ICAS or International Credential Assessment Service is an agency responsible for assessing the competence of students looking to pursue higher education in Canada. The ICAS report helps the educational institutes to compare the academic qualifications of students to the Canadian standard.
If you’re looking to assess international students, use sites like the ICAS assessments online. These platforms offer the fastest way to evaluate and generate ICAS reports. In this article, learn how to invest in the right platform.
The ICAS Subjects
The first thing you should look for in an ICAS-specific platform is the subjects available. The more subjects there are, you’ll find it easier to create the questionnaire.
ICAS evaluates candidates based on the following subjects:
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Digital Technologies
- Writing
- Spelling Bee
If a platform labels itself as an ICAS-specific assessment platform, then it should have the subjects covered. Furthermore, the subjects should be updated as per the latest curricula.
Otherwise, you can make use of generic platforms where you have to create the questionnaire from scratch.
Ease of Use
When selecting a type of ICAS Assessment platforms, you must prioritize ease of use. The platform should be easy for both the examiners and students. The examiners should have all the tools in place to create different types of questions. Whether it be multiple choice questions or descriptive, it should be easy to create. So check for the assessment authoring tool when evaluating the platform’s quality.
On the students’ side, the platform should be easy to use too. They should have all the options in place that they’d need when taking the examination. The buttons and the screen must work seamlessly.
The ease of use should be in marking too. Most assessment platforms will automatically and accurately evaluate the answers and prepare a report. So check how good the platform is in marking and scoring.
Technical Support
Along with ease of use, the assessment platform should have reliable technical support in place. Most of the examiners might not have the technical expertise to navigate the system. So when they get stuck, technical support should be readily available to help them out.
The support can be in the form of live chat, email, or telephone. Confirm the timeframe within which they can offer the support.
Analytics and Reporting
Analytics is another important determining factor. Not all assessment platforms offer the same analytics capability.
Some are advanced, while others are generic.
The platform should have all the essential components in evaluating the test results and delivering the reports.
Automatic platforms can take care of reporting automatically from end to end. Semi-automatic platforms require some level of manual intervention.
So check for the analytics and reporting capability of the ICAS assessment platform.
Scalability of Platform
Most ICAS assessment institutes evaluate international candidates. And the demand for education in Canada changes each year. In 2019, there were about 642,000 international students in Canada, a 13% increase compared to 2018.
As and when you need to assess more candidates, the platform should be scalable enough to accommodate all of them. So, check how scalable the platform is when comparing your options.
The above five metrics will help you select the right kind of ICAS assessments online for your institute. With this, you can find the best candidates for admission.
