Since the launch of the launch of the National Association of Examinations Officers (NAEO) in September, our primary focus has been to lay the foundations to ensure that the NAEO can operate effectively and efficiently as an organisation over the coming years.
This exercise has included organising the relevant internal governance structures and procedures, and building an awareness of, and relationships with, key stakeholders within the sector.
Due to the decision to offer free membership to exams office staff, we currently generate no income. We are overcoming this obstacle thanks to the support afforded by The Exams Office, which is enabling us to create a long-term future for the NAEO as the representative organisation for the exams officer community.
So, we now move onto the next stage of our programme which is to represent and promote the work of the exams officer community amongst the wider education stakeholders.
Since the new year, I have attended two significant events – one to promote the work of the exams officer community and the other to highlight the issues faced by exams officers and the measures the NAEO is putting in place to support members in overcoming these issues.
On 31 January, I delivered an online presentation at the Westminster Education Forum (https://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/conferences/westminster-education-forum) to highlight the significance of the role played by the exams officer community in delivering examinations and assessments for students. As the audience was largely concerned with, and focused upon, teaching and learning, my aim was to stress the importance of ensuring that examinations and assessments are managed, administered, and conducted with integrity to support good teaching and learning. It is imperative that we continue to deliver the message that teaching, learning and assessment are inter-connected, and the role which exams officers play in ensuring integrity and maintaining security within the examinations system.
It is widely accepted that the teacher-assessed grades (TAGs)/centre-assessed grades (CAGs) process which has been used over the last two academic years has been, at best, difficult. It has also confirmed amongst most key stakeholders that although the traditional system of taking examinations may not be perfect, it is the fairest system to assess students. Taking this into account, my message to the Westminster Education Forum centred around the pivotal role played by exams officers in ensuring that an effective and efficient upcoming summer exams series is delivered. This provided an opportunity to highlight several significant issues faced by exams officers as we emerge from the pandemic and how these need to be addressed if we are to return to a sense of normality. This also enabled me to highlight our proposal for a set of Exams Officer Professional Standards for exams officers which will help to further ensure and protect the integrity of the examination system whilst also raising the profile and status of the exams officer community.
The other major engagement during February was The Exams Office’s National Exams Officer Conference which took place on 9 and 10 February at the Kia Oval in London. The focus of my presentation was to highlight the immediate concerns of the exams officer community as we prepare for the summer exams series, the longer term issues as we emerge from the pandemic and the initiatives being launched by the NAEO to help members overcome the problems faced at centre level whilst addressing our long term aim of raising the profile and status of the exams officer community.
I took the opportunity to attend the presentations delivered by the various awarding bodies in attendance, and during AQA’s presentation on helping centres to prevent, identify and respond to malpractice, it was surprising, if not alarming, that the second most popular question was what an exams officer should if their head of centre fails to report an incident of malpractice.
The types of questions asked during the conference not only revealed the significant number of exams officers who have not previously experienced a summer exams series, but also confirmed the need to ensure that heads of centre and members of senior leadership are aware of their responsibilities in the management and conducting of examinations within their centre. In response to the non-reporting of malpractice, I urge all members to read the article which I have written for The Exams Office to support exams officers who are faced with heads of centre who fail to report instances of suspected malpractice and our February legal article which provides advice and guidance on Whistleblowing - What are my rights and protections?
You can view the NAEO presentation – and all other presentations delivered at the National Exams Officer Conference (via The Exams Office’s Virtual Conference) - including a very welcome message of thanks for the exams officer community from the Minister of School Standards, Robin Walker MP).
Engagement at these events highlighted the issues and challenges faced by the exams officer community in the coming months, however, I am very confident that the exams officer community is in a much stronger position than at the start of the pandemic. I state this for three reasons:
- The formation of the NAEO: A lot of hard work has resulted in the launch of a credible organisation, led by individuals with from a range of backgrounds, to represent the exams officer community. Thanks to a collaboration with The Exams Office, the future of the NAEO is secure, and it is an organisation with a clear short, medium, and long-term aims and objectives.
- A closer working relationship with the DfE and Ofqual: Over the last 2 years, we have represented the views of those who manage, administer and conduct examinations at key forums. This has resulted in an excellent working relationship with colleagues from the Department for Education. Their increasing awareness of the key role which exams officers play within the examination system will hopefully ensure consideration of the exams officer role in the devising of policy in the future. There have already been discussions to support areas of concern including the possible lack of invigilators. The appreciation and awareness of the exams officer community is probably best revealed by the message of thanks sent by Robin Walker MP (Minister of Standards) which was shown at the National Exams Officer Conference.
This builds upon the excellent relationship we have with colleagues from Ofqual who continue to ensure that the role played by exams officers is considered when key decisions are made, and that we are consulted when relevant ahead of any decisions made by the Chief Regulator.
- The support and commitment of the awarding organisations: Despite the obvious impact upon their workload and financial resources as a result of no summer exams series since 2019, and the requirement to implement systems to deliver results based upon teacher/centre assessed grades in 2020 and 2021, the awarding bodies have continued to deliver a comprehensive support programme for exams officers. This includes such initiatives as Pearson’s involvement in the production and launch of the Exams Manual to support contingency and succession planning within centres, AQA’s free training for new exams officers, and the support for exams officer network groups as provided by OCR. The range of support services offered by the awarding bodies confirms their commitment in supporting both new and experienced exams officers in their everyday roles.
This leads us to the work of the NAEO in the coming months. We will begin on developing a set of Exams Officer Professional Standards which will help us to achieve several of our key aims – most importantly that of raising the profile and status of the exams officer role. Once/if these Professional Standards are agreed and approved, they will also help us in offering ‘protection’ to exams officers within centres and ensure that they receive the appropriate personal and professional support from heads of centre and senior leaders. The Professional Standards will also allow us to consider and address our long-term objectives of remuneration for exams officers and for exams officers to view the skills, knowledge and experience they acquire in their role as invaluable and very much sought after in a range of professions and industries.
In the coming months, we will announce details of our Summer Conference and the Exams Officer of the Year initiative. As we promised at our launch, the NAEO will work hard to represent the exams officer community by promoting their views and ensuring that our voice is heard and considered by policy makers and key stakeholders within the education sector – however, we also understand that a significant challenge is to change the attitude towards the role amongst some heads of centre and senior leaders within centres.
Jugjit Chima
Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Examinations Officers