Dear reader,
Our newsletter is as colorful as the leaves on the trees this fall. We have several topics that we would like to inform you about. We are going to say goodbye to one of our regular ladies at the office and there are changes regarding the exam moment.
We wish you a lot of reading pleasure,
Team Ascend examengroep B.V.
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We say goodbye to Tanja
You must have read the above sentence twice, but you read it right. We are going to say goodbye to Tanja. She has enjoyed working with us for 10.5 years and we will miss her at the office. Tanja has found a new challenge.
It all went very quickly and Tanja will no longer be working at our office as of October 26, 2022. She is going to enjoy a well-deserved vacation. Of course you can always send a nice e-mail to thank Tanja (administration@ascendexamen.nl), we will make sure that she will read it.
We are going out to dinner with Tanja in November with the ladies from the office and hope that she will come by again for a cup of coffee (with chocolate milk, as Tanja likes to drink in the afternoon). We wish her a lot of fun in her new position!
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Team at the office
Now that you have to miss Tanja’s voice on the phone, you will get Annemieke, Ruby or Petra on the phone more often and exam leader Nicole will be at the office. If you are selective about who you want to talk to on the phone, save the weekly schedule below.
Monday : Ruby, Petra and Annemiek (only in the morning)
Tuesday : Annemieke and Petra
Wednesday : Nicole, Annemieke and Petra
Thursday : Annemieke and Petra
Friday : Ruby and Petra
During the weekend we can only be reached if you have an exam planned with us or via Petra’s mobile number.
We will immediately throw in a notification for the Christmas holidays. We are closed between Christmas and New Years this year. If there are urgent questions, Petra can be reached by e-mail or telephone.
Annual maintenance plan 2023
Last year there was a varying schedule for the maintenance of the examination systems. This was experienced as annoying by the examination offices (and the customers). It was unclear when the system would or would not work. Fortunately, in 2023 there is a tight maintenance schedule. Maintenance is carried out on the systems every 3rd Saturday of the month, which means that we do NOT allow an exam to take place on those Saturdays.
If you would like to put all Saturdays in your agenda.
Saturday: January 21, 2023, February 18, 2023, March 18, 2023, April 15, 2023, May 20, 2023, June 17, 2023, July 15, 2023, August 19, 2023, September 16, 2023, October 21, 2023, November 18, 2023, and December 16, 2023. (If a date changes, we will of course let you know.)
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No more second exams on the same day
In our last newsletter we announced that the system partners SSVV, eX:plain, Stichting Examenkamer have determined that there is a Tombola effect if multiple exams are requested for the same candidate on the same day. That is why they have determined that NO 2nd EXAM can be scheduled on the SAME DAY.
We have been using this rule since June 2022, so that our customers can get ‘used’ to this new rule. In this newsletter we would like to emphasize once again that this is NOT determined by us, but by the system partners. We would like to continue to perform our exams and therefore follow the rules.
We understand that it is inconvenient that this rule has to be applied, especially with candidates who have only been in a country for a short time or target groups where nerves often run high. We are happy to think along with you about how we can plan resits in an appropriate way.
Exams in Europe and outside Europe
We often receive requests for exams abroad. It is meaningful to us that more companies know where to find us for the international exams.
However, we notice that it is unknown to applicants that there are costs for exams outside Europe that we have to pass on from SSVV. Outside Europe, there is a mandatory 100% check during all exams. This is about fraud prevention.
If you would like to request a survey outside of Europe, please send us an email for the current prices.
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Price increase from SSVV
We have received the new price lists from the SSVV for 2023 and will pass on these costs. We will announce the new prices in the last newsletter of this year. Keep in mind that all prices will go up slightly.
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Trial exam now available in multiple languages
Most trainers make use of the mock exams. We often recommend candidates to take a mock exam before entering the real exam. It usually takes some of the nerves away and gives a good indication of how the actual exam will go.
If you don’t know the test exams yet, by this direct link (https://www.vcainfra.nl/proefexamens/) you will end up on the website where you can practice the test exam. Previously, the mock exams were only available in a select number of languages. We are very happy that this has now been expanded to 18 languages.
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Until the next newsletter
Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you have any questions, you can email them to ruby@ascendexamen.nl. She will answer your questions on Monday or Friday.
We wish everyone a very good working week.
Team Ascend examengroep B.V.