Oxford University cancels contract with TCS iON over 'technical issues': Report

The University cited "technical issues," less than a year after engaging the company to manage a portion of the university's admission tests, reported Economic Times (ET).

“Following the technical problems experienced by some candidates during the delivery of this year’s online admissions tests by a new provider, TCS will not be involved in the delivery of Oxford admissions tests going forward,” spokespersons for the university was quoted as saying by ET.

In April 2023, the university chose TCS iON, the learning and assessments-focused branch of TCS, to use its platform for conducting admission tests to replace the Cambridge Admissions Assessment Testing for specific streams.

When announcing the agreement, the university mentioned its commitment to gathering feedback from stakeholders regarding the user-friendliness of the tests during the development phase.

The termination of the contract comes at a time when major Indian IT companies are facing challenges in terms of deal ramp-ups and conversions.

TCS, during its third-quarter earnings calls, indicated that the market environment and demand sentiment remained consistent with the preceding two quarters, according to the ET report.

Despite these challenges, the UK, where the university is located, remains a key market for India's largest IT services company. The market exhibited an 8.1% year-on-year growth for TCS in the past quarter, contributing approximately 16.5% to the company's overall revenue, the report said.

The TCS iON contract was signed to modernize the digital assessment processes for Oxford's admission tests, covering CAT, HAT, ELAT, MAT, MLAT, PAT, AMELAT, and philosophy tests.