Most chosen general qualifications exam board in England.

  • About AQA

  • Centre Services

  • Join Us

  • Contact Us

AQA
  • Subjects
  • Qualifications
  • Professional Development
  • Exams Admin
  • Services
  • Search
  • Subjects

  • Qualifications

  • Professional Development

  • Exams Admin

  • Services

  • About AQA

  • Centre Services

  • Join Us

  • Contact Us

  • Log in

Subjects

  • Accounting

  • Art and Design

  • Biology

  • Business

  • Chemistry

  • Computer Science

  • Dance

  • Design and Technology

  • Drama

  • Economics

  • English

  • Food preparation and Nutrition

  • French

  • Geography

  • German

  • History

  • Law

  • Mathematics

  • Media Studies

  • Music

  • Physical Education

  • Physics

  • Politics

  • Psychology

  • Religious Studies

  • Science

  • Sociology

  • Spanish

  • All subjects

GCSEs

  • Biology (8461)

  • Chemistry (8462)

  • Combined Science: Trilogy (8464)

  • English Language (8700)

  • English Literature (8702)

  • Geography (8035)

  • History (8145)

  • Mathematics (8300)

  • See all GCSEs

AS and A-levels

  • Biology (7401)

  • Business (7131)

  • Chemistry (7404)

  • Geography (7037)

  • History (7041)

  • Physics (7407)

  • Psychology (7181)

  • Sociology (7191)

  • See all AS and A-Levels

Other qualifications

  • Applied Generals

  • AQA Certificate Mathematics

  • Entry Level Certificates

  • Project Qualifications

  • Unit Award Scheme

  • All qualifications

Our training

  • Course finder

  • About our training

  • Online training

  • Face-to-face training

  • In-school training

  • Inside assessment

Courses by theme

  • Effective exam prep

  • Exams officers

  • Getting started

  • Unit Award Scheme

Courses by subject

  • English

  • Mathematics

  • Science

  • Languages

  • Design and Technology

  • Physical Education

  • Geography

  • History

  • All professional development

Dates

  • Dates and timetables

  • Key dates

Non-exam assessment (NEA)

  • NEA, coursework and controlled assessment

  • Deadlines for non-exam assessment

  • Record forms

  • Submit marks

Exams

  • Entries

  • Entry fees

  • Exams guidance

  • Question papers and stationery

  • Access arrangements

  • Special consideration

Results

  • Results days

  • Results slips

  • Grade boundaries

  • Results statistics

  • Post-results services

  • Exam certificates

  • All Exams Admin

Assessment Services

  • Centre Services

  • Associate Extranet

  • Become an associate

Products

  • All About Maths

  • Alpha Plus

  • Data Insights

  • Exampro

  • Project Q

  • Stride Maths

  • Testbase

  • Unit Award Scheme

News and Insights

  • AQI research and insight

  • News

  • Inside exams podcast

AQA
  • Become an examiner
  • Switch to AQA
  • Contact Us
  • Join us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Accessibility
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • Cookie notice
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube

©AQA 2025 | Company number: 03644723 | Registered office: Devas Street, Manchester, M15 6EX | AQA is not responsible for the content of external sites

AQA Education has obtained an injunction preventing interference with public examinations. This notice is to alert you to the injunction, so that you are aware of it and can make submissions about it if you wish to do so.

  1. Home
  2. About Us
  3. Our Research
  4. Research Library
  5. Online or face-to-face? An experimental study of examiner training

Online or face-to-face? An experimental study of examiner training

Share this page

  • WhatsApp
  • LinkedIn
  • X
  • Facebook
Online or face-to-face? An experimental study of examiner training

Online or face-to-face? An experimental study of examiner training

01 Jul 2011

Online or face-to-face? An experimental study of examiner training

By Suzanne Chamberlain, Rachel Taylor

Abstract

Thousands of examiners are employed to mark candidate scripts from the suite of public examinations offered to students during the compulsory and post-compulsory schooling phases in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

All examiners undergo training to ensure that they interpret correctly, and apply consistently, the mark scheme for their particular paper. Traditionally this training has been delivered face-to-face, but several benefits of an online training environment have been identified.

This paper outlines the findings of an experimental study designed to quantify and compare the effects of face-to-face and online training on experienced examiners' marking reliability. A sample of 89 experienced examiners was randomly allocated to either a face-to-face or online training group. The participants marked 30 General Certificate of Secondary Education History scripts prior to receiving training and another 30 scripts following training.

Two measures of reliability were calculated: marking accuracy (absolute mark differences) and consistency (rank order correlations). The findings suggest that both modes of training had comparable, statistically significant positive effects on examiners' accuracy and consistency. The evidence indicates that online training may be an effective alternative to face-to-face training for the purposes of standardising examiners' marking.

How to cite

Chamberlain, S. and Taylor, R. (2011), Online or face-to-face? An experimental study of examiner training. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42: 665–675. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01062.x

Keywords

  • Examiners