass Release 12.14 (June 2018)

Test driver

Improved

• Candidates can now use a highlighter tool to highlight HTML source material in tests.
• The PDF viewer is now supported in the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• Tests can now be downloaded as expected in SecureClient (DE31222).  
• SecureClient no longer closes when candidates select an invalid URL in URL source material (DE31404).  
• Item breadcrumbs now behave as expected when candidates save and close files in lockdown mode for File Attach items (DE31487).  
• Grouped questions now load as expected in SecureClient (DE31490).  
• Tests containing unscheduled breaks can now be accessed in SecureClient via the API (DE31534).  
• The JAWS screen reader now reads the alt text for embedded images as expected in the HTML test driver (DE30678).  
• Candidates can only accept the NDA agreement and enter the test when they have scrolled to the bottom of the Agree to Terms dialog (DE30678). 
• Time remaining alerts now display as expected in the HTML test driver (DE31589). 
• The key for the graph creator tool in ContentProducer now behaves as expected (DE30520). 
• Auto-fill options no longer appear in answer boxes in the HTML test driver when using Edge (DE31815).  
• The entire Finish button is now available in tests where Japanese is set as the navigation language (DE31938). 
• Candidates now receive their full scheduled break time in the HTML test driver (DE32201).  
• The tick icon is now correctly displayed when finishing a test where Turkish is set as the delivery language (DE23650). 
• The OK button is now correctly translated when sitting a test where Russian is set as the delivery language (DE23651).  
• Items no longer display as attempted until candidates select or enter a response (DE25503).  
• Candidates with quotation marks in their name can now access tests as expected (DE25962). 
• An error message now displays if candidates attempt to upload documents that are already open on their device (DE23861). 
• Text can now be highlighted as expected when using the PDF viewer (DE27126).  
• Page content in web delivery now displays as expected (DE19696). 
• Highlights made on documents in tests now persist properly (DE30192).  
• The progress bar is no longer affected by Survey items (DE29969). 

Tasks

Improved

• Task assignees can now edit items and view their Item History in Review tasks. 
• Task assignees can now view items’ assigned tag values in Review tasks.  

Item Authoring

New 

• Up to 1500 items can now be moved to different folders in the same subject using Move Items.

Improved 

• Tables can now be added to HTML source material.  
• The Standard and Advanced File Attach modes have been renamed to Managed and Manual, respectively.

Fixed 

• Items now save properly when adding em space and en space to question stems (DE31147).  
• Table questions created in ContentProducer now behave as expected (DE31325).  
• Labels now correctly display in Surpass (DE29960).  
• Text now displays as expected when Surpass is translated to Dutch (DE30250).  

Test Creation

New 

• Section tabs can now be hidden from candidates for timed sections in HTML tests.
• Time remaining alerts can now be configured with more flexibility in Test Profiles.
• The duration of a timed section can now be made mandatory for HTML tests.

Improved 

• The Quality Review panel in HTML tests has been enhanced to display more detailed information on the item, section, and test.
• Item sets are now visible in the UI when creating test forms.
• A new marking progress bar has been added that displays the number of attempted questions over the total number of questions in a test as a fraction.

Fixed 

• Users can now upload a manifest file containing empty tags to test profiles (DE31348).  
• An error message now displays when tools are missing from a test form (DE26211).  
• Japanese characters can now be entered as test form grade boundaries (DE30215).  

Test Administration

New 

• Markers can now escalate a candidate’s script in the Mark, Paper Mark, and Moderate screens. Scripts can be escalated if they require further attention or if a candidate is suspected of malpractice.   

Fixed 

• The height of the box to input marks against items using marked learning outcomes now adjusts depending on the number of characters in the learning outcome (DE29645).   
• The symbols box now remains open when navigating through questions in a script (DE30446). 

Setup

Improved

• Up to 1500 candidates can now be uploaded to Surpass at once with the Candidate Upload button. 

Site Settings

Improved

• The visibility of the Help icon and the Deliver Tests, Ideas Portal, Learning Portal, and Knowledge Base buttons can now be managed in Site Settings.

API

New 

• A new TestForm/{id} endpoint has been added that allows users to GET information on specific test form and section settings.  
• Section properties can be updated using the TestForm API on a test with timed sections to set a cut score for a particular section, which candidates need to achieve to progress to the next section.
• A new CustomReports API allowing users to generate reports using keycodes has been added. These reports will be based on custom HTML templates uploaded to the Custom Reports screen in the UI. 

Improved 

• You can now view and update tag groups and tag values via the Item API. 
• Item sets can now be added to item lists via the API.  
• Tag collection groups can now be created, edited, and deleted via the API. Tag values can also be added to tag collections via the API.  
• Candidate tags can now be retrieved via the Candidate API.  
• Learning outcomes and boundaries defined in candidate score boundaries are now supported in the Result API so that information can be gained on how candidates scored against learning outcomes when not using learning outcomes boundaries.  
• Cut scores can now be added to sections via the API. 

Fixed 

• Users can now schedule quality review tests via the API (DE31360).  

Surpass Release 12.13 (April 2018)

Test driver

New 

• A new Section Review panel in HTML tests allows candidates to see an overview of the items in a section.

Fixed 

• Computer-based tests where the region format is set to Welsh now launch as expected in SecureClient (DE20844). 
• The break functionality behaves as expected while answering Hotspot questions in SecureClient (DE30348). 
• The JAWS screen reader now reads the alt text for embedded images in HTML tests as expected (DE30677). 
• Both online and offline tests now launch as expected (DE30495). 
• The font is now correct in the Loading Content dialog of SecureMarker (DE21361). 
• Text is displayed as expected when the language is set to Russian (DE23655). 
• The calculator tool is no longer affected by the strikethrough function when previewing items (DE30107). 

Tasks

New

• The Tasks (Beta) screen has been added to Surpass, allowing users to create, manage, and complete General and Review tasks.  

Item Authoring

New

• A new Version Compare button allows users to view two versions of an item side-by-side in Item Authoring.
• Items in an item set are now delivered consecutively by default, even if the test section is randomised.
• A new Allow randomisation of item set property allows users to apply randomisation settings to an item set when creating a test.
• Users can now use the Move button to manually re-order answer options for Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items.
• Answer options for Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items can now be alphabetised with the Order Alphabetically button.
• Users can now create URL source material that candidates can access in locked down SecureClient.
• Users can now set the minimum and maximum number of responses a candidate must make before Multiple Response items are considered attempted.
• A Secure File Attach setting in File Attach items restricts the functionality of Microsoft Word and Excel instances.  Candidates are only able to use Save, which uploads their response to SecureClient.

