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Too many examiners may not be up to the mark

Experienced teachers know their classes and what they are capable of

A. Teacher
Monday 27 July 2015 02:08 BST
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Like many teachers, as well as students and parents, I am already holding my breath over this summer’s results following the debacle over exam marking in the past few years. Experienced teachers know their classes and what they are capable of.

An occasional surprise result is common, but when several students in a group get totally unexpected grades, and the pecking order is blown apart, there is a clear indication that something is very wrong.

While listening to Radio 2 recently, a request for a song was made by a listener who was marking A-level sociology papers at the time. I became instantly annoyed and defensive, as my daughter recently sat her A-level sociology. Was he marking her paper? Clearly he wasn’t giving the marking 100 per cent attention. The following weekend during a request show from Glastonbury another listener made his request while marking A-level papers.

There are strict procedures for exam markers – clearly not being adhered to – and because of my concerns I contacted the major exam boards about what I had heard. There are also concerns some markers may not understand the written responses of highly intelligent students. On one paper I saw last year, it was doubtful that the examiner had appreciated the subtle references of the candidate responding to a complex text.

At my centre, many subjects ordered re-marks of not just individual students’ papers but whole sets of papers. Again, erratic results emerged. Some marks remained the same after re-marking, but there were several really-disturbing changes – with papers being lifted by 26 marks or more.

The process took weeks, and in some cases, months. The repercussions were great. Because some grades were totally incorrect, there were cases of students losing out on university places, and a few AS students dropped subjects they might not have studied at A2 if truthful facts had been presented to them on results day.

Is there a solution? I believe buildings should be hired to accommodate examiners for the purpose of intense marking. Team leaders would be present to immediately sort out concerns, and any anomalies could be dealt with. New examiners could learn their trade sitting alongside experienced markers. In addition, more experienced teachers need to be encouraged to examine, enticing them with better pay and conditions.

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