e-EQE: 15 Mar 2022 - B Exam - no copy (sorry), short report

Yesterday was the e-EQE B Exam (0930-1300 CET - 210 mins). Unfortunately, I do not have a complete copy of the non-printable parts yet = application description, claims as filed, EPO communication, clients letter with proposed claims. The EPO normally makes official copies available in the compendium in the week after the EQE. 

• It was shorter in length than last year, so that made it a little more manageable. 
• There were many complaints about the exam being too mechanical - in fact, it looked like it was from years ago when candidates could choose between Electricity-Mechanics or Chemistry, where specialist knowledge was required to make the exam. 
• I have not made the exam yet, so I cannot comment on it myself.
• If you had any issues with the exam, report them as soon as possible to helpdesk@eqe.org. Formally, complaints must be filed no later than midnight on the day of the exam you are complaining about. I have helped update Preston Richard's template for EQE complaints to make the process a little easier, especially after a tiring day. Even if you have miss the formal deadline, submit all complaints that could affect your marking or performance as quickly as possible. You can also give a reason why you were not able to submit immediately after the exam, such as tiredness or needing to prepare for the next exam.

1. Telegram chat groups

• Join the EQE Telegram groups to discuss issues with other candidates: Main group (306 members), Study group (128 members), ABC&PE-claims (188 members), D&PE-legal (152 members) and Marketplace (69 members). The groups are public, and open to any tutors or candidates. A few rules: treat others with respect, no discussion of cheating, no exchange of large sections of copyrighted materials (use of excerpts for study and discussion allowed). During scheduled exams, no discussion of the exam questions or answers. During mocks, no restrictions.

2. WISEflow, before the exam, after the exam

• It is now strongly recommended to log-on to WISEflow at least 60 minutes before the start of the first part of each exam. This gives you a chance to see if everything is working. After clicking on the correct exam flow, you enter the flow page. 
• Early camera check: It is possible to start the FLOWlock/LockDown Browser in the flow page up to 60 minutes before the exam to test your camera and microphone by performing the ID check. 
• If you do not need to print, you can just stay in the Browser, waiting for the exam to start. 
• If you need to print using that computer, you must exit the Browser, restart your internet browser, log back in to WISEflow, and enter the flow page again. You will also need to perform the ID check again. 
• It is also possible to print using a second computer logged into WISEflow, but this second computer must be turned off and out of reach during the exam.
• Print BEFORE starting the FLOWlock Browser: 10 minutes before the start of the exam, any printable documents will appear on the flow page. Click on the refresh icon (clockwise arrow) or press F5 to see them. 
• All copies of candidates answers were available 60 mins after the scheduled end of the exam.
• Last year, there were some problems last year with missing pages in the pdf's, so check them to see if they look complete and report any problem. It was a pdf conversion issue, and the complete answers were correctly submitted and could be easily be reconverted. This year, at least one person had the first letters of each paragraph missing and some words in between were also missing.

3. FLOWlock / LockDown Browser

• Browser updates: it is now expected that you verify the software at least once in the morning BEFORE each exam. You should be using the latest version of FLOWlock / LockDown Browser
• To verify: after logging-in to WISEflow, click on the drop down menu next to your name and select "Edit profile" and "Test Browser". This will start the FLOWlock / LockDown Browser, and check that it is up to date. 
• Several people did report Browser stability problems after updating - everything was fine during their mock exams in February.
• Browser crashes during A, B and D: many people had crashes, even with home computers on home networks who had no problems during the mocks. After successfully starting, the Browser spontaneously vanished, with just the desktop backdrop being visible. This issue was seen by some during the mocks. It is unclear what the cause is.
• if an internet browser can be opened, you can restart WISEflow.
• if no options are available, you may need to to reboot your computer, and then restart WISEflow.
• Prepare a backup system: I heard on Monday about someone who had no problems during the mocks, but could not get into any parts of the D exam yesterday because the Browser would not recognise the laptop internal camera (a personal laptop with no external cameras connected). What a disaster - a year of preparation flushed away by WISEflow. If you have had crashes, or you are worried, prepare a backup system and have it in your room, turned off and out of reach:
• Borrow a computer to which you can have full administrator privileges. The recommended technical specs are very low. Or ask your IT department if they have an old one that they can reset and give you administrator privileges.  
• You will have the least chance of technical issues if you use a dedicated desktop with one screen (at least 27 inch), one camera, one microphone, one keyboard, one mouse, one loudspeaker device, one printer, direct wired (USB/HDMI) connections to all peripherals, administrator access, cabled (LAN) access. The chances of problems are even more reduced by connecting to a non-company network.
• Chat window frozen: many people found after a crash (and logging in again) that chat window remained open in the "Calling representative" or "Contacting invigilation" mode. There was no way to stop it, move it, or to contact an invigilator. This meant that it was not possible to request an unscheduled break, for example, or to report any other issues. At least one person had to waste more time calling the EQE helpdesk telephone number (which has very limited capacity) to get back in because the chat was frozen. 
• helpdesk suggested refreshing - the refresh icon is the "clockwise arrow" at the top left between X and (i). F5 should also work (at least in Windows).
• if it still does not work, continue working on your exam. If you need to contact the helpdesk, call +49 89 2399 5155 (helpdesk number with very limited capacity).
• Lost lines from answer: after a FLOWlock Browser crash, rebooting and logging-in, one person reported that they were missing the lines from the last several minutes of thier had been lost, and they had to retype them.
• Can't find Refresh: Refresh will solve a lot of problems. The refresh icon is the "clockwise arrow" at the top left between X and (i). F5 should also work (at least in Windows).
• Blurry assignment preview: many candidates have reported this problem. The assignment preview window is the only possibility in FLOWlock to allow side-by-side comparison, so the blurriness makes this unusable. The official guidance received from the helpdesk, both during the mocks and during exams, is to not use the preview window, or that it was due to the individual system.
• a solution reported in the Telegram groups was to adjust the text zoom ratio in WINDOWS/ Display Settings to 125% before starting the FLOWlock Browser. 
• Note that this WINDOWS setting cannot be set or reset during the exam. 
• The zoom level of the FLOWlock Browser and all the tabs can be set during the exam using the selection menu which appears when the (i) icon in the top left is clicked. For example, if this Browser zoom is set to 75%, some people indicated that the blurry assignment preview did not return, and everything was sized correctly.
• It is also possible to separately change the zoom level of an assignment tab using CTRL+SCROLL MOUSE, or the (-) and (+) buttons in the assignment tab toolbar. Zoom settings can also be set directly by clicking on the arrow next to the percentage in the assignment tab toolbar.
• It is only possible to separately change the zoom level of the answer tab using CTRL+SCROLL MOUSE.

