Distracting invigilators during A level paper today - any advice please?

If I were the Head ofMaths I'd be fuming at this.

I'd be bloody fuming. Whispering is way more distracting as you need to waste more concentration trying to nosey.
I had an invigilator fall asleep. He was no trouble at all!

From the regulations:

5.5.8 The centre is responsible for ensuring that the candidate and reader cannot be overheard by, or distract, other candidates. (This will also apply if the candidate uses a computer reader.) Where the candidate and reader are accommodated in another room, on a one to one basis, the invigilator may additionally act as the reader.
5.5.9 Readers may work with more than one candidate, but must not read the paper to a group of candidates at the same time, as this imposes the timing of the paper on the candidates.
Where candidates require only occasional words or phrases to be read, three or four candidates may share one reader. The candidate will need to put their hand up or use a card (see the sixth example on page 7) when he/she needs help with reading. If the group is accommodated in another room a separate invigilator will be required.

-

Clearly shows individual rooms not required. I think the only case where they are required is when a candidate has an oral language modifier.

User add some numbers
*the invigilators were sat just a foot in front of DD

they were 12 inches away from your daughter ?? [hmm}
I think it is an excuse for cocking up!*
I think this is fairly regular for A' level and using a classroom. Proximity is not a problem, invasive noise can be.

This year JCQ have added into their training/ instruction that if candidates are in separate rooms with scribes / readers then there should also be a roving invigilator checking on all rooms.

They have also always been clear that students don't need their own room - obv not the standard exam hall but a large area such as a library where students and their scribes / readers can be seated with distance between them - I can't remember the exact wording from the video but it's something about this being OK as it's part of the normal hum of the room. That's v different however from a couple of people sat in front of you having a chat.

Our year 11 has a very very high number of students with access arrangements and we accommodate them in a number of ways - we use our library which is massive for the majority of readers / scribes, another large room for those with laptops and so on. I think we only had 2 students this year who we put in their own room and they had very specific needs and access arrangements which allowed rest breaks.

the invigilators were sat just a foot in front of DD

they were 12 inches away from your daughter ?? [hmm}
I think it is an excuse for cocking up!

Glad that went well.

In 20 years I have also never known an exam where there were scribes talking.

Invigilators whispering is totally distracting.

user1497480444 I organise exam access arrangements for a large FE College. All candidates using readers or scribes are accommodated in separate rooms and readers and scribes can act as invigilators as stated in the current JCQ guidelines.

This used not to be the case but has been for several years. Sometimes we do have to kick staff out of their offices and when we do this yes we are able to set up the room to ensure they meet exam standards.

You need to look at the current JCQ guidelines which will be updated again in August. To have several scribes in one room is appalling bad practice.

Just in case this couldnt get worse another invigilator came into the room 20 minutes before the end and joined in the whisper chatter

Just noticed this - I worked in a university, and no student was allowed to leave within the first half hour or the last half hour of the exam because those are times when it is particularly difficult for other students to cope with any distraction which interrupts their flow of thought.

For a third person to enter the room 20 minutes before the end and join in what appears to have been a general conversation, is appalling!

titchy
Because often there are revision sessions on for other subjects and associated room changes. And the amount of children needing access arrangements is often more than the 9/10 classes of y11 that have left (so more rooms needed than available + rooms have to be blocked out for 3 hours so and requires other groups being shuffled)

We have a level students so we have a bit more flexibility and can use some of the 6th form teaching space, set certain classrooms as exam rooms etc and SLT give up their offices (sometimes we even remove pastoral offices!).

It's a whole different set of needs e.g reader, scribe, reader and scribe, word processing, rest breaks, time out the room, separate setting out of the hall with others, separate setting entirely independent.

It's not difficult to see how a smaller 11-16 school may find it difficult which is why it's reasonable for some access arrangements to be in with others. E.g. rest breaks at the back of the hall / word processing all in one room

User number, I'm sorry, but I feel that your claim to have 'the most experience of anyone here in running in exams' is manifestly unsubstantiated.

I've been doing it for longer than my current IB students are alive, & this thread is clearly full of other experienced teachers & exam officers with a good knowledge of the JCQ guidelines.

You are not, on the basis of your posts, complying with some pretty basic & undisputed standards.

I'd be complaining if you were involved in running exams in a school where I taught or my own dc were sitting exams - you are so abundantly ill informed that I'd be genuinely worried that one of your decisions might jeopardise whether their papers were accepted by the board.

