Responsibilities of the Chief Invigilator

Responsibilities of the Chief Invigilator

General

You have a dual responsibility to maintain the integrity of the examination process at the same time as creating an atmosphere which enables candidates to perform at their best.
Exercise vigilance at all times and at no time should candidates be left unsupervised during an exam. Do not allow a candidate to leave and return to the examination unless supervised by an invigilator while absent. Do not permit a candidate to communicate with anyone other than an invigilator during the course of the examination without permission.
Plan in advance how you will organise the script collection according to the ‘Script Collection’ information on page 5.

Collecting your exam papers

Please be at the Exams Office (EO) on the second floor in Senate House by 8am for a morning examination or 12:45pm for an afternoon examination. If you can’t gain access to the building in the early morning, please call the EO on 0117 928 7680 or 07746 395 592.
You will be given a pack of papers and paperwork for the examination hall you invigilating. If these are very heavy or the hall is a great distance away, a taxi will have been organised for you. This will be stated on the front of your pack (as well as information about a return taxi as necessary).

Once in the exam hall

If you have any problems at all, please call the Exams Office using the mobile phone in the purple stationery box in every exam hall. There are two telephone numbers in the front of the red folders in every exam hall.
If you are in a large room, other invigilators will have been arranged to help you set up. The sign in sheet for invigilators in the red folder lists all of the invigilators for each room. Ensure all invigilators sign this when they arrive.
All invigilators have been advised to be at the exam hall 30 minutes before the exam start time so if there are insufficient invigilators by ¼ hour before the start of the exam, contact the EO who will try to find alternates.
For some exam halls, there will be some additional invigilator instructions. If this is the case, they will be in the red folder and you should refer to them when you arrive.

Setting up the examination hall

Please complete these actions in the following order:

Familiarise yourself with the layout of the examination room, emergency exit points and location of toilets.
Turn the mobile phone on. You may find it charging in a plug socket or in the purple box.
Check that all clocks in the venue are set to the same time and adjust if not.
Separate out the paperwork, and divide into piles (scissors are provided in the purple box to open all the exam paper packs).
Using the cover sheet on the front of the envelopes, distribute the exam papers and any stationery (examination answer booklets etc) required to the correct desks (desk numbers and types of script book and other stationery required are shown on the cover sheet. In most rooms (where you are putting papers out alone) all exam papers should be laid out first, followed by the answer books. If you have insufficient copies of an exam paper you should call the EO immediately.
There may be more than one pack per exam – if so they will be labelled ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’ and so on. Please note that there will always be more papers than candidates as we have spare papers. NB Desks are always numbered “Snake-Wise”.
Ensure there is a white confidential waste bag labelled with the room name, current date, am or pm. The bags should not be filled more than half way up and bags should be sealed and a new bag started when this is the case. A bag can contain waste from several exam sessions as long as it is labelled as such.
Once the exam hall is set up and all of the invigilators have arrived, a briefing session should be held about running the room. This should include noting the red folder, toilets, fire alarm, first aiders as well as ensuring invigilators understand what is expected of them.

Before the start of the exam

Familiarise yourself with the red examinations folder in the purple stationery box and ensure you read the ‘Emergency procedures’ document.
For some exam halls there will be some additional invigilator instructions, including the timings of when to allow the students into the room. If this is the case, they will be in the red folder and you should refer to them when you arrive.
Ensure the mobile phone from the purple box is switched on and silent so you are able to answer if the Exams Office calls you.
Distribute the candidate number lists to invigilators for them to assist students who have forgotten their number. Allocate invigilators to manage students entering the exam hall as necessary.
If there are no additional invigilator instructions (see point 2), let the students into the exam hall between 5-10 minutes before the start of the exam depending upon the size of the exam hall.
Students should leave bags and coats in the designated area of the hall.
Mobile phones, smart watches and other electronic devices must be switched off and put into the student’s bag. If the student does not have a bag, the device should be placed in the mobile phone box at the front of the hall and labelled with the desk number. If a student is caught with a device in their possession during the exam, even if it is switched off, this is dealt with as suspected malpractice. Please see point 19 below.
Instructions and announcements to be read out to candidates can be found in the red folder. Please read them as written as exactly the same announcements need to made in each exam hall.
Ensure that the actual start and finish times of the examination are correctly observed.
Authorise students not listed and late-comers to sit the examination as appropriate and add their details to the attendance lists and ensure that they receive the correct examination materials for their paper.Late arriving candidates are not to be permitted any extra time. Candidates may not be admitted after the examination has been in progress for 30 minutes and any candidate arriving after this point should be advised to go into their school.