e-EQE: 15 Mar 2022 - B Exam - good luck!

Final preparations
Updated 11 Mar 22: added entry photo requirements
Update 10 Mar 22: clarify printing must be done before starting FLOWlock Browser

• This is a detailed exam schedule for B 2022, indicating unscheduled break times. 
• External Resources at www.epo.org are available online during the exam. For all other materials, you will need to have them on paper.
• If you are planning to annotate digitally, be prepared to deal with limitations in the software.
• The B and C Exams are the least adapted to the new digital format. If it is similar to the 2021 exam, there will be quite a lot to read, a lot to answer and not much time to waste. 
• Be prepared to contact the invigilators by chat widget, and be prepared to deal with FLOWlock Browser crashes. Only in emergencies and if the chat widget is not available, call the epo helpdesk: +49 89 2399 5155. Telephone lines are very limited - the chat widget is strongly recommended. Communication via email will not be dealt with.
• Last year, candidates received an e-mail with a hyperlink just before the exam. This year, no email will be sent - the flows will made available well before each of your exams, so you will see them after logging into WISEflow.
• Get everything ready early so you can relax. It is recommended to log-in 60 minutes before the start of the first flow. This will also give enough time to make sure that the room requirements are complied with, and to create your own evidence.
• Print BEFORE starting the FLOWlock Browser: 10 minutes before the start of the exam, any printable documents will appear on the flow page. Click on the refresh icon (clockwise arrow) or press F5 to see them. 
• It is also possible to print using a second computer logged into WISEflow, but this second computer must be turned off and out of reach during the exam.

During the exam

• Have a valid official photo ID (identity card or passport) ready and keep it within easy reach during the whole exam. You MUST verify your identity at the start of EACH FLOW by holding your ID next to your face for the entry photo. See Instructions to Candidates ITC IV, 6.
• During the exam, you must to stay in front of the camera - everything you want to use must be within arms reach. 
• During scheduled exam times, don't go online discussing the exam or share confidential exam info, such as personal login details & invigilator passwords. Wait until the scheduled end of the exam - after that, you can freely discuss. But remember - no-one knows the expected answers, how the marks will be awarded, and which alternatives will be accepted.

Type-in the most complete answer possible within the time given

• More than one answer is frequently accepted. This is decided after the exam based upon the actual answers provided. In B 2021, several different solutions were accepted.
• You can still fail if you are on the right track but don't hand in enough to be marked properly. Don't spend too much time analysing and thinking - hand-in as much as answer as possible, even if you are not sure if it is "correct".
• Concentrate on completing the parts of the answer as soon as possible which are awarded the most marks (the examiners reports include a marking table). 
• If you are working digitally, it is fine to have a "notes" or "analysis" section in your answer, and to hand-it in. Help your marker by clearly distinguishing between "notes"/"analysis" and your answer to the exam.

Good luck!

eEQE 2021 Mock1 - Experience & Tips - A, B & C

Updated 28 Jan 21 with comments from eEQE FAQs

Updated 27 Jan 21: see post on using digital functionality more during exam.

