Examinations officer in school interview

[whatatanker]

Hi, are there any school exams officers out there?

I've got an interview on Thursday for examinations officer.

I've done some preparation but wondered if anyone could point me in the direction of what questions I might expect?

I've been out of work for a bit and I'm really keen for this job.

Hoping there's someone out there who can help.

Bump

Hullo! Your job is really important. Do you know what it involves? Why.....are they.....interviewing you the week the GCSEs start?

Will you have to people manage the exam invigilators?

I guess I'm always curious what exam officers do for most of the year. Most of the year they have virtually nothing to do- and then it must be absolutely brutally manic fur about six weeks. So you might get asked a question about keeping on top of time management.

Confidentiality? You'll have access to the secure materials several days before the exams. You'll also know the results at least a day before most people. I guess a question on that?

Ooo. Dealing with awkward Heads of Departments who submit their data late and need to be chased? Something on that?

You need to be unflappable, very efficient, good at chasing, organised. Fond of a spreadsheet and having the exam boards on speed dial.

Good luck!

I used to be an exams officer. The main skills they are looking for are highly organised, remaining calm under pressure and able to think on your feet, so have some examples of these. Also brush up on safeguarding - you have to score well on this to pass the interview (& probably Prevent too)
They might ask you to do a task like creating an exams timetable - they'll give you a list of the lengths of the exams and you have to fit them all in a week.
Also look up JCQ ICE regulations.
Good luck

I guess I'm always curious what exam officers do for most of the year. Most of the year they have virtually nothing to do- and then it must be absolutely brutally manic fur about six weeks. So you might get asked a question about keeping on top of time management.

Wow here speaks someone with no understanding of schools and exams!

Exams take place year round. Modules for Btecs, controlled assessments, at least one (usually two) mock series. Never mind the actual external exams which are in summer term for y11&13.

Exam entries need doing, seating plans, access arrangements, specific queries, keeping up to date with guidance, training and recruitment of invigilators. There's plenty more too!

@Curioushorse exams officers also organise PPE exams during the year too. In my school the current year 11s have already done two sets this year. We also do year 9 & 10 ppes in June once the GCSES have finished. We also do ppes for year 12s and 13s. The year 13s have done two lots of ppes this year already too. So my exams officer in incredibly busy all year round.

You may be organising all the exams in the school, not just the extenal GCSE but the internal exams for all years. So you'll be liaising with all the teaching staff as well as the external exam boards. You'll be the one ensuring that any arrangements students have (eg laptops, breaks, readers and scribes) are in place for exams. Training and managing invigilators for exams. Have a look at the Exams Office website for some ideas too, good luck!

@Curioushorse The ones where I worked are obviously busier in summer but there are/were: GCSE resits in November, course work to be sent to examiners through the year for several subjects, any private candidates that the centre had approved. Plus, some subjects had modular exams.

Hi, I'm an EO.

I do mocks x 2 for Yr 11, plus until covid, i arranged core exams for all other year groups too. I also sort out BTEC admin, entries for GCSEs and for the last three weeks have had daily arrivals of exam papers which go into secure storage (a room with filing cabinet with so many keys and locks it could secure the crown jewels).

You need to know a lot of guidelines - so as PP said, Google 'JCQ Instructions for candidates' and digest as much as possible. Plus also safeguarding.

You will need to train your invigilators every year. I have done three training sessions this year to make sure everyone is up to scratch since the pandemic break.

I do all physical admin - putting up signs, moving exam boxes of stationary around, moving piles of mock papers around, pinning up timetables and seating plans.

You need a good relationship with everyone in the school, especially repographics, office reception, deputy head, heads of departments AND most importantly the site manager who will be putting out your exam desks and move all the cardboard from your seventy billion exam paper boxes!

It is totally crackers from now until the end of June but it can be a lot of fun, very flexible during the year and quite rewarding when you see your extra time pupils working so hard.

I also have an emergency biscuit tin for pupils who are in tears outside an exam room. I promise them a chocolate biscuit for going back to an exam and it works wonders and they need the sugar after all the stress. (There's no rule about food in exams though obviously we don't advertise this to pupils)

The ability to talk to a crying 16yr old girl whose boyfriend dumped her on the eve of her Maths GCSE is a key Skill too!

Good luck OP I love my job.

