The annual exams officer survey is one of the most significant events in the academic calendar for the exams officer community. The responses reveal the concerns of exams officers, the areas which need to be addressed ahead of the summer exams series and identify the long-term objectives of the National Association of Examinations Officers.
The 2022 survey took place between 1 October and 4 November 2022, with 1,489 exams officers participating – compared to 958 who completed the 2021 exams officer survey. This level of response ensures that the feedback is representative of the exams officer community and a reliable reflection of the ‘state of the exams officer nation’. This is particularly significant as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and consider the impact of two summers without an exams series.
It should be noted that due to a lack of awareness of such a survey, new exams officers are less likely to participate, and therefore, the feedback is more representative of those established within the role.
Firstly, it must be stated that despite the efforts of the JCQ and its awarding bodies to support exams officers, a significant number of centres are failing to comply with the regulations as set out in the General Regulations for Approved Centres publication.
Despite section 5.3c of these regulations stating that heads of centres must ensure that their exams officer ‘…receive(s) appropriate training and support in order to facilitate the effective delivery of examinations and assessments within the centre, and ensure compliance with the published JCQ regulations’ it is disappointing that an increasing number of exams officers (18% compared to 13.8% in 2021 and 8.3% in 2020) feel that they do not receive appropriate training and support to facilitate the effective delivery of examinations and assessments, and to ensure compliance with the published JCQ regulations.
It is also concerning that despite the regulations requiring the senior leader who should be line managing and actively supporting the examinations officer to have ‘…a good working knowledge of the examination system’, 1 in 3 exams officers do not feel that is the case within their centre.
Other areas which should be noted include the increasing number of exams officers (23%) who do not feel well supported/well valued by their line manager/senior leadership team, and the 43% of exams officers who feel that their head of centre/senior leaders/line manager believe that they are only required/busy when exams are taking place, although this number is a reduction from 47% who expressed this opinion in 2021.
Despite an improvement from 2021, there is still concern that 36% of exams officers feel that there is not adequate contingency planning in place if they were absent during a critical period (e.g. entry deadline, during an exam series, results day, etc.), and that 73% of exams officers believe that there is no succession planning in place/support for a new exams officer if they were to decide to leave their role.
Finally, a final statistic which should be noted is that 42% of exams officers believe that their head of centre/relevant member(s) of the senior leadership team do not read/refer to/familiarise themselves with the entire contents of the relevant JCQ publications (particularly the General Regulations for Approved Centres, Instructions for conducting examinations, Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments) – an increase from 34% in 2021.
As we return to a situation of ‘business as usual’ following the disruption caused by Covid, the impact of two summers without an examination series is shown in the responses to the 2022 Exams Officer survey. The areas which need to be worked on are clear….and now the work begins to address – and improve – the situation to allow exams officers to protect the integrity of the examination system.
Please visit the NAEO website for more information on the 2022 Exams Officer survey.