Improved 

• The titles and alt text for images in media groups can now be edited. 

Fixed 

• Images added to Select From a List items are now displayed as expected (DE19291). 
• Items can now be moved between folders without errors (DE28397).  
• Citations are now saved correctly when users return to edit items (DE30598).  

Test Creation

Improved

• Candidate scores can now be generated as IRT values.
• Item settings and tags can now be locked on test forms for both fixed and dynamic tests so that any changes made in Item Authoring will not affect the test form. 
• Timed sections can now be combined into pools to allow candidates to freely move between pooled sections and freely manage their time in HTML tests.
• More functionality has been added to the Test Profiles screen, allowing users to define colour schemes, upload CSS files, and choose what information is available to candidates in a test.

Test Administration

Improved

• External references can now be added when uploading OMR results, allowing users to cross-reference data in Surpass with external sources. 

Fixed

• Marks for computer-marked items can now be edited as expected when Enable Override Auto-Mark is enabled in the Moderate screen (DE27847).  
• Marks are now awarded as expected when carriage returns are used for computer-marked Short Answer items (DE30771).  
• Candidates can no longer be scheduled for tests they have already sat (DE30015). 
• Candidate responses are now displayed as expected in Raw Data Extract reports (DE29309).  
• Rescoring sessions can now be created as expected in Reporting (DE29923.) 

Site Settings

New

• Users can upload a custom CSS file for test profiles in Site Settings. CSS files can be used to customise the appearance of HTML items in tests.

API

New 

• A new Tasks API has been added, allowing users to create, update and retrieve information on General and Review tasks.  

Improved 

• The UserPermissions API has also been updated so users can be created by task managers. 
• IRT scores can now be seen for test forms where an IRT scoring scale has been applied in the Result, HistoricalResult, and AnalyticsResult APIs. 
• Users can now POST and PUT section enemies using the Item API.  
• Users can now control the delivery presentation of tests in the TestProfile API.  
• Users can now POST item marks against the question number for TestSessions where uploadResponses is true.  
• Users can now add the date paper-based tests were sat when uploading marks via the API.  
• Booking references can now be added in the POST TestSchedule API. 
• When pooled time is used in tests, it is now indicated in the Result API.  
• SecureMarker tests can now be returned before they are marked to release computer-marked responses earlier.  

Fixed 

• Item Authoring permissions are now functioning properly for single sign-on users created via the API (DE30320). 

Surpass Release 12.12 (January 2018)

Test driver

Improved

• The character limit for the NDA confirmation text has been increased, and candidates can now increase the size of the NDA confirmation box to avoid scrolling.
• Additional styles and formatting options, including the strikethrough function and line breaks, have been added to the HTML formatting toolbar.

Fixed

• Tests now launch as expected when users access shared tests (DE26933).
• Text in spreadsheet cells is now deleted as expected when the Escape key is pressed (DE27906).
• The background colour of spreadsheet cells now moves when candidates move cells in Spreadsheet items (DE27908).
• Formulas now display as expected in Spreadsheet items when the cell sizes are changed (DE27923).
• Inconsistent translations for some languages have been resolved (DE29012, DE29092).
• The Preferences cog button now behaves as expected (DE29123).

Item Authoring

New

• Multiple files can now be attached to File Attach items for candidates to download and manipulate during tests using a new Advanced mode.
• You can now double-check spelling with a new spell checker.

Improved

• You can now choose which enemy relationships and tags to duplicate when duplicating items.
• Tags can now be added to item sets.
• Drag and Drop items can now be computer-marked, as they can now be marked using absolute marking.
• Item History now shows more detailed information about changes made to items, including tags, answer options, item owners, and changes to the question stem.
• Mathematical equations and symbols can now be included in question stem text and answer options.
• The name given to items during authoring is now visible in the Quality Review panel.
• The answers to Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items in HTML subjects can now be formatted to appear in tables.

Fixed

• Text with bullet points, indentations or text that covers multiple lines now displays as expected in preview and delivery (DE27358).
• Tables are now displayed as expected in question stems (DE29286).

Test Creation

New

• Test creators can now pin items to a fixed position where the content has been set to be randomised.
• Test creators can now select multiple folders of pre-test items from which one folder is randomly selected when test forms are generated at test form-level.
• A new Allow Item Review setting allows candidates to . This setting does not allow candidates to return to sections once submitted.

Improved

• Pre-test rules can now be added to section selectors, allowing pre-test items to be added to all sections.

Fixed

• Users can now see all available information and select required checkboxes in Test Creation when the Surpass UI language is set to Dutch (DE28151).

Test Administration

Improved

• Answers to Multiple Response items can now be uploaded when uploading candidate results via the OMR Upload.
• Paper tests created using items from ContentProducer can now be scheduled in Surpass. Once scheduled, paper tests move to the Paper Mark screen.

Fixed

• Text in the Moderator Warning dialog now displays as expected when the text is longer than one line (DE26666).
• Candidates and keycodes now show in Invigilation Packs if candidates are still scheduled for tests, but have been disassociated from their respective centres (DE27138).
• Tests now auto-submit at the end of the scheduling window and after the Result Upload Grace Period has ended when Attempt Auto Submit is enabled (DE28965).
• Tests can now be scheduled as expected, as available items no longer incorrectly display as unavailable in test forms (DE29299).
• Extra time is now only available to candidates registered for reasonable adjustments where candidates both with and without reasonable adjustments are present (DE29618).
• Test administrators can navigate through questions using the drop-down menu after opening candidate attachments (DE26632).
• Test administrators can now print invigilation packs for single or multiple keycodes for centres with ampersands in their names (DE29698).
• Candidates can no longer be scheduled for test forms they have already sat where Allow Test Form Recycling is disabled (DE298040).

Setup

Improved

• Surpass now logs more detailed information about user activity so that site administrators can detect misuse and diagnose problems.
• The number of centres that can be associated with a subject has been increased to 2000.

API

New

• Documents submitted by candidates in response to File Attach items can now be retrieved with the ItemResponse API.
• Users can GET information for a particular test session using the TestSession API.
• OMR marks can now be uploaded via the TestSchedule API.

