I was vaguely considering applying for GCSE marking one of these years (probably with OCR, as they accept applications from people who are not qualified teachers, but have other relevant experience, which I do). I would want to mark maths, at GCSE level (or equivalent, if they have others). But I do wonder how the training and marking will be in the next couple of years with the new specifications coming in, and whether that will make things harder for a first-time marker.
If you have marked maths (especially OCR), can you tell me if you mark entire papers, or specific questions? (I think beyond GCSE, they tend to give specific questions, but I am not sure about GCSE level). Did you find the training useful and comprehensive enough, especially to deal with borderline answers? Do you think that will get a whole lot more difficult when the new specification is out, as there will be longer and more complicated answers and more scope for partial marks, etc? And teachers/pupils will be less familiar with the ways of marking, which means that there might be much greater variability in the answers, since they won't have been coached in the way to write things/how to show work/how to avoid pitfalls in quite the same way as for the current spec, which is very familiar.
Do you get a choice in how many scripts/questions to do - I know that they offer a marking job that you can accept or reject, but I don't know how fixed the script number is and whether you can request a smaller number to start with. I've looked on their website, but it's very hard to tell how long it takes to mark one script (for novice markers - I realise you speed up with practice), and so I'd be wary of overcommitting myself without knowing it.
It's a bit hidden with rates of pay, and also about whether different questions/tiers/subjects offer different rates. I wonder if it is worth it - other posts I've seen say that it's fine for those who really need the money, but for those who don't, it isn't worth the hassle and stress and time pressure. However, the extra money would be quite useful, and I could find an hour or two a day in June/July without too much trouble, so I might be quite suited to it. (Unless it takes many hours a day!).
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have you marked maths GCSE before?
4 replies
RunAwayHome · 21/07/2015 20:06
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