CPD Reflections: Being An Examiner

By Donna Boam, Sophia Evans, Sid Garg, Mira Jugoo, David Madden, Dipesh Patel & Divisha Patel

1. What is involved? Donna: As an examiner, you get given a number of questions to mark from a particular exam. I mark for Edexcel GCSE English Language Paper 2 and also the IB English Language and Literature orals. Before commencing marking, you attend some remote training and then have to complete qualification, which is when a more experienced examiner checks over your marks. You then commence marking, and some of your scripts are "seeds" and others are checked by a more experienced examiner, meaning that your marking is often being double marked to ensure you are accurate. You are given direct feedback about where you need to adjust your marks. It is a hefty additional workload that can be quite daunting, and you do have to be very organised. The exam boards set incremental marking targets so that you don't leave it all to the last minute, which I would advise anyone to stick to. Also, remember that the marking takes place during the glorious summer months; this past weekend when I wanted to be out enjoying the sunshine I was inside my flat marking! 2. What have you learned from being an examiner? Dipesh: It has radically changed my thinking in terms of how to apply mark schemes as well as how they are constructed. Generally speaking, it has improved my knowledge across the board (mathematical, written, practical questions) but a few main ideas that stand out are the level of detail required to 'show understanding' and 'how to answer the question'. It has shown me how students who clearly have a detailed understanding of a concept, still lose marks due to their own idea of how to respond. The success is in the detail. Sophia: How important presentation of work is. Some students have worked out that it is all over the page and is quite tricky to read. Sitting in the examiner’s chair has made me understand what it is like to read and mark their work (and when this can be tricky). Additionally, the importance of language when answering questions. The mark scheme underlines keywords that need to be in specific answers (such as “angles subtended by the same arc are equal). Many students miss out on marks because they have written their answers without these words, despite us understanding what they’re trying to say. Divisha: I've learnt that it is a disservice to heavily emphasize the use of writing frames and sentence starters with students, because whilst those answers score well, it's not enough to get a 9, so if your teaching is too focused on this approach, it limits the higher ability students. In Geography, I've also learnt that students often miss map/graph skills because they get used to looking for longer answers. Similarly to this, students get hung up on the number of lines provided by the exam board so deliberately limit their answers but should be encouraged to use extra paper if needed. David: The biggest takeaway I’ve learned is that pupils are generally not good at providing answers where they need to write an explanation or describe what has happened. For example, a question required pupils to draw a box plot for a set of data (online sales) and then compare the data results with a box plot included in the question (in shop sales). Many pupils had difficulty in explaining a comparison, especially in terms of the context of the question. I would also concur with Sophia’s comments - it was often difficult to follow a pupil's train of thought as working out was often completed in random spaces on the question sheet. Nana: I have understood how students use methods with limited understanding of the process. E.g. finding the median of a grouped data. A lot of students attempted methods but were unable to complete it adequately showing significant gaps in understanding. 2. How have you/do you intend to use your learning within your lessons/teaching in the future? Sophia: Stressing the importance of laying out work for younger year groups. I think it’s easy for students to slip into bad habits when writing out they are working (being all over the place and hard to read). I also think focusing on literacy (which I know is a school-wide focus) by being strict when marking these types of questions and getting students to use this language orally in class more. Divisha: Since I've become an exam marker, I understand how to cut the 'fluff' from answers so that students' answers become more concise, so when they produce work, I cross out their work (with a pencil!) which is not relevant. In the future, I want to start incorporating this approach into peer assessment, so that students learn by doing. Nana: As a teacher, I will be making a mark scheme template for my students to use for peer marking so that they have an overview of how GCSE marking is done. This is to highlight the importance of completing a process in order to receive the necessary marks. In addition, I hope to build students' understanding of mathematics by hammering and iterating the reasons and importance of certain methods and using AFL to secure such understanding where students are able to complete a method and explain the logic behind it.

