As many exams officers take a welcome half-term ‘break’ from the summer exam series, it is worth reflecting on the first two weeks of the series and assessing some of the issues which members have raised with the NAEO.
As over half of exams officers, and a significant number of senior leaders, have not experienced a summer exam series, perhaps some issues were to be expected. It should also be noted that staff within awarding bodies and those working at external organisations such as Parcelforce will also have a similar lack of experience.
However, it is worth noting the issues which have occurred during the first two weeks of the exam season so that these can be addressed as we attempt to return to a ‘business as usual’ exam series.
Parcelforce
Although the vast majority of exam centres continue to enjoy an excellent service from Parcelforce for the collection of exam scripts (and an excellent relationship with their driver), approximately 100 schools/colleges have experienced significant issues with their collections. This includes non-collections over several days, drivers not being aware of the sensitive nature of the materials they are collecting, and exams officers being asked to take script packages to local Post Offices.
This feedback was collated by the NAEO and reported to Parcelforce, the DfE and Ofqual, and reported within the educational press.
Thankfully, after the first week of the exam series, few issues have been reported and Parcelforce have informed all local depots and drivers of the importance and priority status of the Yellow Label Service/contract.
Awarding bodies
The impact of Covid on the awarding bodies must not be underestimated. Not only have they had to incorporate a range of new systems and processes to deliver Teacher and Centre Assessed Grades in recent years, but they also have staff who have not experienced a summer exams series.
It must be noted that some awarding bodies – notably OCR and WJEC/Eduqas - have continued to offer an outstanding customer support service to centres. However, a number of exams officers have experienced problems with AQA’s Centre Services and the lengthy waiting time when calling the AQA and Pearson helplines. There has also been comment of how awarding body processes have become less ‘standardised’ and more ‘joint working’ is required to ease the administrative burden on exams officers – particularly at this very busy time of year.
The NAEO is compiling the issues raised by exams officers during this exam series and will be working with the JCQ and awarding bodies to address these in the coming weeks/months.
Senior leaders/Heads of centres
Many exams officers have also raised issues within their centre. These include a lack of support from senior leaders and unawareness of the pressures of the role during an exam series, a lack of support from teaching staff (for example failing to upload internally assessed work such as NEAs, coursework, MFL speaking tests etc.), the expectation to work unrealistic hours and a subsequent failure to agree/grant time in lieu for additional hours worked.
It is not surprising that as workload issues and a lack of support are raised by many exams officers, there is also a focus on remuneration and the poor pay received by exams officers for the scale of the role, the hours worked, and the level of responsibility and accountability.
Exams officers
With over half of all exams officers having not previously engaged in a summer exam series it is perhaps not surprising that some have inadvertently engaged in instances of malpractice such as handing out the incorrect exam papers to candidates.
Many exams officers have raised the increased possibility of malpractice within their centre as they struggle to cope with the increased number of tasks which is not helped by an increasing lack of standardisation in materials and processes amongst awarding bodies (e.g. differing deadlines, varying NEA submission processes, a range of dispatch labels and address label formats, and different rules for the use of word processor forms and treasury tags, and differing file naming structures).
Exams officers with dual roles – which is over half of all exams officers – are facing particular challenges during this exam series with a requirement to multi-task on a daily basis.
Conclusion
Our latest exams officer survey (as reported in TES on 1 June), conducted from 15-17 May 2022 and with 1,134 responders, revealed that after a week of the exam series, 62% of exams officers are considering their position. A further 33% state that although they are not considering their position, changes must take place to ensure that exams officers receive greater support.
Even if half of those who have indicated that they are considering their position do decide to quit, this would lead to significant repercussions for the management, administration and conducting of examinations within centres as inexperienced exams officers are more likely to inadvertently engage in maladministration and malpractice. Of immediate concern are centres which have already had notices handed in by their exams officer mid-exam season which could cause significant issues in the coming weeks.
The NAEO is attempting to introduce initiatives which raise the profile and status of the exams officer role. We expect these to impact positively upon workload, pay and conditions in the coming years, however, in the short term, we will be working closely with key stakeholders to represent and tackle the immediate concerns of the exams officer community to ensure that we transition successfully to a ‘business as usual’ exam system during the 2022/2023 academic year.
Jugjit Chima
Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Examinations Officers