Improved

• Tests scheduled for delivery through SurpassLocal can now be updated and changed to be delivered through the central Surpass servers.
• Incomplete tests can now be submitted in SurpassLocal via the API. The Result, HistoricalResult, and AnalyticsResult APIs also reflect this submission flag.
• Users can now retrieve, update, and post tags on item sets via the API.

Fixed

• Candidates can now be created using V1 of the API (DE29605).
• Responses to Multiple Choice items are now recognised as such in the scoring XML when using the ItemResponse GET API (DE28637).
• Details of tests are now returned as expected when the Test/{id} GET method is used and the UI language is set to Japanese (DE29737).

Surpass Release 12.11 (October 2017)

Test driver

Improved

• The PDF Viewer now returns to the last opened page and to searches that were active when the viewer was closed.
• Highlights now remain highlighted when candidates close and then reopen the PDF Viewer.

Fixed

• Tables now behave as expected in preview and delivery (DE24541).
• Mathematical symbols now display correctly (DE27114).
• The breadcrumb navigation now displays the correct number of Introduction Pages regardless of the number of items the test has (DE27639).
• Candidates can no longer navigate away from Survey items in sections with the Items Require Response setting enabled without giving an answer (DE27739).

Item Authoring

New

• Items can now be set as sample items that appear in the introduction section of tests.  
• Item owners can now be changed.

Improved

• Marked learning outcomes can now be set for human-marked items.
• Up to 5 pieces of media can now be attached to items.
• Additional options are now accessed via a cog icon when creating Multiple Response items.
• Images can now be aligned to the right, left, or centre of question stems.
• The maximum number of rows and columns candidates can include in Spreadsheet question responses can now be defined.
• Special characters can now be used in all fields in Item Authoring and when entering or importing tag values.
• Information on tag categories is now visible in item searches.
• Symbols can now be included in item names.
• Item list names can now be edited after they have been created.
• Up to 1300 tag values can now be imported using the spreadsheet import functionality.

Fixed

• Live items in subject subfolders are now included in the list of items to be updated when using Bulk Update (DE27436).

Test Wizard

Improved

• Quality Review keycodes can now be scheduled from the Test Wizard menu, allowing other Surpass users to perform quality checks on tests.
• Up to 5 test forms can now be generated at once using the Test Wizard when creating fixed test forms for dynamic tests for paper test delivery.

Test Creation

New

• An option to choose whether the delivery engine automatically adjusts to fit the test driver.

Improved

• Tests can now be assigned to specific markers or moderators at the point of scheduling.
• Candidates can now choose when they take unscheduled breaks if they have been assigned them by the test creators.
• A Round to Decimal Places setting has been added to Test Forms settings, allowing users to choose whether candidate scores are rounded to 5 decimal places when results are extracted via the API.

Fixed

• The Flag button, View Feedback button, and progress bar now display correctly in legacy navigation styles (DE24541).

Test Administration

Improved

• A Not Yet Started option is now available as a reason for voiding tests in the Invigilate screen.
• A Bulk Update permission is now available when creating custom Item Authoring roles, giving users greater control over which users can access this functionality.

Fixed

• Subjects now appear in alphabetical order in the Schedule wizard (DE26626).
• OMR results can now be uploaded if candidate’s middle names are not provided(DE19733).
• Users with correct roles can now access candidate reports (DE26882, DE26652).
• Mathematical symbols now display correctly for markers (DE26900).

Setup

New

• Custom roles can now be created, granting users read-only access to the Setup screen.

Improved

• It is now possible to search for Surpass users by username.
• When creating custom Item Authoring roles, users can now restrict the permissions for all items and/or the user’s items based on the workflow status of the item. This feature replaces the previous Item Writer (Restricted) and Item Reviewer (Restricted) permissions.
• Primary and technical contact information have been removed from Centre details and address details have been hidden but can be revealed using the cog icon.
• Symbols can now be included in subject and centre names.

Site Settings

New

• A new setting enables organisations to access Nuxeo (a third-party media repository) in Item Authoring.

Improved

• Surpass’ default workflow statuses can now be edited, and custom workflow statuses can be created to fit an organisation’s item creation process.

API

Improved

• Unscheduled breaks can now be defined at candidate-level using the TestSchedule API.
• User associations can now be enabled using the Test API, allowing users to associate markers and moderators to tests.
• Markers and moderators can now be assigned to tests using the TestSchedule API.
• The startTime and endTime for timed sections can now be retrieved using the Result API.
• Users can now GET lists of custom workflows created in Site Settings and update items with those custom workflows.
• itemMajorVersion and itemVersion numbers can now be retrieved using the Item API.
• Candidates scores can now be retrieved with up to 6 decimal places using the Result, HistoricalResult and AnalyticsResult APIs.

Surpass Release 12.10 (July 2017)

Test driver

Improved

• Candidates now have more control over assistive videos, including the ability to loop videos, skip backwards or forwards through frames, control playback speed, and navigate through videos using a scrub bar.
• Candidates sitting tests with timed sections are no longer able to finish the test unless they are in the last section.
• Support for Japanese as the test driver language has been improved.
• The PDF Viewer has been enhanced, allowing users to configure the auto-launching of content during delivery and to load multiple shared resources in the viewer if items have more than one resource attached to them.

Fixed

• The calculator tool appears as expected when the language is set to Arabic (DE23337).
• The tick icon for the NDA confirmation check box now displays correctly when delivering tests in Arabic (DE25888).
• Tests can now be delivered as expected on tablets (DE26073).
• Candidates ca now use the arrow keys to move between cells in Spreadsheet questions (DE27086).

Item Authoring

New

• HTML source material can now be created in the Media Library and added to items as a shared resource.

Improved

• Source material, assistive media, and tables can now be added to question stems by using the cog icon for a better user experience.
• Marking and layout settings can now be accessed using the cog icon when authoring Multiple Choice items.
• Answer fields for HTML Numerical Entry items can now be set to appear in line with the question text in Advanced mode.
• Pre-defined styles can now be selected from the formatting bar to emphasize text when authoring items in HTML subjects.
• Private comments can now be viewed and added to items if they have the ‘Comment Manager’ permission.
• Irregularly shaped answer zones can now be created for Hotspot items.
• Citations can now be added to items to list sources used when creating items.
• Items and selected information about items can now be exported to Word documents.
• Weighted Marking can now be applied for one-to-one matches in Extended Matching items.
• Basic or scientific calculators can now be added to  items in HTML subjects.  
• Answer options can now be displayed as tables for Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items in HTML subjects.
• Negative numbers can now be set as answers in Numerical Entry items, and candidate responses can be limited.
• Drag and Drop items now support a greater character limit for drag options.
• Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items now support up to 30 answer options.
• Tables can now be added to the question stem of items in HTML subjects.  