Dipesh: I will disseminate what I have learned to my department. Our shared improved knowledge will then be systematically applied to the lessons we teach. This will especially affect the way we question students during practicals, in terms of how to improve practicals as well as in terms of accuracy and precision.

3. What are your top tips for staff trying to apply exam board mark schemes in their own classes? Dipesh: When teaching, highlight the way the mark scheme works to help students to identify what is essential for a concept (e.g. {these brackets mean either /or must be said} - so that they then would highlight that section in their notes. Divisha: For levelled/banded questions, consider what the triggers are for each level/band. For example, do they need to use a case study to move into the next band? Do they need to compare/contrast? Incorporating these skills into lessons will develop the students' critical thinking skills, whilst also developing their flair for writing. Sophia: Be strict and vigilant with the mark scheme. Process marks don’t let you carry over numbers if they are worked out from using the wrong process. It is easy for us to mark papers more generously because we know what the students are trying to say, even if it’s not exactly correct. Examiners in maths don’t seem to care much about rounding (but I think this is good to not tell students!). Nana: As previously mentioned by my colleagues above it is important to understand and follow the mark scheme rigorously. This eliminates discrepancies in marking and gives students a better idea of their performance. It is important to clarify the mark scheme and make time for making so that marking is being done accurately and consistently. It is easy to be empathetic during marking in order to boost students’ confidence but this does not prepare students for the GCSE expectations. CASE STUDY: Mira Jugoo My summer 2022 exam series started last Christmas when I received an email from Pearson asking if I’d like to be an examiner again this year. Being offered contracts so far in advance (including all the key dates) makes it easier to plan ahead and balance school work with exam marking and personal commitments. A few weeks before the exam I was contacted by the BTEC Business Level 3 Team with details of the marking software (Epen), information about online training resources that are available for examiners and a project plan for that particular exam paper. Epen Software used by Pearson for onscreen marking All of the dates were laid out clearly so, again, I knew exactly when the important deadlines were. Approximately a week prior to the exam, I was contacted by my Team Leader who checked in on a more personal and supportive level to ensure that I was prepared and had everything I needed for the standardisation training day. Standardisation ran very smoothly and the Principal Examiner was very clear and on hand to solve any issues; the use of live text chat meant that it was easy to ask Team Leaders a question, and it was nice to hear a variety of voices when going through the different questions. What I particularly like is the time taken to discuss reasons why a mark is awarded and to what extent an Assessment Objective has been met. It also allowed me to work out if I was being too harsh or too generous. It was made clear that we are looking to find what we can reward and to adopt an approach of positive marking. Once the marking was underway, my Team Leader was my main source of support, offering encouragement, guidance on queries and useful reminders of marking progress. So much importance is placed on the quality of marking and all examiners need to submit a first sample of marking to be checked by their Team Leader before they are allowed to begin marking live scripts. Marking live scripts on Epen From then on, the main marking began and I was regularly monitored on the accuracy of my marking which is quality assured every few days. The performance peek feature was particularly helpful in being aware of how accurate my marking was.

Performance Peek Dashboard on Epen Even the little details like the visual graphic of the marking progress line was so helpful in monitoring my progress – there was a real sense of achievement in seeing the blue line pass each of the marking milestones. Being an examiner whilst teaching leads me to reflect as to how much it’s done for my own professional development which I can eventually share with my colleagues in the Enterprise department. Additionally, it is the most effective CPD I have been able to benefit from to improve my teaching practice.

Tracking progress and marking milestones on Epen I have a more in-depth knowledge of the assessments and I get to see how different students across the country have been taught to tackle exam questions. Altogether this experience has enhanced my teaching and developed my skills whilst also opening my career path to more senior opportunities in assessment design and delivery. This has been my tenth year as an examiner and it is always a pleasure working with such a well-organised and efficient team at Pearson. After working so hard during an intense period, I’m now looking forward to a well-earned summer break in Mauritius and using my hard-earned marking bonus which can be between £500 - £1000 depending on the type and volume of paper which is being marked.