See further notes ‘Additional Candidates’ below for guidance regarding different scenarios.

During the examination

No candidate may leave the room in the first 30 minutes, or during the last 15 minutes of their examination.
Once the exam has started allocate invigilators to check toilets for mobile phones and revision notes
Ensure students have only permitted items on their desk.
Dictionaries are allowed only if the student displays a permission form or it is indicated as permissible on the examination paper.
Food items should only be taken to desks if they have medical evidence is provided (this can be from a school or doctor). Drinks bottles may be taken to desks provided they contain clear water only and all labels have been removed.
In the central extra time/computer rooms only: coloured paper, coloured overlays and plain paper can be provided to students on request.
After the examination has been in progress for 30 minutes, ensure that the attendance lists are taken accurately by an invigilator checking their ID at the students’ desks. Missing candidates are recorded on the attendance list by circling the seat number. No ID is also marked on the list. Please take care to update the list to include any additional candidates. Errors here will cause you difficulties when counting scripts later.
Students should be escorted to the toilet and a ‘T’ should be marked on the front of their exam script to record each visit to the toilet.
Please use a green answer book for continuation paper. Do not use answer books to level wonky desks! use a piece of cardboard.
Under no circumstances should students be given either an extra script book or loose sheet of paper for planning or rough work. All planning and rough work should be done in the script book used for the examination. Any written work that should not be marked should be crossed out.
You will probably have time during the examination session to stick the information labels (in the purple box) on the attendance list envelopes and white script bags.
Ensure the total number of absentees are marked in the column ‘Empty Desks’ and the total number of extra students recorded in the column ‘Additional Candidates’ on the yellow sheet.
Ensure a minimum number of invigilators are on duty in the hall at all times. There must be a minimum of two invigilators in a hall with less than 100 candidates plus at least one invigilator for every additional 100 candidates.
Queries on exam papers:

If a candidate believes there is a mistake on the question paper, phone the Exams Office immediately in order to log the query. The Exams Office will investigate and respond to you by phone. Do not make any announcements until the Exams Office has responded. This is to ensure that ALL candidates sitting the exam (ie extra-time students sitting in different rooms) can all be given the information at roughly the same time. An Incident Report Form should be completed with the details. No extra time should be given in the main exam halls for any reason. Do not allow anyone to call the school or department directly as this can cause confusion.

Suspected student cheating/malpractice

(reading exam paper before exam started, writing notes before/after exam started finished, notes found in a candidate’s possession, writing on hands/other body parts, unauthorised scrap paper, mobile phone/other electronic device not in bag or with invigilators, annotated books, lift-off correction tape, calculators when not permitted or any other breach of regulations and guidance)
The Chief Invigilator should always be informed and should follow these instructions:

ensure that two people confirm that a candidate is suspected of malpractice
confiscate any unauthorised material or electronic device
ensure the student is given the ‘Notice of suspected malpractice’ document from the red folder
remove the script
provide the candidate with further examination script/s and permit him or her to complete the examination in the time remaining. No extra time is given.
phone the exams office to let them know about the incident
seek an explanation from the candidate at the end of the examination and ask the student to sign to confirm they’ve received the ‘Notice of suspected malpractice’ and that they’ve discussed the incident with the Chief Invigilator
ensure that both scripts are enclosed in the script bag but any confiscated materials and the Incident Report Form should be returned to the Exams Office at the end of the exam session

All candidates have been informed, before the exam period, that:
a). Any unauthorised written notes or material found in the possession of the candidate may be removed;
b). Any unauthorised physical or electronic equipment (including mobile phones and smart watches) found in the possession of the candidate may be confiscated pending further investigation and may not be returned until the investigation is completed;
c). Any evidence that cannot be removed, such as notes written on items of essential clothing or on the body, may be photographed under controlled conditions in the presence of two members of staff of the same gender as the candidate. Photographs will be treated confidentially and used only for the purposes of any investigation. They will be kept no longer than necessary and then securely destroyed.
An Incident Report Form should be completed for any other incident, disruption or illness. Please ensure the student details are completed in full. No extra time should be given in the main exam halls for any reason.

