If you are an Exams Officer how much do you earn?

[Examsofficer]

In a secondary school I mean.

And also - do you do the job part time or are there other roles that you also do?

Thanks a lot .

Have been offered a small increase for a sideways move within a school - from a general admin position to the exams officer position, plus some different more specific admin for a different department.

But not sure if the increase of 1.5K (gross) means the move (massive learning curve, more stress, more responsibility) will be worth it.

Would rather not say what I am being offered and what I am currently on as it is outing (probably my post already is though!), but if I could get an idea of what people earn, it would help .

Also, last but not least, do you like being an exams officer?

I'm an exams officer in medical education, so not exactly comparable. But I'm in North West England and earn 33k.

Most exams officers don't get paid enough for the level of responsibility they have. I'm not an exams officer but I have stepped in for ours when she went off sick during external exams and nearly keeled over with the stress. Mostly because I didn't know the job well enough so every task took a lot longer than it should at a really busy time.

Most are term time only so that will affect net pay. I would say that 25k minimum pro rated for TTO is acceptable depending on the size of school. However most schools don't pay anywhere near that.

Basic about £25k

But I more than double that with bribes from students. Which is also cash in hand so tax free

@Squirrelblanket

I'm an exams officer in medical education, so not exactly comparable. But I'm in North West England and earn 33k.

I have never seen a school Exams officer job advertised for anything like that. They earn less than me in Data and I am not well paid. I'm thinking about moving sector as I earn far too little for what I do.

@AOwlAOwlAOwl I agree with your post. A lot of responsibility and stress at certain times of the year for very little money.

They earn pretty much the same as all support staff in schools, I'm in Finance and that's bloody stressful as is Exams especially at certain times, you will more than likely need to work over the summer so possibly a 41 week contract.

Just had a quick look on TES and out of the jobs currently advertised for exams officer I'd say the median salary was 22/23k. A couple lower, a couple higher and one in Manchester for 30k which is a salary I don't think I have ever seen for exams before.

Thanks a lot for your messages.

Yes I think part of the problem is that we are paid relatively well for our admin jobs in my school, so the jump in salary for something which is going to be a lot harder / carry more responsibility, seems/is small.

I'm not an exams officer but I have stepped in for ours when she went off sick during external exams and nearly keeled over with the stress. - I know it isn’t a laughing matter @AOwlAOwlAOwl, but that made me smile. Though if I take the job that’ll be me in a few months . Thanks for looking up the salaries on TES.

Thanks again to all - I have the weekend to think about it now .

I used to be an exams officer. I made the mistake of accepting a part-time role. It can not be done part time, don't do it, the stress of it nearly broke me. I ended up working over full time hours during exam periods - which by the time you add up all the internal tests & mocks is pretty much all year. It's loads of stress & massive responsibility for nowhere near enough money.

My exams job would be full time @Themsmedaps, but with another admin responsibility included. I was just thinking that during busy exam times I don’t think I would be able to carry out much of the other role. Though maybe they will have leeway for that.

Is that why you left in the end @Themsmedaps, because of the stress? Did you enjoy parts of the job?

I'm not an exams officer, but I work v closely with ours, and they really are only paid a smidgen more than the front office staff.
It's not good, when you consider the responsibility and the arcane nature of exam nomenclature/coding.

You have to get every child in the correct tier , in the correct subjects, otherwise you've stuffed up a child's prospects, or your school will get charged a shitload to change entries at the last minute.
It's a pretty thankless job tbh.

Let alone the stress of sorting out the invigilators, timetabling all the exams (internals as well).
It is definitely a FT/Full year job, particularly if your school have a 6th form too.

Would you advise that I stay in my much easier current admin job that is paying 1.5K less but that is much less stressful than the exams job sounds like it is going to be @Haskell (in so far as you might have an opinion at all about a stranger’s life on the internet )?

Simply reading what I have read on here OP, stay as you are! That amount of extra salary really does not seem worth it!

@HalfCakeHalfBiscuit

Basic about £25k

But I more than double that with bribes from students. Which is also cash in hand so tax free

Yes, I left because of the stress. All the EO I am still in touch with have also left or are looking to leave.
The main things to consider are what sort of courses will you have to run? Generally GCSE/A levels are more straightforward. Vocational courses are a lot more complicated, with different combinations of units & various assessment dates. It's a lot to learn and every exam board does things slightly differently.
Do you have many students with additional needs who require access arrangements?
Can you see the assessment calendar for the next academic year? Is there realistic time to plan the entries for the summer exams (deadline in February), registrations for BTECS etc, timetable mocks etc. with breathing space in-between for recruiting/training invigilators, processing access arrangements. You will probably also have a lot of retakes in all subjects this autumn as a result of teacher assessed grades this year.
As with any job in a school it could be rewarding & you do feel like you have made a difference.