Fixed

• Item authors can now determine whether the gridlines of tables authored in ContentProducer are visible in SecureClient (DE25506).
• Numbers in tables authored in ContentProducer now behave as expected in SecureClient (DE25605).

Test Creation

New

• Sections can now be set to have Forward Only navigation so that candidates cannot return to previous questions.
• Individual sections can now be set to require a response in Forward Only, timed sections of tests.

Improved

• Tests can now be set to be marked outside of Surpass.

Fixed

• A 24-hour buffer either side of tests’ scheduled start time can be set using the Strict Control of Test Time setting.

Test Administration

New

• The number of days after which unmarked tests are automatically voided can now be set.  

Fixed

• Rescoring events can now be created as expected (DE27015).

Setup

New

• Tag groups can now be organised into tag categories in the Subjects screen.

Improved

• Addresses can now be added to Centre Details.
• Centres and Users can now be retired.
• Candidates’ expiry dates can be viewed and edited.

Fixed

• Users with the permission to manage candidates at a centre level can now only see candidates for the centres they are assigned to (DE26379).

Site Settings

New

• Site administrators can create custom roles with read-only access to the Test Administration screens.
• There is now a permission so Item Authors can only view and edit their own items and another which enables them to see the names of other users’ items but no other details.  
• The email footers sent from Surpass account can now be customised.

Fixed

• Removing Test Administration permissions from custom roles no longer removes access to the whole tab (DE25917).

API

New

• Country and County APIs to retrieve more information on centre addresses.
• Centre address details can be updated.
• Tag categories can now be added, updated, retrieved, and deleted.
• Enforce strict control of test time is now a property in the TestSchedule API.
• Users can set answer options as tables for Multiple Choice and Multiple Response items in HTML subjects using the Item API.
• Candidate expiry dates can now be retrieved, added, and updated.
• Centres, subjects, and users can now be retired.

Fixed

• Users can no longer schedule test forms with ineligible availability dates using the API (DE25070).
• It is no longer possible to create candidates and associate them with Subjects set to the Registration Closed status via the API (DE25928).
• The Publish status in Test Creation now matches that in Item Authoring when using Bulk Update (DE26287).
• End dates for Computer-based Project tests scheduled via the API now display correctly and the tests can be taken as expected (DE26963).

Surpass Release 12.9 (May 2017)

Test driver

New

• PDF attachments attached as shared resources are now displayed in a new PDF viewer. The PDF viewer also provides zoom and highlight functionality.
• Candidate’s names are now displayed with the surname followed by the first name.

Improved

• The Test Driver now dynamically adjusts to fit the full display height.
• Audio settings are now located in the Settings cog.

Fixed

• I accept/I don’t accept buttons are now available if the terms span more than two lines when running an HTML test in Chrome (DE25046).
• Unfinished section error message no longer displayed for tests with timed sections (DE24962).

Item Authoring

New

• Bulk Update can be used to update multiple items simultaneously.
• A new Audio Capture question type enables spoken responses from candidates.
• Video files can now be used as assistive media. They can be added to all question types and answer options of Multiple Choice, Multiple Response and Either/Or questions.

Improved

• Item lists can now be edited.

Test Wizard

New

• Tests can now be shared with other Surpass users for quality review purposes.

Test Creation

New

• A selection of new marker annotations are now available in Annotation Settings.

Improved

• The Test Form reference character limit has been increased to 100.

Test Administration

New

• Marks can now be recorded for tests taken on paper in a new Paper Mark screen.

Fixed

• Annotations now move with the text when zooming (DE23496).
• Score reports now print with all information and candidate data (DE24750).

Setup

New

• HTML-only subjects can now be created. Item authors can only create HTML-supported items for HTML tests in HTML subjects, preventing the incorrect content type from being used in tests.
• A new Active (Closed for registration) subject status prevents the association of new candidates with the subject.

Site Settings

Improved

• Sub-permissions are now available within Test Administration allowing more granular roles to be created.

API

Fixed

• Scheduling via the Schedule API resource no longer fails because of duplicate test form references (DE25242).
• Timed sections now match what has been set up in Test Creation when scheduling via the Schedule API resource (DE25381).

Surpass Release 12.8 (March 2017)

Test driver

New

• Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Portuguese languages added.
• Candidates must confirm their details before they can return to a test from a break.
• Grouped source material now launches in a high-fidelity image viewer, allowing the candidate to navigate through multiple images, and pan and zoom in on the images.

Improved

• Candidates will now be asked to confirm if they want to finish the section or the whole test to improve usability when selecting the Finish button.
• Some buttons in the header and footer have been replaced with simple, easy to understand icons.

Fixed

• The correct Welsh translation now displays in web delivery (DE22352).
• The bottom scrollbar is now visible when scrolling is enabled and when packaging or delivering a test that contains a spreadsheet question in SecureClient (DE22576).
• The message incorrectly advising that not all questions have been answered in a test with grouped items no longer appears if every question has been attempted (DE24001).
• The question now only displays as attempted if it has been attempted by the candidate, rather than because the tools have been opened (DE24090).
• PDF attachments now open without needing to be saved in unlocked SecureClient (DE24281).
• The message ‘You have not attempted all of the questions in this exam. Are you sure you want to finish?’ is no longer displayed in a forward only exam (DEDE24283).
• Long answer option text on Multiple Choice items no longer require scrolling (DE22911).
• The author’s name no longer displays to the candidate in Word documents used in the File Attach question type (DE23822).

Item Authoring

New

• A Diagram Creator has been added to Spreadsheet and Essay questions, which allows candidates to construct diagrams and flowcharts, as well as freehand drawings.
• Enemy relationships can be set up for question items within Item Authoring, which means that items within a subject that have an enemy relationship cannot be included in the same fixed test.
• Item sets can now be created within Item Authoring. If an item from an item set is included in a fixed test, it will automatically bring all other items from that set into the test too.
• Assistive media can now be added to the question stem block of all question types, and the answer options of Multiple Choice, Multiple Response and Either/Or question types. Assistive media can also be added to introduction, information, and Finish Pages, as well as the Multiple Choice and Multiple Response survey items. 
• Tables can now be added to question stem blocks.
• Images in the media library can be grouped together and added as source material to items.
• Essay items can be set to computer-marked, automatically awarding candidates 0 marks and bypassing the marking screen of Surpass to be marked externally.

