Exams Officers support March
See the infomation that is useful to help
Security
We hope you’re finding our support for new Exams Officers emails useful as you navigate your first year in exams; this edition focuses on security.
The JCQ offers a useful blog for checking your secure storage to make sure that it meets regulations and standards. Your secure storage should have a generous capacity to enable you to hold several weeks of exam material.
It’s a good idea to work with your senior leadership team to decide who are the most appropriate members of staff to act as secure storage key holders within your centre. Your centre should have between two-six keyholders and further guidance on nominating keyholders can be found in the JCQ ICE document.
The General Regulations ask for centres to be permanently staffed between 8:30 – 3:30 and Parcelforce make every effort to deliver question papers to centres within this window. There may however, be a small number of deliveries that take place outside this window because of circumstances beyond a driver’s control. If a delivery is attempted at a time outside of this window and there is not a keyholder available, you’re able to reject your delivery but please only do this if it’s absolutely necessary. If you do have to reject your parcel, contact us as soon as possible on eos@aqa.org.uk or dispatches-g@aqa.org.uk so we can track your consignment and make sure it’s rerouted to you at the next available opportunity.
You can use this simple infographic created by the JCQ to support receiving exam papers within your centre. This process is supported by several exam logs that you can use within your centre. Exam materials should be logged at the point of entry and again when they are locked into your secure storage. You should also log your second pair of eyes check when opening question papers. All these logs should be available during your centre inspection.
If there are any question paper security breaches, eg if papers arrive damaged, or if there’s a problem with your secure storage, you should tell the exam board and/or JCQ as appropriate as soon as you’re able to. We can then advise and support you with what to do.
Conducting MFL Speaking Tests
For many of you, it will soon be time to conduct your Modern Foreign Language (MFL) speaking exams for the summer series. We’ve put together this guidance to help you to deliver these.
It’s important to consider the spaces that you’ll use for these assessments; the rooms should be quiet, away from high traffic areas and suitable for the exam. You also need to think about the location of your preparation room and assessment room, and the logistics involved to supervise your candidates between these spaces. The preparation room must be supervised by a trained invigilator (ICE booklet, chapter 12).
It’s good practice to work closely with your MFL subject department to make sure that timings and schedules are communicated to students, staff are aware of the exams, and any Access Arrangements for students are in place.
MFL assessments need to be recorded and uploaded on Centre Services, so you’ll need to check your recording equipment and make sure you have enough batteries, if needed.
Don’t forget that files should be labelled in the correct format to allow our automatic system to attach the file to the candidate and you’ll also need to upload some documentation alongside your recordings. Have a look at this information about our Digital media submissions portal to find out more
Special Considerations
If a candidate has been disadvantaged during their exams, you may be able to apply for special consideration on Centre Services.
JCQ has thorough guidance which defines Special Consideration, its purpose and the scenarios in which it can be used - JCQ - A Guide to the Special Considerations Process. You can also see our Special consideration webpage for an overview of the process.
If you find that an application for special consideration may be suitable, please gather any appropriate evidence to support your case, and keep copies of this with a record of any applications you make. The school or college must support an application for special consideration.
You may find it useful to consider communicating closely with your safeguarding/pastoral teams to ensure you are aware of any students’ situations that might be eligible for special consideration.