Teacher Examiners

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EvilPixie Jan 2017 2:55pm, 22 Jan 2017 12,259 posts	0 EvilPixie Dear fetchies, I was wondering about applying as an examiner as a form of CPD for OCR. Does anyone have any experience of being an examiner and able to talk about volume of work and expectations/time scales. Their site also doesn't mention pay ... is it worth it?! Ta
Badger Jan 2017 8:34pm, 22 Jan 2017 8,005 posts	0 Badger I am told by someone who has examined at A-level for Edexcel and is applying to do OCR marking this year: The CPD is very valuable, and the insight into exactly what's expected is even more valuable for guiding your own teaching. Timescales can be quite tight - a lot of scripts will suddenly appear and the expected turnround time can be quite short, so it's good if you can set time apart specifically for doing it. Edexcel want you to do a training day (online but you need to take a day off to do it - they cover costs of cover for your school) so you understand the mechanics of marking, and more importantly the standards and grading. Presumably OCR do something similar. Pay was enough to cover a decent holiday. Edexcel gives bonuses for hitting targets, no idea about OCR, and from a professionalism & repeat business point of view it's probably better to target doing the scripts well rather than to the date.
EvilPixie Jan 2017 9:12pm, 22 Jan 2017 12,260 posts	0 EvilPixie Oh very interesting! It's a new spec for both GCSE and GCE so useful
ChrisHB Jan 2017 9:18pm, 22 Jan 2017 14,474 posts	0 ChrisHB My wife did AQA and found it invaluable for understanding what in heaven's name the spec was on about, as markers have meetings with the examiners. The marking - well, the best thing I could have done would have been to employ a servant to look after her and make myself scarce - but now it's all done online and you mark what you can off a shared pile, so the faster you mark, the more you get paid. There are dummy scripts scattered throughout the pile and if you give one of these the wrong mark, you're not allowed to continue marking until you've spoken with your supervisor.
ChrisHB Jan 2017 7:50am, 23 Jan 2017 14,476 posts	0 ChrisHB As regards pay, I suspect it was well below the minimum wage for a diligent marker.
EvilPixie Feb 2017 6:45pm, 28 Feb 2017 12,298 posts	0 EvilPixie got an acceptance letter today. 355 GCSE papers - no timescale given until I accept! £2:90 a script