Fixed

• ‘Incorrect’ feedback is now displayed for incorrect answers (DE24155).

Test Creation

New

• Section selectors can be added to tests with timed sections, allowing candidates to choose how many sections from a group they must attempt.

Improved

• A display name can now be added to items, which is shown in the Test Form Rules tab of the Edit Test Form window, as well as the marking screens in Test Administration.

Fixed

• The folder structure in Test Creation now matches the folder structure in Item Authoring (DE23837).

Reporting

New

• Candidate tags have been added as an optional field in the Raw Data Extract. Users can choose to include details of custom tags added to candidates as part of this report.

Fixed

• The loading time for the distractor analysis chart in the Items Delivered report has been reduced (DE22592).

Setup

New

• Subject owners can set the default font and font size for items authored within their subject.
• MS Gothic is now available as a font for subjects in Item Authoring.

Improved

• You can now search for candidates using their first and last name in the Candidates screen.

Fixed

• Users are now only able to view the subjects associated with their centre (DE19650).
• Subject-level users with relevant roles can now access the Setup tab (DE23484).
• Site-level users are now visible when searching via the Centre filter (DE23186).

Site Settings

New

• A new site setting allows users with the relevant permission to switch the ability to publish item lists on or off.
• Users with the Site Administrator role can create custom roles that can be assigned to users.

API

New

• POST, PUT, GET and DELETE methods for a new ItemSet API.
• Import and export enemy item associations to/from items.
• Import and export assistive media to/from items.
• Identify section selector information and selected optional sections from results.

Surpass Release 12.7 (December 2016)

Test driver

New

• Tests with compatible items may now be delivered in the HTML test driver.

Improved

• Tests can now be delivered in the following languages: Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Turkish.
• Candidates can now export Spreadsheet questions from packaged tests. This export can then be printed or emailed.

Fixed

• The SecureClient install wizard now prompts for a default install location (DE23059).
• Tabbing functionality in grouped items now functions correctly for all item types (DE23191).
• Candidates must now confirm their details and accept the NDA to continue with a battery test (DE23288).
• Candidates can now re-enter and continue their unfinished test without an error being displayed (DE22898).

Item Authoring

New

• Item authors can now create Survey items that carry zero marks and do not affect the progress bar in delivery. The following item types are supported as survey items: Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, and Essay questions.
• In Item Authoring, you can now add multiple question stem blocks to all item types.
• Users can now utilise the Item Search functionality across all subjects that they have access to.
• Users can create item lists from items returned in Item Search, giving quicker access to said items in a new Item Lists screen.

Improved

• For Multiple Choice, Multiple Response and Either/Or question types, item authors can now present answer options in two columns to display various text and media side-by-side.
• Users can now determine whether numbers are rounded to whole numbers or up to two decimal places in the Spreadsheet question type.

Test Wizard

New

• Users can now create HTML tests in the Test Wizard to be delivered in the HTML test driver.

Fixed

• Users are now able to create and download paper tests in the Test Wizard (DE23144). 

Test Creation

New

• Users are now able to apply Learning Outcome Boundaries at a test form level, requiring candidates to achieve a certain percentage against individual learning outcomes, in addition to the overall test score, to pass.

Test Administration

Fixed

• Tests scheduled in the past through integration now appear as expected (DE22593).
• The test duration that displays for tests with timed sections is correct and matches what has been set in Test Creation (DE23248).

Reporting

New

• Learning Outcome Boundaries can be created, edited, and removed in the Rescoring tab.

Fixed

• When setting up a Rescoring event, tests within subject, date and name ranges now display as expected (DE22017).

Setup

New

• Site administrators can now create custom roles that can be assigned during user setup in Users.  Custom roles and permissions are based upon the tabs in Surpass.

Improved

• Users with the ability to manage candidates can now record gender and middle name details against candidates.
• Users can now eliminate statistics from specific selected centres, so that they are not included in overall Reporting data.

API

New

• Scale score mappings for AnalyticsResult and HistoricalResult can now be extracted.
• Tags that have been assigned to items in Item Authoring can be viewed.
• Users can now configure centres to not update reporting statistics in Surpass.
• Candidates’ delivery interactions can be extracted to assist with appeals.
• Learning outcome scoring data on results can now be accessed.
• Survey items can now be imported and extracted.
• Items with multiple elements to the question stem and two column answer options can now be imported and extracted.

Surpass Release 12.6 (October 2016)

Test driver

Fixed

• Attachments will now appear in front of SecureClient when reopened after being minimised (DE20206).
• There is no longer a connection error message prior to starting a test on an iOS/iPadOS device (DE20999).
• The time notification lines up correctly and no longer obstructs any information (DE21228).
• Candidates can now type in the cells of a table question (DE21411).
• The test percentage and marking status are now accurate when marking an exam (DE21772).
• Candidates can now move to the selected question using the breadcrumb navigation without SecureClient freezing (DE22119).
• When a candidate selects Next and attempts to move on from a Table question during delivery they can do so without any problems (DE21153).
• Several issues with the screens have now been fixed and display as they should in web delivery (DE21222, DE21223, DE21224, DE21228, DE21229).

Item Authoring

New

• Item Authoring has been redesigned to allow for searching and filtering according to item tags. Items in a subject can be filtered by workflow status or tag values within multiple tag groups.
• Superscript and subscript characters can be added to the editable text, rather than through the Equation editor.
• Right-to-left languages are now supported.
• All items compatible with HTML can be identified by a new ‘HTML5’ symbol.

Test Creation

Fixed

• Packaged tests now display text formatting correctly (DE20621).
• Test forms now appear as they are created, regardless of how many subjects have previously been created (DE21854).
• When a packaged test is uploaded to a VLE, the test package performs correctly (DE19644).

Test Administration

New

• Users are now able to use the Modify Duration buttons during test scheduling and invigilation to configure reasonable adjustments for candidate breaks. 
• When scheduling a test, a common PIN code is now allocated to all candidates scheduled for the same test, to be sat at the same centre, and with the same test end date. The common PIN can also be removed and reset in the Invigilate screen so that each one is unique.

Fixed

• When scheduling a candidate review session, the most current subject version is available to select (DE21871).
• All users can now view the Test Administration screens without any problems (DE22991).