At the end of the examination

Referring to the ‘Script Collection’ information on page 4, organise the collection of scripts to ensure that all scripts are counted and recorded on the yellow summary sheet. Ensure you have the correct number of exam scripts.
University staff members are permitted to take exam scripts from the examination hall. Anyone collecting scripts from the main exam halls should bring their UCard with them as proof of identificationand must report to the chief invigilator who is responsible for the scripts. They must fill their name in on the yellow summary sheet. They may only be taken once the last examination in the hall has been completed.
Ensure confidential waste bags are labelled with the room name, current date, am or pm and sealed once they are half full.
Please switch the mobile phone off and charge it if it has less than 50% charge, using the charger from the purple box. Please use a plug socket as close to the invigilators desk as possible.
Please return the following to the Exam Office:

exam script bags
yellow summary sheet
any incident report forms
any lost Student ID cards, or other ID
High value lost property (eg wallets) please make a note of desk numbers where possible.

If there is a taxi booked for your return to the Exams Office (if you have a heavy load or are some distance away), this information will be written on the front cover of the paperwork pack you received from the Exams Office.

ADDITIONAL CANDIDATES

You may have time to deal with any additional candidates before the exam starts but your priority is to start the exam on time. Therefore the student may need to wait or you may be able to delegate this to another invigilator to deal with.

Additional Candidates

Try to ascertain if the candidate should really be taking one of the examinations in your exam hall and that s/he has not simply made a mistake when reading their timetable. There is a copy of the timetable in the Red Folder.
If they should be taking an exam in your exam hall and there are spare desks, sit the candidate down and put out correct papers, answer books and additional materials according to the exam paper cover sheet. Note their student ID number and name on the appropriate attendance sheet and annotate the yellow summary sheet. Advise the student to see their School administrator immediately after the exam to ensure their registration for their examinations are correct.
If there are no spare desks available, take details of students name and student ID number and the exam code and title of the exam they wish to sit and contact the Examinations Office for advice 0117 928 7680 or 07746 395 592.

Students stating they have extra time or other alternative exam arrangements

Extra time may not be given in the main examination hall for any reason. All students granted additional time or alternative exam arrangements will have been allocated a seat in another room provided by either the Examinations Office or theSchool. Students sometimes do not read their individual timetable correctly and may arrive in a main exam hall with their cohort expecting to take their exam.
Take details of student name, student ID number and the exam code and title of the exam they wish to sit and contact the Examinations Office for advice 0117 928 7680 or 07746 395 592 as advice to the student depends on several factors.

ALL students arriving more than half an hour after the start of the exam (regardless of whether they state they have extra time or other alternative exam arrangements)

Candidates may not be admitted after the examination has been in progress for 30 minutes. If any student arrives after this time, please direct them to their school office.

Script collection Information

The Chief Invigilator is responsible for organising the script collection.

Early leavers:

There is no requirement to annotate the script if a candidate asks to leave early. Please leave their script and exam paper on the desk to be collected with the others and ensure the student is escorted to the door to ensure they do not remove any exam materials.

End of Exam:

It is possible that examination durations will vary and so it is important to ensure that students continuing examinations should not be unduly disturbed by any examinations finishing earlier. The longest duration paper will start at desk number 1.

If there are several invigilators available, allocate row/s to each invigilator to speed up the collection process. Ensure the scripts are collected in desk number order with the lowest desk number on top. Ensure you tell them that everything must be collected from the exam desks.

If the student has not filled out all of the necessary details on the front of their scripts, wait for them to do so.