Based on Mock1, C seems doable with 2 papers practice - it is a struggle to deal with such a long answer in a single view, so you really need to be organised. The claims are short, so I just copied the features onto paper.

I could do this paper A within the 4 hours, but I know this paper quite well and it is relatively straightforward.  Not having the letter slows you down - in paper A, you cannot just make one pass and use everything, you have to keep going back to the letter, and there is no way to mark what I have used or not used. Each paper is very different (like a real client's letter), so you cannot prepare any detailed templates beforehand to help organise. Luckily, you can copy claim language into your answer when you see it - fortunately, with A, the claims are most of the marks and with the combined technology papers, you get a lot of claim language in the current papers. 

B took me an extra 30 minutes. Very hard to do online - there are a lot of  pages you dont have. You need to compare a lot, so it is easy to miss something when clicking on the different tabs. It took me a long time as I had to double check a lot of things. More time would help, but I would prefer to be able to print everything. Or have everything except the claims as filed and the clients claims (consistent with C). Also, a simple way should be provided for including an amended set of claims - in real life, the EPO will only accept very minor amendments without such a claim set (GL H-III, 2.2). The main thing to remember in Paper B is that the clients letter and claims are telling you the direction to go in - if you follow that, but not blindly, you may not need to read everything in detail 

Important is to find the way that is most efficient for you that results in the fewest mistakes. Concentrate on the content (as before) and dont be distracted by additional possibilities to make your answers look nice. Feel free to distribute any materials as long as you indicate the source. There is a separate post for PE and D with many general comments which still hold. I have only repeated the most relevant here.

Hardware - see PE & D post. 27inch external monitor 1280x1080

Software - see PE & D post. 

General plus points:

• See PE & D post.  
• When starting Lockdown Browser, it detected that Windows Update was active, giving the chance to stop and turn it off :-)
• Can open many tabs of assignments, zoom and search in them, allowing separate views of pages or parts of pages. But max. 10 tabs in total visible for 27 inch screen.

General minus points:

• See PE & D post. 
• If something goes wrong (interface freezes) you may have to reset your whole computer. There are some invigilator options in the main tab for saving and printing that can be activated with the Invigilator Password. If you are viewing a different tab, click (i) in browser, select "Proctor Exit", and then enter Invigilator Password to exit.
• For A, B, C no highlighting. For pages only available on-screen, impossible to keep track of what you used or noticed. For B, it is a lot to have visible in the tabs.
• Multiple tabs cannot be named or viewed side-by-side
• Bug 1: max of 9 additional tabs (in addition to main tab). If you open 11th tab (10th additional tab), browser freezes and PC must be rebooted. It is also possible to click (i) in browser, select "Proctor Exit", and then enter Invigilator Password to exit.
• Bug 2: with smaller screens (14 inch), tabs can be opened but not accessed as they are off screen. Max. 6 tabs visible on 14 inch screen. 
• Only one view of your answer available, so for long answers (A, B, C) you may need to scroll around.

Tips - ME A, B, C

• See PE & D post. 
• Use separate online tabs for at least the non-printable pages. For A and C, can use 1 tab for each non-printable page. For B, too many pages, so can group into 1-2 tabs per document. With a 27-inch screen, full page view is easily readable. But max. 10 tabs allowed.
• For copy/paste in tabs, try selecting bottom up instead of top down before copying
• CTRL keys work in answer - A, C, X, V, B, U, I etc. "Shift+arrow" works for selection
• CTRL A, C work in assignment tab
• CTRL F works for find in assignment tab, or find/replace in answer
• CTRL Z, Y work for undo, redo
• CTRL-SHIFT V also works to paste in answer without formatting
• Use one or two heading types in answer (Heading3 or Heading4) - this allows you to click on headings in Table of Contents to quickly jump (this worked the first time I used it, but when I went back the clicking did not work anymore).
• To reduce risk of copying wrong details to paper overviews, read assignment in tabs and select dates or facts (as if you were going to copy) before you not them so that you do not lose your place, making it easier to double check.
• You don't need complete sentences - answers can be given bullet-style to reduce scrolling.

Suggested improvements:

• See PE & D post. 
• ME: fix the bug that more than 10 tabs requires a reboot.
• ME: as a general rule, a maximum of 4 pages should be available only on the screen. Any more is to difficult to read when they are in separate tabs.
• ME: allow 2-4 assignment tabs (which allowing selection & copying) to be displayed side-by-side in a single view.
• A: Provide all exam to print or give extra time
• B: Provide all exam to print or give extra time. Possibly compromise: only claims as filed and client claims are unprintable.
• B: Provide format to include claim set showing amendments
• ME: allow text-only appendices to be defined and inserted into answer. These would allow different sections of answer to be visible in different tabs. This would help the most in C as the answer is very long. But max. nr of allowed tabs needs to be increased.
• ME: make sure hyperlinks in Table of Contents work reliably

CLICK BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT A, B, & C