Reporting

New

• Any changes that are made during Rescoring which affect the grade boundaries of a test can now be edited within the same screen without having to navigate away. 

Setup

New

• Tags and tag groups can now be created and added to candidates.

Site Settings

Improved

• All mentions of “permissions” in Surpass are now referred to as “roles”. This has not changed their functionality.
• The Beta functionality site setting ensures that site administrators can see Beta functionality at all times.

API

New

• Ability to add items to the recycle bin and permanently delete items in Item Authoring.
• Search for items in Item Authoring.
• Update folders in Item Authoring.
• Search for tests in Test Creation.
• Schedule tests with reasonable adjustments for breaks.
• Extract item response data from results. 

Surpass Release 12.5 (August 2016)

Home

• The redesign of the Surpass Home page allows users with site administrator permissions to add text to relay information to other users, and change the branding and colour of the homepage.
• Users can now edit their user account information through the My Profile screen.

Test driver

New

• French is now a supported language for tests.

Improved

• The Launch Test page now includes instructions on selecting languages.

Fixed

• PDFs can be opened in SecureClient without causing errors (DE22090).
• SecureClient no longer causes errors when updating (DE20672).
• The scrollbar on the NDA Confirmation screen no longer fails to reach the bottom of the screen and no longer causes the checkboxes to be greyed out or inaccessible (DE21270).

Item Authoring

New

• A new Spreadsheet question allows candidates to either fill in a pre-populated spreadsheet, or to create one of their own.
• Item authors can now preview Introduction, Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Either/Or, and Finish Pages in HTML.
• In addition to the four existing media layout options, media can now be positioned to the left of answer options or above the question text.

Improved

• There have been multiple performance improvements to the QTI import, including more detail in the task reports.

Fixed

• Border functionality now works correctly in the Table question type (DE20130).
• The number separators tooltip in Numerical Entry questions now correctly displays which number separators are being used (DE21006). 

Test Wizard

Fixed

• The test wizard now automatically adds tools so that items pass validation (DE20859).

Test Creation

New

• Candidate breaks can now be applied to test forms. Test creators can choose between scheduled and unscheduled breaks.
• You can now import paper-based items from ContentProducer into Surpass.
• A new search bar allows you to find tools when creating tests.
• Non-scored items can now be included in a dynamic test, or section of a test.
• A new option for allowing candidate comments on items during delivery can be applied to tests.

Fixed

• Test form timings are correctly carried over when saving items as new tests in the Test Form Preview screen in Test Creation (DE19861).

Test Administration

New

• Users can now make marker comments and annotations visible to candidates during Candidate Review sessions. Candidates select the View Annotations and View Marker Comments buttons to display the content.

Fixed

• The Moderate screen button is now correctly translated in Dutch (DE19642).
• The centre name now appears correctly in the Audit screen when it has been warehoused (DE21203).

Reporting

New

• Users can now rescore items at a test form-level in the Rescoring screen. Rescoring contains four functionalities: Change Answer, Award Full Marks, Remove Item and Revert Item.

Setup

New

• Candidates that have been created via integration can now be sent with an “IsExternal” flag that is shown in the Surpass UI and prevents users from editing candidate data. Users will have a view-only access to flagged candidates.

Site Settings

Improved

• The Site Settings section of Surpass has been redesigned for better usability. There is now a general Site Settings tab that contains the Single Sign On and CRM Adapter Settings, along with new settings including the ability to manage the visibility of the UserVoice buttons, have further control over test settings, enable support for paper-based items created in ContentProducer, and control whether users can view beta functionality.

API

New

• Candidates can now be filtered by exact match using the eq operator when calling the GET method on the Candidate API. You can filter by reference, firstName, lastName, email, and telephone.
• The following APIs have been added:
  • AnalyticsResult
  • HistoricalResult
  • RescoringRules
  • ScaleScoreMapping
• Users can now stop multiple day scheduling in Site Settings. The validation for the TestSchedule API POST method has been updated to provide an error if a request tries to schedule multiple day tests and this configuration value is enabled.
• Purchase orders can now be specified at the point of scheduling using  the POST TestSchedule method.

Improved

• The Item API has been updated with two additional properties: itemVersion and publishId.
• All GET methods have been updated to accept ‘/‘ when a resource is being filtered in the query string.
• The maximum lengths allowed for string values have been updated.
• The Result API has been updated to include the itemComment property. This provides the ability for a system to extract item level comments from Surpass.
• The Result, AnalyticsResult and HistoricalResult API resources have been updated with the following properties at test and section level:
  • passMarkType – this identifies if the test was set up in Test Creation to be marked via percentage or mark.
  • percentageMark – the percentage a candidate has received for a test on a section or test.
  • passPercentage – the pass mark as a percentage value.
• ULN (uln) has been added to the Candidate API’s GET and POST methods. This is only available if the site-level setting for ULN is turned on.
• An isExternal property has been added to the POST and PUT methods for the Candidate API. If this flag is set via the API, the candidate will not be available for editing in the user interface.

Fixed

• Extra time for candidates with reasonable adjustments enabled is now scheduled accordingly when using the TestSchedule API (DE21835).
• Tests scheduled via the API are delivered in the language defined in Test Creation (DE21930).

Surpass Release 12.4 (July 2016)

Test driver

New

• A new Delivery Engine Position test profile setting allows test creators to determine whether the delivery window is docked to the left or right of the candidate’s screen.
• Updates to the database have been made to support the logging of strikethrough during test delivery (Surpass Release 12.4.1).

Fixed

• The question box in SecureClient now resizes during test delivery, rather than requiring scrolling (DE20628).

Item Authoring

New

• Users are now able to import shared resources into the Media Library for use as source material. A shared resource is a file used across multiple items within a test.

Fixed

• Users can open items with duplicate tags (DE20417).
• Items now display correctly in packaged tests (DE20538).
• Users can now package tests set to US English (DE20690).
• The overall score is now being returned for version 1.2 SCORM files (DE16487).
• The character limit has been increased to 100 and longer drop zone titles now display over 2 lines when creating Drag and Drop questions (DE20205).

Test Administration

Fixed

• The Submit Test button is now correctly translated into Dutch (DE20489).
• Users can now filter by test name in the Invigilation screen (DE0428).
• Users will now receive the error when uploading a file with more than 100 rows (DE20573).

Reporting

New

• It is now possible to upload a scale score mapping to tests that have already been taken in the Tests Delivered report.

