March 2021 – EAL Core Systems upgrade to support BTL Surpass R12.24
| SecureAssess R11.09 | Surpass R12.24 |
|---|---|
| Exam schedules | Schedule |
| Create Exam | Schedule Test |
| Invigilation | Invigilate |
Secure Single Sign In – using cloud-based SAML service OKTA
New Sign In screens
New Password reset
New EAL "Hub" screen
Online Services (SAP) replaced BTL Secure Assess 11.xx SOAP API’s for BTL Surpass 12.xx REST API’s
Online Services integrated to OKTA REST API for SAML
Online Services centre staff management screen for setting privileges has clearer naming and radio button selection
Reduced the reliance on having to use BTL Surpass Viewer to view Flash-based content in the BTL Surpass admin screens
Improved user and learner management tools
Improved test creation and publishing tools
Improved scheduling and moderation
Improved Content Producer publication of tests and test layout consistency across all projects
When using alternative browsers to Surpass Viewer to log into R12 (e.g.Google Chrome) all screens available to users, such as the ‘Schedule’ ‘Invigilate’ ‘Results’ screens, will only be operational with the HTML toggle enabled.
With the HTML toggle enabled these screens will look a little different from the Flash reliant screens that we are all used to. Although these screens will look different, please be assured that their functionality is unchanged. If you encounter any difficulties navigating through these screens or applying filters to obtain specific data, then please contact us via email or telephone
If users wish to revert to the flash reliant screens for reference purposes, then please navigate to Surpass R12 via Surpass Viewer, this will enable you to view these screens with the Flash toggle enabled. The use of SurpassViewer is expected to be discontinued at the earliest available date so we advise that you familiarise yourself with the differences between the screen appearances as soon as possible.
Retired all old/inactive centre staff users from BTL surpass, full historical records can still be accessed by your EAL Centre Support Team.
Retired old BTL Secure Assess custom roles
FS Examiner access is not yet configured and still in testing
Marking screen misalignment issue
Test question buffer size affecting some tests and causing misalignment issue
Changes to user privileges in "online Services" can take up to 1hr to take effect in Surpass
Changes to centre details in SmarterTouch can take up to 24hrs to take effect in Surpass
Self Service password reset will only work if a valid email address is associated with the centre user within Online Services
When logging out of Online Services or Surpass you will receive an error and you will not be fully logged out, you will need to close the browser to ensure logout is completed.
All access to the old BTL Secure Assess system will be re-directed to the new Hub Page
| Old URL | New URL |
|---|---|
| eal.secureassess.co.uk | eal.surpass.com/saml/login |
This will help explain what happens when EAL centre staff use “Bookmarked” links from their browsers.
You are now able to begin self-servicing your scheduling/booking of future exams, but that doesn't mean you are on your own.
Over the next few weeks, whilst you are getting used to the upgraded system, EAL would like you to know that we are here to help you with any of your exam needs.
Please get in touch with us for any queries you may have in relation to using the system, for example:
Our dedicated Exams Team is here to help you.
Please remember that you will need to upgrade to the latest version of secure client to allow you to access the new system. We have created a guide to upgrading your secure client, which you can access for detailed step-by-step download and install instructions for the upgraded software.
Further updates regarding the transition to the upgraded (R12) Secure Client version will be communicated to our Exam Centres via email throughout the maintenance period, the below table acts as a snapshot of these communications. Browser versions of the emails may be seen by clicking the associated Comms Title.
Date | Comms Title |
| 08/03/2021 | Reminder: Supporting You With Your Upgraded Exam System |
| 05/03/2021 | Supporting You With Your Upgraded Exam System |
| 04/03/2021 | Please Read. Your Exams System Is Available |
| 03/03/2021 | Your Exams System Is Available |
| 02/03/2021 | Urgent Attention: Things have changed |
| 01/03/2021 | What you need to do next after another successful weekend |
| 25/02/2021 | Action Required: Online Services Maintenance Due |
| 24/02/2021 | CRITICAL, ACTION REQUIRED: Inform us of your Plans |
| 22/02/2021 | Maintenance update: Weekend upgrade progress |
| 19/02/2021 | Maintenance update: How our upgrades are progressing |
| 18/02/2021 | Action Required. Let us know your plans from the 3rd March |
| 16/02/2021 | Our Upgrades Are Running Successfully |
| 12/02/2021 | Urgent, Action Required: Online Exams Have Now Been Stopped |
| 11/02/2021 | Last Date For Non-FSQ Exams |
| 10/02/2021 | Exams Shutdown Pending - FSQ Provisions Have Now Closed |
| 08/02/2021 | Paper-based FSQ Provisions Have Now Commenced |
Further guidance will be issued over the coming weeks helping you to prepare for the planned system updates.
We have built a new sign in and sign out experience for 2021. It has many improvements over the previous version. It is more secure and has a password reset feature, so no more need to contact support directly when you forget or need to reset your password.
One of the big improvements we will continue to roll out in 2021 is our "single Sign On" which means there will be just one password to remember for all our tools.
If you forget your password, or you think your password has been exposed or compromised, you can reset it any time via our new screens.
We have our Customer Experience Team here ready to help with any issues you might have in the coming weeks as you start using our new sign in screens and upgraded exam system.
So if you need some support with signing in or resetting your password, just get in touch.
Our new "Hub" screen is here to help you get to all of our tools form a single easy to remember place. As we develop more tools, they will be made available here for you.
Access to specific tools is set by your Centre Coordinator from within the "Inline Services" tool.
We have also been working on ways to be more transparent and data centred, part of this is to share with centres’ our new "status page". It will give everyone some fast feedback on which key system might be experiencing some downtime. You can now see which EAL systems are operational and which may be experiencing issues.We hope this tool will be helpful to you.
You can find answers below to some of our frequently asked questions.
If you can't find the answer you are looking for contact our Customer Experience team on 01923 652400 or email customer.experience@eal.org.uk.
Together our service is based on trust, quality, support and expertise.