As we approach the Summer 2022 exams series, there are two major issues facing our members. Firstly, ensuring that those who have not previously managed a summer exams series are fully prepared and adequately supported in the coming weeks, and the more pressing issue of insufficient invigilators.
Support for exams officers
With regard to preparing and supporting exams officers, credit must go to the JCQ, its member awarding bodies, and organisations such as The Exams Office, all of whom have put in place extra support/training in recent months. Advice, guidance, hints and tips have been offered via face-to-face training, webinars, network meetings, support materials and resources, and telephone support. We urge all exams officers to utilise the support offered by the awarding bodies during the exam series and to make contact with the relevant awarding body via telephone if they require information or guidance on any issue – all awarding bodies would much rather you contacted them to ensure that you are undertaking tasks correctly rather than make what could be a costly mistake.
Within their centres, we hope that all exams officers have – and will continue to receive – the support of their line manager, senior members of staff and the head of centre. It should not be forgotten that the ultimate responsibility, and the oversight, for examinations lies with the head of centre with support from relevant members of senior staff, and therefore, it is very much in their interest to ensure that their exams officers receive the necessary support to ensure that examinations are managed, administered and conducted in line with JCQ regulations within their centre.
Insufficient invigilators
This brings us on to the issue of a lack of invigilators. In a recent survey of 1,025 exams officers/centres (conducted between 14-19 April 2022), 83% confirmed a shortage of invigilators*. In reality, a lack of invigilators was always likely to be an issue as a result of no summer exam series since 2019. Many invigilators have not returned to the role, and now a pressing issue for centres across the country is how to overcome the problems caused by this shortage.
To support exams officers, The NAEO has published an article which considers the measures exams officers can put in place to overcome a shortage of invigilators. However, with the summer exams series only a matter of weeks away, even this advice may have a limited impact or may already have been considered by the exams officer.
If exams officers have exhausted all possible solutions to the issue of a lack of invigilators, then the NAEO instructs all members to highlight the situation, and urgency for a resolution, with their head of centre, emphasising that the failure to find a resolution may prevent examinations being conducted in line with JCQ regulations within their centre.
We appreciate that members may already have informed their head of centre that an issue exists regarding a lack of invigilators, but this is a more formal step of notifying the head of centre and senior members of staff that unless they can find a solution then there is a risk to exams being held at their centre.
As previously highlighted, the head of centre has ultimate responsibility for examinations within their centre and therefore, along with their senior leadership team, it is for them to come up with a resolution to the lack of invigilators for this summer’s exams series. Exams officers may devise and oversee a long-term programme for invigilator recruitment throughout the academic year, but it is not their responsibility to manage an emergency recruitment situation as many are currently experiencing.
If difficult decisions have to be made – for example, to ask/instruct teaching or administrative staff within the centre to invigilate as and when required – then it is the head of centre who must make these decisions, possibly in consultation with their human resources department/advisor. Exams officers should not be expected to approach teaching staff, governors, administrative and support staff and ascertain their availability to serve as an invigilator.
This advice is not only given in light of appropriate roles and responsibilities within a centre, but also due to possible contractual/workforce issues which can only be resolved with the approval of the head of centre. Although it is fully appreciated that centre budgets are stretched, if the lack of invigilators is to be addressed by increasing the hourly rate to attract more external invigilators, then this is also a decision which very likely can only be made with the approval of the head of centre.
It should also be noted that JCQ regulations clearly place the responsibility for ensuring that there are fully trained invigilators with the head of centre and not the exams officer. Section 5.9b of the General Regulations for Approved Centres states that the centre will:
'...provide fully trained invigilators for examinations, including computer based and on-screen assessments.'
Section 12 of the Instructions for conducting examinations publication takes the head of centre's responsibility one stage further by stating that:
'It is the responsibility of the head of centre to ensure that invigilators are appropriately trained in their duties'
JCQ regulations clearly state that as the individual with overall responsibility for all matters relating to examinations and assessments within their centre, it is the responsibility of the head of centre, supported by senior members of staff, to resolve such issues as a shortage of invigilators within their centre.
Exams officers are invariably the ‘gatekeepers’ for examinations within their centres, and in most cases, assume responsibility for the management, administration and conducting of examinations. However, if they have unsuccessfully attempted to address the lack of invigilators to this point, it is not a responsibility to be placed upon their shoulders to resolve the issue ahead of the first examination in mid-May when they have a host of other tasks to undertake. Exams officers who are faced with a shortage of invigilators must, as a matter of urgency, highlight this to those members of staff who can then make the decisions to alleviate the situation. Likewise, if there is a shortage of facilitators (e.g readers, scribes etc.) of access arrangements, it is the responsibility of the SENCo, and the not the exams officer, to resolve this situation.
Training your invigilators
Once invigilators have been appointed, exams officers are well-versed in taking responsibility for ensuring that they are trained to JCQ requirements which state that:
A training session must be held for any new invigilators and those facilitating an access arrangement for a candidate under examination conditions… A record of the content of the training given to invigilators and those facilitating an access arrangement for a candidate under examination conditions must be available for inspection and retained on file until the deadline for reviews of marking has passed or until any appeal, malpractice or other results enquiry has been completed, whichever is later
Fortunately, and this was not the case five or six years ago, invigilators can now be trained remotely, online and at short notice and complete a range of training units in a matter of hours via The Exams Office Training and Assessment Module, or a series of videos which cover the relevant content of JCQ’s Instructions for conducting examinations publication. Please note that there will be some areas – such as exam starting times, identifying candidates, dealing with late arrivals, evacuating candidates in an emergency, five-minute warnings at the end of the examination etc. – which are centre-specific and will need to be highlighted to all invigilators in addition to any online training.
Conclusion
Exams officers, due to their conscientious nature and sense of commitment and responsibility to their roles, have a tendency to assume control for all matters relating to the management, administration and conducting of examinations. That, in itself, is very much a positive trait for a head of centre/senior members of staff to witness in their staff, however, in this instance, it is strongly recommended that exams officers allow their head of centre to make the key decisions to help address the issue of a shortage of invigilators. Exams officers should inform their head of centre of the number of invigilators they require, the measures taken to this point to recruit invigilators and the consequences on the conducting of examinations if there is not a sufficient number of invigilators in place - and then await instructions and advice from their head of centre.
*survey conducted via social media from 14-19 April 2022 (1,025 responses). Full responses:
- Our centre still has a shortage of invigilators – 848 responses
- We did have a shortage of invigilators but we have now recruited enough invigilators – 147 responses
- We have always had enough invigilators – 30 responses
Jugjit Chima
Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Examinations Officers