Fixed

• The Key column in the Raw Extract Data of the Items Delivered Report now displays all correct answers (DE20702).

Site Settings

Fixed

• The tags column now appears in Invigilate when ticked while customising columns (DE20775).

API

New

• Tag groups can be searched for and filtered by.
• Numeric tag groups can be created, updated, and retrieved.
• A new property to denote if an item is non-scored in the Result API resource.
• A new property to display the actual mark achieved (rather than 0-1) in the Result API resource.
• Users are now able to extract outcome (whether a candidate passed or failed a test) and sectionPassMark (the minimum section score needed to pass a section) via the Result API resource (Surpass Release 12.4.1).

Surpass Release 12.3 (May 2016)

Home

• Users can now access the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy documents from the Surpass Home page.
• The Feedback button is now located in the top-right corner of every screen. 

Test driver

New

• Candidates can now right-click to strikethrough answer options.

Fixed

• The total time for Computer Based Project tests now displays the number of days the project duration has been set as (DE18725).
• Questions in printable tests are now grouped so that they don’t display across two pages when downloaded. If a question appears close to the end of a page it will be moved onto the next page (DE19404).

Item Authoring

New

• Weighted Marking can now be set as a marking method for Multiple Choice questions, allowing a different proportion of the total marks for the question to be awarded to candidates for different answer options.
• Combination Marking can now be set as a marking method for Multiple Response questions, allowing candidates to be awarded a specific number of marks depending on which combination of answer options they select.

Improved

• Users can now assign up to 50 tags per item.
• Pop-up images can be opened at full size in Preview mode.
• Item authors are now able to set number separators as commas or decimals in Numerical Entry questions. A default separator can also be set in Site Settings.
• The Save button now allows you to either save and close your item or to save your item and open a new question of the same type. 
• The question types which are compatible with tablet delivery are now marked with the tablet icon.
• The recycle bin has been redesigned to improve the user experience.
• Source material file labels are now editable. 

Fixed

• Items with duplicate subjecttags can now be opened (DE18492).
• The ‘Last edited by’ information now updates as soon as an item is saved (DE19976).
• The maximum number of items per test section is now 120 (DE20069).
• Negative numbers now display as expected in the custom calculator tool in SecureClient (DE17947).

Test Wizard

Improved

• Tests created in the Test Wizard can now contain up to 10 sections.

Test Creation

New

• Items in a fixed section can now be set as ‘Non-scored’. Marks for non-scored items will not contribute to the overall test result. Statistics for non-scored items will still be generated and can be viewed in the Reporting screens.
• A new section named Results Display Options is now available in the Advanced Settings tab, allowing users to configure which reports or results will display in the Results screen.

Fixed

• ContentProducer item movement will now be registered without checking in and checking out again (DE16663).
• The Dutch translation for the warning message when deleting a test now matches the English text (DE18216).

Test Administration

Fixed

• It is now possible to filter tests that are in the ‘Locked’ or ‘Downloaded to SecureClient’ state in the Invigilate screen (DE16379).
• It is now possible to filter by test name in the Invigilate screen (DE18236).
• Only tests selected by the user are shown in the Invigilation Pack (DE17898).
• All tests completed within the selected date range from the ‘Completed’ filter are now shown in the Mark screen (DE18082).
• The Schedule Wizard now schedules tests based on the correct availability dates (DE18670).
• Additional candidates added to an editable test are now included in the Schedule screen (DE19155).
• The candidate’s response is visible when reviewing Essay questions in a Candidate Review session (DE19506).
• The correct Dutch translation for the Moderate screen is now shown (DE19642).
• Remarked items are now displayed correctly during Candidate Review (DE19757).
• Content is now shown when running a packaged test (DE19965).
• When printing breakdown reports for more than one candidate from the Results screen, the results are now correct as per the low marking item boundaries set in Test Creation (DE15983).
• Tests containing only Information Pages are now processed normally (DE20479).
• Candidates with reasonable adjustments on their profile are recognised when Bulk Schedule is being used (DE20485).

Reporting

New

• A Filter Option toolbar has been added to allow for all filter options to be accessible from one location.

Improved

• When an item is migrated into Surpass from another system, Surpass can now hold a record of the P Value and Usage count of the item prior to its migration.
• Column widths have been adjusted to display data more clearly.
• The item exposure value on the Items Delivered Report has been changed from a percentage to a number to reflect the number of times the item has been presented within the test form.
• You can now select which columns of data you want to appear in the Raw Data Extract. These selections can also be set as the Default settings.

Setup

New

• Numeric tag groups can now be created at subject level for use during Item Authoring. Permissions for numeric tag groups include number ranges, less or greater than a specified value, and custom values. Numeric tags allow the use of up to 6 decimal places.
• You can now reset a user’s security question in the Edit User screen.

Improved

• The minimum character restriction for centre and subject names has been removed.

Site Settings

Improved

• Site administrators can now customise the columns of the Test Administration screens, including selecting which columns are printable.

API

New

• Date of birth (dateOfBirth) is now an optional property when creating a candidate.
• Users can now migrate tests and test profiles.
• The Item API can now specify Essay (essay), Short Answer (shortAnswer) item types. Introduction Page (introductionPage) and Information Page (informationPage) item types can be specified using the BasicPage API.
• Users can now create or update using the PUT method on the User, Centre, Subject and Candidate APIs; if the new header is passed into the request it will create or update a resource, cutting down the number of requests sent to the Surpass API.

Improved

• Within the POST TestSchedule method, users can now specify tags on a test session, specify a test form during scheduling, add reasonable adjustments in minutes rather than a percentage, and auto-associate candidates with centres and subjects.

Performance improvements

• Loading times for folders and items have been improved.
• When logging in after a period of inactivity, users will now be taken to the previously active page.
• The CPU usage of running SecureClient on the keycode screen has been reduced.

Surpass Release 12.2 (February 2016)

Test driver

New

• Users can now create Test Profiles in Test Creation to customise the test delivery engine for candidates, including the ability to add both client and provider branding.
• The candidate confirmation screens have now been split into two steps: Confirm Details and Agree to Terms. These can be configured in Test Creation.
• A candidate may now highlight parts of text on a page.

Fixed

• Packaged test forms now run as expected once extracted (DE17762).
• The close button now appears as expected for packaged test forms or tests delivered in web browsers (DE13106).
• The Hide Feedback button now reverts back to View Feedback after the first click (DE13266).
• The keycode entry screen now only shows the OK button when the correct keycode length is reached (DE13089).

