CBT platform and IT infrastructure upgrade for a private tertiary institution

The institution was conducting examinations manually, with paper scripts managed by a small administrative team. Results processing after each examination period took three to four weeks — a timeline that was creating tension with accreditation requirements and student expectations.

The institution had decided to move to a CBT platform but had discovered, after beginning the process independently, that its existing network infrastructure could not support simultaneous examination sessions for more than 200 students. With an examination population of 2,400, this was a critical constraint.

NKompass structured the engagement to address both workstreams in parallel: network and infrastructure upgrade, and CBT platform development. The infrastructure work began with an audit of all examination venues, establishing what network capacity was available, where it was insufficient, and what power continuity was in place. Upgrades were deployed venue by venue over a six-week window.

The CBT platform was built to the institution's specific requirements, including support for different examination formats, supervisor control tools, automatic timer management, and integration with the institution's existing student records system for seamless result publication. Security controls included session locking, answer-change audit trails, and supervisor-initiated incident logging.

The first examination sitting on the new platform accommodated the full student population across three simultaneous sessions without interruption. Results for the first examination period were published within 48 hours of the final sitting — compared to the previous three-to-four-week process.

The institution's accreditation body noted the CBT transition positively in its subsequent review. Academic staff reported that the availability of detailed per-student performance data — which the platform generated automatically — enabled more targeted academic support than had been possible previously.