tutoring and exam marking

[mollysmum82]

I've left teaching temporarily to spend more time with my baby. I've started tutoring and have a couple of regular students who I see on weekends. I just wondered if anyone had any advice on what I need to do in terms of contracts, pensions, insurance and tax (I'll only earn up to £60 a week so should be under threshold)

I'm also applying to be an exam marker and wondered realistically, how much marking can you do? Can you mark for more than one exam board (in terms of them allowing you too as well as in terms of time) Do the exam boards themselves limit how much marking you do? How long do you normally get and how many papers are you usually sent? I'd be looking to mark A Level .

Sorry for all the questions, thanks very much in advance.

Go to the HMRC site to register as self employed. You can pay Class 2 contributions at £8 a month, which will help you to get Maternity ALlowance if you ever have another baby. THere is more to it, but read the info on the site.

Look on the TES website forum for more info on exam marking.

From what I understand, marking for one board per exam sitting is generally enough work for most people! The work is generally very intense over a 3 - 4 week period, so you may need some childcare help around that time. You can also apply for more papers if you think you will be able to handle them.

My mum and dad mark A Level maths papers and when they are marking it seems to take over their life rather a bit. Not sure of what the rates are but not brilliant, although it is obviously money going in the right direction :)

I've marked for past 5 years, including when pregnant, when my son was a few months old and when he is 1. I work part time now and it is as hard (if not harder) to mark whilst juggling childcare as it is to mark whilst working full time! You could do more than 1 board as long as the dates don't overlap. I did that twice but it is really tough as marking is very intense and you have no social life during the marking period. I just do one board now.

I also tutor and have done 2-3 hours a week for the past few years. You could consider not declaring it, risky I know.

Most exam marking is now done on-line so you need a fast broadband connection. Deadlines have been reduced recently to 2-3 weeks.

For GCSE I get approx 450 papers and am paid £1.30 each for A level 280 papers and it's £2 each. The A level papers do take much longer to download though and may not be suitable if you are mostly working evenings as the internet tends to be slower then. Basic rate tax is automatically deducted from fees.

Now that papers are on-line deadlines have been reduced to 2-3 weeks!

You can mark more than one paper but only if deadlines don't coincide. The A level paper I mark happens in January and June so this works out quite well.

You need to apply as soon as possible and will need references from your old school. It's probably better to apply for marking the syllabus that you used to teach.

Contracts for June haven't been decided yet but you're already too late for January.

Thanks so much for all the information ladies, that's really useful!

£1.30/£2 for a paper? That's crazy! How can you do a good job (or rather, how can students expect a good and accurate job) done on marking when that's all your paid, that's awful.

I mark post grad papers at between £11 and £16 per paper - surely there's a happy medium?

I mark 'A' levels, and I get about £1.75 a script, but that is for A2 synoptic papers (one essay, one and a half hours to write). The marking I do for AS is paid at a lower rate.

Apply for June, and you'll probably get a reduced load the first time. After a few years, you can apply to do both AS and A2 marking. It does take over your life a bit, but it is manageable (if you have a supportive partner). I mark in both June and January (two lots in June), work part time and have two children. It is hard work, but it is manageable.

My DH is considering getting into marking A-level maths papers. Thing is, he's a fulltime tutor (sees 18 students a week) and although he has a degree in maths from Oxford Uni he has no formal teaching qualifications. Is he likely to be accepted as a marker without having worked in a school (he could probably get refernces from two tutoring agencies)? Also , how many papers would you expect to be able to mark per hour?

Lady in pink - It would be worth him applying, his experience of tutoring may well count instead of school experience.

As for how long it takes - well, that's an impossible question. I've marked 5 different papers over my time (over 3 subjects) and how long it takes really does vary on type of questions, your confidence / experience etc so it is impossible to say. Just to say though, for my exam board these days we get a flat fee and then have to mark so many papers within a deadline. Over the 3 papers I mark, I make about 2k a year.

Thankyou for your prompt reply Oldjolyon - will pass that info on to him