They might ask what you would do in a situation where there appeared to be malpractice on the part of a member of staff or you heard students saying it was a good thing that Sir took them through the paper the day before. Or what happens if there's a zero notice inspection by JCQ on the day of an exam. Or if a student is taken ill/refuses to give up their phone/arrives late and demands to be let in. This might be something you have do answer verbally or type in Word.

The most likely task you will have is one checking attention to detail and a bit of fairly simple Excel work - putting information into a table, sorting it alphabetically, making the headings bold, that kind of thing.

There might also be an example letter/email from a parent complaining about something or asking about how their child's disabilities/SEN can be taken into account.

What they need is somebody organised, who can maintain calm in moments of stress and who will absolutely follow the correct procedures whatever happens. Oh, and one prepared to undertake whatever training is necessary.

You will NEVER be sat around looking for something to do for six months of the year. Anybody who thinks that has never seen what Exams Officers actually do.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for all your replies, so helpful! So far I've read the JCQ guidance (not all of it yet) and the school's safeguarding policy.

Will I get asked about SIMS? I might be a bit rusty on it...

Thank you so much @actiongirl1978 that's so helpful. Also, it's really lovely to hear that you enjoy your job.

You’ll probably get an in tray exercise prioritising tasks in an exam situation

read jcq ice regulations for overview xx of exam

google” the exams office” - fab website with loads of info.

i would expect someone being interviewed to know what had happened in last couple of years - CAGs and TAGs rather than real exams etc

They might not even use SIMS (which is a result if there are any EOs on here who have to use the bolt on exams doobrey DP is the EO in the house, I'm something else). The fact that you've used it in the first place - and let's face it, it's not really progressed any further than about 2001 in any respect, so it'll be the same clunky, counterintuitive interface it's always been - shows that you have the ability to use information management systems.

DP's take on it is that there's a ton of preparation so that things run smoothly and in accordance with the regulations right up to the point at which something someone throws a massive spanner in the works and then you deal with it. He really enjoys it - I've never seen him so relaxed, so happy and confident and tired as he is now; he accepts the workload can be massive at times, but he loves the degree of independence and control over his day.

They might ask about SIMs, our exam officer uses it to log assessment data at various points through out the year, but don’t worry about being rusty, SIMs has got so many features and functions that I doubt anyone can do everything with it, so a bit of familiarity and willingness to learn should be adequate.

I’d expect questions around….

• safeguarding (especially who you report concerns to)


• supporting nervous / upset / misbehaving students


• time management


• organisation


• admin skills


• training / managing a team of invigilators


• GDPR


• security of exam papers


• dealing with students / staff not adhering to the exam rules

Also be ready to talk about what else you can offer the school if required; yes there is exam-related work all year round (peaking in summer), but the school may also want you to do reporting or other tasks at some times throughout the year.

Go through the website / prospectus to get an idea of the school’s ethos / aims etc. Also have a look at their most recent Ofsted (or Estyn in Wales) report.

You might get asked about sims but sims exams is different to main sims.

I went on a two day training course for sims exams though to be honest I could have learnt the bits I actually needed in one morning.

You might want to talk about 'owning the exam process' which I can honestly say that I do after 6 years! If you are the sole EO you will have ownership of the end to end process.

Good luck

Also have an idea of how you'd cope if the fire alarm goes off in an exam which has happened to me several times 😄

@Bigthicksliceoftoast thank you so much.

That's so helpful.

Oh no @actiongirl1978 the fire alarm!! Will I get asked this??

I didn’t apply but at my school the interview contained tasks. As PP have said it was definitely about prioritising but also organisational. Our exams officer works with the data manager so throughout the year does things like reports etc.

good luck

Our EO does not keep calm under pressure and can be extremely rude and abrasive, especially to those they perceive as beneath them. It’s really important that you are someone who can deal with challenging situations.

Oh dear @2DemisSVP that's a shame This is exactly not what I would want to be. I think it's important to be firm but not rude. It's totally possible to do this job without rudeness.

My (late) grandfather always taught me that 'you catch more flies with honey than vinegar' 😊

Well if anyone fancies an update:

School was weird in a stuffy, eccentric St Trinian’s vibe kind of way.
I had to do a task which was making a seating plan from an excel document. I got it done, but probably not the best way.

I was told that the job would be a lot more than 39 hours per week in peak season.
I haven’t heard back yet from the school but it doesn’t feel like the right fit.
Also, it sounds like a HUGE responsibility for the money, to be honest. I didn’t get a warm feel from the head, either.

@whatatanker did you get this job in the end OP? If you did, how did it turn out?