The rules for taking the assessment

Before you start

• Use a laptop or desktop computer with the latest Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Phones and tablets are not supported.
• You need a working microphone, speakers or headphones and, if your cohort uses integrity checks, a webcam.
• Allow about 85 minutes in one sitting, or with breaks between sections when your employer allows it. Choose a quiet room where you won't be interrupted.
• Turn off writing assistants and grammar checkers, such as browser extensions, before you begin.

Rules of conduct

1. Do the test yourself, alone. No one else may be in the room helping you, and no one may take the test for you.
2. No outside help. Don't use AI tools, translation tools, dictionaries, notes or websites.
3. One device only. Keep phones, tablets and other computers away. Don't open the test on a second device or in a second tab.
4. Stay in the test. Don't switch to other tabs or programs. In proctored cohorts, keep the test in full screen.
5. Keep the questions confidential. The questions belong to OTO. Don't copy, photograph, record or share them.
6. Write and speak in your own words. Pasting, dropping text and autocorrect are blocked in answer boxes.

What is monitored

In every test: your answers and how long you take on each question, and your session, so the test can run on only one device at a time.

If your cohort uses integrity flags (you will be asked for consent first):

• your camera, analysed on your own device: whether your face is visible, whether more than one person is present, and whether you look away or turn away from the screen for more than a few seconds;
• leaving full screen, switching tabs or windows, blocked attempts to paste, drop, copy or autocorrect text, blocked keyboard shortcuts, the test open in a second tab, a second screen, and writing-assistant extensions.

If your cohort also uses snapshots: a small photo is kept when one of the camera events is detected.

If your cohort does not use the camera: none of the events above are recorded.

Full details, including how long data is kept, are in our privacy and proctoring notice.

If something is noticed (proctored cohorts)

• You will see a short message telling you it has been recorded. If you leave full screen, the test is covered until you return, but the clock keeps running.
• Events add up to an integrity score that your employer's HR team can review, with a timeline.
• These are automated signals for human review, not proof of cheating. Nobody is failed automatically. Your employer decides what, if anything, to do.

Timing

• Each section has a clock that keeps running whatever happens on your screen.
• Grammar and Vocabulary questions allow 60 seconds each; each reading text 3½ minutes; each listening recording 3 minutes from when it starts playing. Each recording can be played up to twice.
• An answer given after the time limit counts as wrong, and the test moves on.

One attempt, retakes by HR only

• You get one attempt per invitation. You can't start again with the same email address.
• Only your employer's HR team can allow a retake. When they do, the earlier attempt is kept on record and marked as void.
• Your HR team can also let you redo one or more sections instead of the whole test. You'll get a personal link; your latest result for each redone section counts, your earlier results stay on record, and your certificate is reissued.
• Within a company account, your results follow your email address: assessments you take for that company, in whichever cohort, are shown together as your history.
• Your test runs on one device at a time. To switch devices, close the test on the first one and wait two minutes before opening it on the other.

If something goes wrong

If your connection drops, reopen the test in the same browser to continue where you left off. The clock keeps running. If Listening or Speaking can't work on your device, that skill is left out and your result is marked provisional. For any other problem, contact your HR team, who can reach OTO directly.

Your result and certificate

Your employer receives your report and certificate. Each certificate has an ID that anyone can check on our verification page, which shows your name, level, test date and company. The assessment is based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) standard.

Seats (for companies)

• Assessments are counted in seats. One seat covers one person's assessment, however many sections they sit.
• A new company account starts with 5 free seats. You can ask us for more at any time, and we add them to your account.
• Letting someone redo a section never uses another seat, and their earlier attempt still counts as the same one seat.
• An assessment that has already started is never cut off because seats ran out. When your account is out of seats, we simply stop new people from being invited or enrolled until you add more.

Contact

OTO Group, LLC · 14/5 Al Lasilki St., Maadi, Cairo · Hotline 02 2122 1230 · www.otocourses.com

These terms are also published in Arabic. The Arabic text is a translation of this English one, and if the two differ, this English version governs.