Families and students
Why is my child’s test paused?
Written by the TestFLE team.
In short
In class, a student who leaves the test page sees the “Your test is paused.” screen appear, and only their teacher can restart the test. The same question then comes back, with the time that was left and all the answers already given.
Who this is for, and what you need first
- Who this is for
- Families and students facing the “Your test is paused.” screen, in class or at home.
- What you need first
- A test in progress, opened “In person”, that the child has left.
What to do when the test is paused
- Stay on the page. The screen has no button, and that is normal.
- Call your teacher. In class, raise your hand.
- Wait for the teacher to restart the test.
- Carry on: the same question comes back, with the time that was left.
The screen goes away by itself a few seconds after the restart, without you having to click. Nothing is lost: the answers already given stay saved.
To avoid the pause
The test is paused as soon as the test page is no longer in the foreground. So before starting, do the following.
- Open TestFLE in a single browser window, with no other tab.
- Turn off the device’s notifications, or switch the phone to “do not disturb” mode.
- Set the sleep settings so that the screen does not lock during the test.
- Do not switch to another app. On a phone, that is enough to pause the test.
Going further
Understanding the pause
Why the test is paused
TestFLE asks the child to stay on the test page while they are taking the test. It counts as an exit a change of tab, a minimised window, a locked screen, or another app coming to the foreground. A window that loses focus for more than a second and a half counts too; a shorter loss of focus is not counted.
In person, the teacher is in the room. The pause tells them that the page was left, and they decide what happens next.
What the teacher can do
The teacher receives a notification and sees the pause in the live view of the session. They have two choices.
- They restart the test. Your child resumes at the question they had left. The minute of that question resumes where it had stopped, and the pause time is not deducted from the thirty-five minutes of lightning mode.
- They cancel the test. The child’s screen then shows “Your test was cancelled by your teacher. It will not be graded. You can start a new one.”
The child has no way of lifting the pause on their own. The screen responds neither to the Esc key nor to clicks, and the “Leave the test” button can no longer be reached. They cannot start another test in the meantime either: the server gives them the pause screen again at every attempt.
When does a paused test close?
An open test that is forgotten is closed after twenty-four hours (the article What should I do if the test is interrupted gives the details). A paused test escapes this closing: it waits for the teacher. Only one thing closes it without them: in precise mode, in a class session, the session’s end time ends the test, paused or not. The student then sees their results, or the message of a test that stopped too early if they had fewer than fifteen answers. If the pause screen stays up and the teacher has not reacted, let the school know.
Remotely, there is no pause
When the teacher has opened the test as “Remote”, nobody is next to the child to restart it. So nothing is blocked: the child resumes on their own, the exit is counted, and a yellow banner reminds them to stay on the page. They read: “You left the test page. Please stay on this page until the end.” A “Got it” button closes the banner, which also disappears by itself after twelve seconds. In lightning mode, the minute of the question keeps running while the child is away.
The child never sees the words “In person” or “Remote” on the screen. The sign that counts is this one: the pause screen indicates a test opened in person, the yellow banner a test opened remotely. If the pause screen appears while your child is taking the test at home, the test was not opened as “Remote”. Let the school know: the teacher restarts the test, then corrects the setting of the opening for next time. This is because a test that has already started keeps the setting it started with. Taking the test at home covers this case in detail.
Pause screens in another language
When the child’s screen is not in French, each sentence of the pause screen keeps its French version just below it. The teacher who hurries over can then read the same message as the child.
And in Practice?
The pause also exists in Practice, but in one case only: a one-attempt test that the teacher has placed under proctoring. Without proctoring, as for homework, the page can be left with no consequence. This feature is part of the Practice option: it only appears if the school has chosen it.
Related articles
- What are the test buttons for: Next, Skip, Call, Leave?“Next” sends the answer, “Skip” skips the question, “Call my teacher” alerts the teacher and “Leave the test” cancels the test. The “Skip” button only exists if the teacher has turned it on for the session.
- What should I do if the test is interrupted or if my child wants to leave it?An interrupted test can be found again with “Start test”, then “Start the test”: the waiting question comes back and the answers given are kept. A test left for 24 hours with no activity is closed as cancelled, with no result.
- How long does the test last, in lightning mode or in precise mode?The teacher chooses the mode of your child’s test: lightning, with one minute per question and 35 minutes at most, or precise, with no timer. The “Start test” screen announces the mode before the test starts.
- How do I take the test at home?At home, the child takes the test on their own, on a connected device with sound, when the teacher has opened it as “Remote”. The parent helps them sign in and get started, without ever answering for them.