Item Authoring

New

• Hyperlinks can now be included on Introduction and Finish Pages.
• Multiple Response questions can now be printed.

Fixed

• Images are now correctly imported with items (DE17592).
• Blank static and input cells with marks attached can now be created in the Table question type (DE18530).

Test Wizard

New

• Users will now be prompted to add an Introduction and/or Finish Page to their test if one has not already been added.

Fixed

• Test forms created using the Test Wizard now default to mixed ActionScript mode (DE17932).
• Both the Requires User Details Confirmation and Requires NDA Confirmation settings are selected by default (Surpass Release 12.2.1; DE19538).

Test Administration

New

• The correct answer will be shown to the candidate when they answered incorrectly for Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Either/Or, Numerical Entry, Short Answer, and Hotspot question types during a candidate review session.

Fixed

• The number of characters allowed when editing the submission date of in-progress Computer Based Projects cannot be exceeded (DE16843).
• When in the Mark tab, the Mark Script dialog can no longer be moved out of the screen and subsequently lost (DE16267).
• The correct Dutch translation for ‘partial mark’ is now used (DE17253).
• Timed tests can now be bulk scheduled (DE17913).
• Candidates with reasonable adjustments now have the correct time displayed when bulk scheduled (DE18071, DE18672).
• Users with the site-level Moderate permission now have the expected access to the following functions: Release All, Change Grades, Quintile Analysis, Question Summary, Package Test (DE18027).
• Items in the Audit screen can be viewed successfully regardless of item ID length (DE18388).
• Images now open as expected (Surpass Release 12.2.1; DE19476).

Test Creation

New

• Sections in a test can now be timed.
• Additional tracking of candidate activity during test delivery can now be enabled and exported via the Surpass API.

Fixed

• Numbers can now be entered into grade boundary description fields (DE15919).
• The reference values shown for fixed reference are now displayed in the correct numerical order (DE16004).
• All test forms generated from a dynamic test can now be saved (DE15183).
• The test details within the Test Delivery Options now display the correct details for cloned test forms (DE16865).
• It is now possible to add numbers and brackets when editing grade boundaries (DE17739, DE 15919).

Reporting

New

• Columns for the P Values and Usage Count have been added to the Item Bank report.
• The search filters now display the Last Sat duration by number of days rather than weeks and months, providing greater accuracy when filtering according to date.
• Pearson’s R (R Value) and Point Biserial can now be found as columns in the Items Delivered Report, and the Standard Error of Measurement can be found in the Test Form Report.

Fixed

• Answers within the Item Bank report now remain in the correct order, ensuring that the correct response to each question is displayed with the relevant question (DE17382).
• The calculations used to calculate Discrimination Index in the Question Summary screen and in the Reporting screens have been aligned to ensure consistent values across the different sections of Surpass (DE17394).
• The filter no longer resets itself when moving between screens through each level of Reporting (DE17700).

Setup

New

• Spanish, Latin American Spanish, and US English have now been added as additional languages.
• Users with the site administrator permission are now able to customise the Login and Home screens of Surpass.

Site Settings

New

• Site Settings now includes the option to enable support for commas as separators (as opposed to decimal points) in numerical figures.

Surpass Release 12.1 (October 2015)

• The ability to reset a forgotten password is now available through a link on the Login page. All users will also be required to set a security question and answer.

Test driver

Fixed

• PDF tools can now be re-opened after being minimised (DE15816, DE15813).
• Adobe Reader 10 PDF documents no longer open behind SecureClient (DE16289).
• SecureClient no longer becomes unresponsive if Download exam to take later is selected before a keycode is entered (DE15812).
• Text following an open angle bracket symbol remains stored against the questions (DE16219).
• A report printed or saved as a PDF from the Candidate Feedback screen will now be complete, regardless of how many times it is printed or saved (DE10237).
• The drag button when viewing source material window no longer obscures other content (DE14308).

Item Authoring

New

• Item authors are now able to create an empty or partially filled table that a candidate is required to complete to answer the question.
• A table tool has been introduced to all question types.
• When importing or exporting items in QTI format, the import/export will now support any media, including images, audio, or videos embedded within the item.
• Users can now download media from the Media Library of a subject.

Fixed

• Questions that make use of the equation editor are now left-aligned, as is consistent with other question types (DE16159).
• Text wrapping functions correctly when typing question text during authoring (DE16474).
• The order of items in a printed test is fixed regardless of the number of questions included in the test (DE16515).
• Identical tests were being generated frequently but are now being generated in a more random manner (DE15022).

Test Wizard

New

• Users can now create a test using dynamic rules when creating paper and on-screen tests.

Test Administration

New

• Up to 1000 candidates can be bulk scheduled for a test session.
• Comments can now be left when editing a Candidate Review session. A ‘Review History’ function has also been introduced to allow users to see who last edited the review session, any changes that were made, and view any comments that have been left.
• A six-character passcode can now be manually created for a candidate review session, rather than using the automatically generated code.
• Feedback can now be shown to candidates in candidate review sessions.

Fixed

• Results from the Question Summary report in the Audit screen are now being returned more quickly (DE14799).
• The Marking Auto Void Date is set and implemented correctly for relevant exams (DE15276).
• The submission date for computer-based projects is now calculated correctly (DE15607).
• An error is no longer shown when closing the marking window (DE16184).

Reporting

New

• The Reporting screen has been split into two tabs: Analytical Data and Operational Data, under which different reports sit.
• When exporting report data to a CSV file in the Tests Delivered Report (previously Awards), users can now select which columns of data they would like to include in the export.

Fixed

• The answer key is now shown in the Raw Data Extract report for items created in ContentProducer (DE16389).
• The mark in the Tests Delivered Report (previously Awards) screen is now truncated to one decimal place in line with other screens within Surpass (DE15901).
• Raw Data Extract reports can be generated for larger volumes of tests (DE16127, DE16744).
• As long as more than 3 tests have been delivered to candidates, data will be shown in the Item Performance Report, regardless of whether the test form has been edited (DE16714).

Setup

New

• A warning message will now be displayed if a user attempts to create a subject with the same name as an existing subject.

Fixed

• Centres can now be deleted, provided the relevant criteria have been met (DE15374).

API

New

• API v2 is now offered in addition to the original API; v2 is a REST-based API and a more comprehensive solution. For example, it includes the ability to manage centres and retire candidates through the Surpass API.