*distract, not distort

whispering is not noise!

Actually, user whispering can be more distracting than speech at normal vocal levels. It is very difficult to "shut out" the piercing tone of a whisper, even though the words may not be distinguishable. It's like that horrible "tss, tss, tss" noise you get from other people's ill-fitting headphones - it is highly irritating!

The invigilators should not have been having discussions of any length (though occasionally something may arise which has to be addressed) and their telephones should have been off or on silent when in the exam room.

They didn't just distort the students, but if they spent a lot of time in discussion they aren't doing their job of ensuring that there is n cheating, and that students have extra paper etc if required.

Invigilating is as boring as hell! (I speak from experience), because the whole focus needs to be on the silent room of busy students and alertness must be maintained. The invigilator can't chat, take their knitting, read a book - nothing that distracts from the students is acceptable. And nor is anything that distracts the students.

These invigilators don't seem to have been doing their job professionally.If a long discussion about something was required, the correct protocol would be to bring in another invigilator, have the discussion out of the room, and then return - though I can't thin of anything that would have needed more than a sentence or two, and that only rarely.

Iris has entered the building

user number person Leave all unauthorised items outside this thread. Check that you have the correct JCQ paper in front of you and read the instructions from carefully. It is your responsibility to follow them. Raise your hand if require the attention of an invigilator.

I have been a reader and scribe many times when I was a TA. I was on my own with the student, who I did not normally work with, in the SENCOs office.

We even went so far as to make sure I did not scribe for science exams (my subject) as I would naturally spell subject specific words correctly and write formula correctly, which would interfere with the integrity of the students work. I mostly got Humanities subjects. A level. Bloody essays.

This was in 2007 so dare say some rules have changed since.

Sorry, but she is not A material, if a whispered discussion about the temperature in the room is going to make her lose marks*

An unnecessary distraction is quite likely to have a detrimental effect on someone's performance in an exam, especially if it goes on for a bit. Some people are quite good at getting back to what they were doing, others may find it more difficult. That has nothing to do with whether they are "A* material".

And phones should not be ringing.

Invigilators should know better than to have long conversations. I don't think it's unreasonable to complain at all. The exam board may not make any concessions, but there is absolutely no problem in raising the issue. And maybe the invigilators will learn not to chat in future! I am not an invigilator but I have sat many exams in my life and I don't remember there ever being long conversations by those invigilating.

The scribe still needs to be invigilated

Did you actually bother reading the JCQ regulations at all? They quite specifically say that the invigilator can act as the scribe. So you are basically saying that the invigilator, who is acting as a scribe, also needs an invigilator.

You could, of course, try asking JCQ. They would happily confirm that you are talking nonsense.

On the evidence of this thread you need to read and understand JCQ AA Regs 5.7.11. This specifically requires the centre to ensure that the candidate and scribe cannot be overheard by, or distract, other candidates. It specifically states that normally the candidate and scribe will be accommodated in another room. Having, as you have described earlier, half a dozen candidates with scribes in the main examination room where they can be heard by other candidates is a clear breach of the regulations.

I was in a room alone with a student, acting as both reader and scribe, with the JCQ inspector peering through the door to check all was in accordance with regulations. It was.

In the JCQ document link attached www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/ice---instructions-for-conducting-examinations/instructions-for-conducting-examinations-2016-2017 there is a section for invigilators on how to behave and this isn't appropriate.
Invigilators are also supposed to have training each year which updates them on changes that effect how exams are conducted.
It is a relatively recent change user that invigilators are allowed to scribe (or be readers). If invigilators have enhanced DBS checks they are allowed to be in with pupils on a one-to-one basis but the extra adult could be needed if they don't have this. Most schools would have a roving invigilator outside to cover smaller rooms.
Having said that this year, the school where I work has been short of invigilators and we have had to train new ones on the job as it were.
I am wondering if this was happening at the OPs school. Having said that the on the job training has happened in mock exams rather than the real ones!

user1497480444
if you think it is "ok" or normal even for whispering by invigilators, scribes in the main hall etc... that is ridiculous.
never have I, or my dds, suffered such nonsense.
big halls, silent invigilators, those needing laptops, scribes, extra time in another room. Gnomedeplume i am incensed on your dd's behalf.
ffs.

I'd never have been able to do my best in those conditions. Thankfully I had people invigilating who were professional and very quiet.