I wouldn't be an exams officer even if they matched my teacher salary tbh. It's one of the most crucial roles in a secondary school and they have more or less the same pay as the person opening the head's post and typing up things for them. Exam officers get a lot of blame when things go wrong (as they occasionally do) and very little thanks when they go well. I love ours and try to make her work as easy as I can by what I do myself, but not everybody does...

I work with the exams officer. I don't know the salary but it's not nearly enough for the stress she puts up with. Stress from parents, SLT, teachers, occasionally students. She does 0.8 supposedly term time plus a couple of weeks in the summer. More than half the year she ends up working on her day off and during most of the holidays. This year I think she's 'owed' about 5 or 6 weeks or something ridiculous in extra hours she's worked but won't get paid for. Supposedly she can take the time off as TOIL but when is that ever going to happen? There always someone who needs her to 'just' do something else.

If you have an easy admin job, 1.5k will not make up for the extra stress, hassle and hours required as an exams officer. Unless you work at a small school that is well funded, with lots of resources, understanding parents and helpful SLT.

She is fab and I love working with her but would not swap places for all the tea in China !

About £25k but it’s the whole year. To me it seems like a very hard job for the money.

I recently discussed with a fellow teacher that we wouldn’t be the exams officer for double our pay.

Horrendous level of responsibility and never ending changes.

A good one is worth their weight in gold and certainly worth double whatever you’re being offered.

Thanks a lot all - I am really reconsidering if I want to do this or not - also because I am doing a counselling course and my placement will start at some point so how stressful would it be to have to stay late at work etc plus race to my placement a few times a week?

I am a bit annoyed as the proposed salary was only revealed to me yesterday and I had been asking for a while - during which time I had had an informal interview with someone and had been getting excited…

Before you do it consider this ( I’m an exams officer)
Effect of tax on £1500 salary means very roughly take home will be £100 extra a month so £25 a week £5 a day.

Is that worth it for the extra stress?
Is your school supportive of exams officer?
Do you get on with SENco who you will work closely with?
Do you realise on exam days you won’t get lunch breaks by the time you’ve finished morning packaged up scripts and set up for afternoon exams….often I don’t even get a cup of tea
Physically draining as well as mentally - on exam days I can do 30000 steps
Is your team of invigilators good and supportive?
Is it just o a d a levels or btec, Cambridge nationals etc which are an administrative nightmare
Do you run oxbridge and medical entrance exams - these often fall over half term or at weekends
Results days in school holidays mean don’t get full summer off ( and autumn sittings mean results over xmas and feb half term in 2021-22!!!
And you’re intending to study some evenings too

Frankly for £5 a day……….

@HalfCakeHalfBiscuit

Basic about £25k

But I more than double that with bribes from students. Which is also cash in hand so tax free

🤣 Haha!!

Do you have the personality to take on the role? By this I mean can you stand up to SLT and HODs? Are you good on the phone?

As EO, you will be in charge of the biggest budget in the school, and line managing the most people (all the invigilators). It is a massive responsibility.

I don’t think anyone should take on this role without fully understanding it, or without shadowing the current EO.

Agree, not worth it for £5 a day.

Would you advise that I stay in my much easier current admin job that is paying 1.5K less but that is much less stressful than the exams job sounds like it is going to be

If it’s a relatively big school you will carry a HUGE weight of responsibility for very little money.

You will be the poor sod who has to juggle a million requests from the very nicely paid Senco, SLT and DoS who will direct EVERY SINGLE exam related task your way.

As well as the above you will deal with teachers, parents, students, exam boards, invigilators and will be the one and only ‘go to’ person.

In the private sector 2/3 people would share the workload without a doubt.

Never
in
a
million
years.

DO NOT DO IT!

Even if you're paid well currently a £1.5k increase isn't enough I don't think.

There is so much responsibility with exam regs, making sure SLT don't implement stupid ideas that contravene them (not as far fetched as you think), training invigilators who will be your eyes and ears while you're running round the school sorting last minute tier changes, and then all the dull but really important admin like entries, keeping track of invoices from exam board, sorting access arrangements and policies. So many things!