Introducing the New Tracktest Desktop App: A More Secure Way to Deliver English Assessments

Summer is a great time to recharge—but also to try something new. We're excited to announce the launch of a brand-new way to deliver Tracktest English assessments for test administrators: the Tracktest Desktop Application, now available for both Windows and Mac.

Currently in beta, this new app offers a more controlled and secure testing environment, especially useful for institutions and remote proctoring scenarios. If you’re already using Tracktest, you can try it completely free with a valid license, and we’re here to help you every step of the way during setup and testing.

What is the Tracktest Desktop App?

Instead of running tests in a browser, the new Desktop App allows candidates to take their English assessments in a dedicated, pre-installed application. Once a test is launched, the candidate is redirected from their browser to the secure desktop environment, which prevents interference from other apps or unauthorised activity.

Who Should Use It?

Admin: How to save custom texts in invitation e-mails

During the invitation process, you can customize the default invitation text to include your important information.

The only restriction is that a button and a unique user link for starting the test will always appear below your text.

If you modify the email text, you will be prompted after sending the invitations to save it for future use.

If you choose to save it, this custom text will become the default for your next invitations until you decide to change it again.

E-mail invitation links become permanent

Inviting users via email has long been the preferred and most direct method for platform administrators to onboard users. This feature, launched a decade ago, has undergone several enhancements while maintaining its essential functionality.

Previously, issuing an invitation would generate a new, unique link, rendering the old one inactive. This often led to confusion as users attempted to use an outdated link. We've taken note of the feedback from company account owners who have voiced their concerns about this issue.

In response, we've introduced additional tools for administrators to manage user access, such as archiving, removing unused credits, and restricting access to certain levels. Consequently, the need for constantly changing invitation links has diminished.

Starting this July, email invitation links will no longer expire. If you resend an invitation for a new test months later, users will receive a familiar link in their email—the same one they've used previously. Should there be a need to refresh a link for a particular user or for everyone from your organisation, our support team will help you with the reset.

Admins: Redesign of the organisational admin pages

We are excited to announce that we have given a fresh look to the organizational admin pages. This visual update only affects the company super-admins and admins who manage the settings and features for their organization.
The individual test-takers will not see any changes in their interface.

The new design of the admin pages is more modern, user-friendly, and consistent with our brand identity. 

The features and settings that you are familiar with remain as before, so you don't have to worry about learning anything new.

Admins: Delivery status of the e-mail invitations in the user profile

We added the info about the sent date and delivery status of the invitation e-mails to the organizational module so the company admins know if there is any potential problem with the deliverability of the invitation links to the specific candidate.
It is visible in the user profile under the invitation link (for invitations sent since Feb 23rd, 2023, 1pm GMT):

status: delivered means that the mail server of the candidate accepted the mail. It still can skip the inbox and land in their junk or other folder based on their mailbox rules, but it has been delivered successfully to their mailbox.

status: failed: the candidate did not receive the e-mail. The reasons for failure can be the wrong e-mail address, a full mailbox, or a mail server rejecting the e-mail because of their anti-spam policy, etc. Approximately 3% of invite e-mails are affected.
It is typically a permanent fail, so resending the invite from the system will not help. 
Recommended action: Admin can copy the link and try to share it in alternative ways: send it from their own e-mail address or via instant messengers. 

New features for admins: Credits assignation (Core, Verified, Speaking&Writing)

With the new software update planned for November 2021, we improve the way how you allocate the exam credits to your users.  Now you are able to assign the credit for the specific test version: with or without verification, with or without Speaking&Writing, for the specific level or for all.
This update has no impact on the cost and terms of use of the Core licences and credits for the additional options. 

New feature for admins: Verified credits counter in the company accounts

Administrators of the organizational accounts can now manage the credits for the Verified exam and activate and deactivate the access to the verified exams for their users. 

Admins: Automatic allocation of the registered users

There are more ways how to ensure that the specific users are allocated to your account so you can activate their license and see their results.

1. Custom URL - Everybody registering via your custom URL will be added to your company account. This can be configured in your admin settings.

2. Domain allocation- Everybody registering with the specific e-mail address (e.g.  your domain @yourcompany.com) will be added to your account. This can be configured by TrackTest upon request.

3. Voucher- Everybody submitting a voucher from your account will be transferred to your organization.

You can use one or a combination of the above methods.

Admins: How to lock and unlock the access to tests

School and company administrators can lock the access to tests for their users and unlock it only for the period when they want their users to take the tests.

Weekly reports for admins

Administrators can subscribe to the weekly reports about the usage of their school or company account.

The e-mail report informs about four key metrics:

Users added (registered via custom URL or added by the administrator)
Completed tests 
Licences used
Remaining licences

The report is sent at the end of the week but only if there is any update. Details about the used licences (username, used code and date of activation) are attached to the e-mail in the excel spreadsheet.

If you are are interested to get these reports, subscribe to the weekly report in your administrator Settings page.

For admins: Custom URL for companies and schools

Custom URL links are becoming a standard feature for all organisational customers. In your company settings (Edit profile), you can see the option for Custom Registration URL.

Admins: How to re-activate multiple users

School or company admins of the English proficiency tests can prevent users to access their accounts between the assessment rounds. They do it via the Archive English test users feature. When they decide to re-activate them again, they can do it easily as shown in our tutorial video.

English for schools - custom features

Tracktest English Test Online is a highly customizable solution for the English language
assessment.

Specifically for educational institutions administrators from primary schools to high schools and universities, Optional custom English test features are available in the org settings and are FREE OF CHARGE.

The tracktest platform can be used as a school or university entrance exam as well as English progress monitoring tool in classes.

Company Admins: Invite to the specific English level test

As a Tracktest company admin, you might require users to take a specific test, e.g. Intermediate English level B1 or English test B2 (Upper-intermediate).
Before you needed to specify it in the text of your invitation e-mail. Our new feature allows you to select the level from the dropdown menu. Users are then redirected directly to the English level they are expected to take.

See the video tutorial for more information:



Further questions:

Company Admins: Three ways to maximise your brand presence at Tracktest

Three tips for company account admins to increase their organization brand presence within the TrackTest English Assessment Centre solution.

1. Upload Organisation logo and name: 

Test time limit- optional feature for company and school admins

The time limit for the English proficiency test is an optional feature available for all company and school accounts. Account administrators can set a maximum duration of English tests in minutes for their users.

How to register a new company or school (video tutorial)

In this video tutorial, we will show you how to proceed with the first steps in the super admin interface of  English Proficiency Test for companies, school and individuals free trial accounts.

Company Admins: Getting started with English Assessment Corporate Module

Companies, organizations and schools use TrackTest Company Module for English assessment of students, employees and job candidates.

Here is a collection of useful links from our blog for company administrators.

ENGLISH TEST USERS IMPORT:

Choose how you want to import users into your account
3 Ways how to get English test users into the company account

If you decide to import your employees from excel, here is how to do it:
Bulk import of users from excel

You can use a dedicated company voucher if you cannot use emails for invitations. Users create their accounts and apply their vouchers at the payment gate. 

3 ways how to get company users to do the English test (invites, voucher, individual password)

TrackTest English is an easy-to-use but still flexible platform for managing the English tests of your employees, job candidates, or students. As such, it offers more ways how to get your people tested.

Here is a brief overview of how you can invite your users to the English test. You can combine those which fit you best for no extra charge. 

1. E-MAIL INVITATION

New in Corporate module- improved filtering, totals and progress comparison

Today we launched the redesigned Results page in Corporate module.

Here are 5 major improvements: