Tenth annualsurvey of EOA members
for the
Academic year 2009/10
January 2011
Examination Officers’ Association (EOA)
CONTENTS
p4 Introduction
Section A – Profile of members – “About you”
p5 question 1 - Profile of exam office staff (main roles)
p6 question 2 - Profile of exam office staff (additional roles)
p6 question 3 - How long have you been in your post?
p7 question 4 - Do you have a recent job description?
p8 question 5 -When was your last job review?
p9 question 6 - What type of contract do you have?
p10 question 7 -Please compare your agreed hours of work with your actual hours in your present role?
p10 question 8 -If you work extra hours do you get paid overtime and/or time in lieu?
p11 question 9 -An analysis of salaries.
p12 question 10 -Are you a member of a Union?
p12 question 11 -If yes, please can you tell us which one?
p14 question 12-Non-contact time available to teaching exam officers
p14 question 13- Impact of exam role on teaching
p14 question 14 -Have you been on any training(in house or external)or related events in the last year?
p15 question 15 -Have you been on any IT training this academic year to help you in your role?
p15 question 16 - Do you think your CPD is important to you in your present role?
p16 question 17 - Do you anticipate staying in your present role next year?
Section B – Defining the role – “Responsibilities”
p16 question 18 -Are you responsible for your exam centre budget?
p17 question 19 -What is your exam budget this year (2009/2010) against last year (2008/2009)?
p17 question 20 -Are you responsible for all external public exams?
p18 question 21 -How many exams do you manage for each cohort?
p18 question 22 -Are you responsible for internal(mock) exams?
p19 question 23-Main cause of late fees in your centre.
p20 question 24 -Is it common practice to charge for retakes in your centre?
p20 question 25 - Do you manage an invigilation team?
p21 question 26 - If yes, how many invigilators are in your team?
p21 question 27 -If you manage a team of invigilators, what do they get paid?
p21 question 28 - Is your invigilation budget being cut back in your centre?
p22 question 29 -What other non exam office responsibilities do you have?
p22 question 30 - How many people are in your exam team?
Section C – Defining the environment – “About your exam centre”
p23 question 31 -Do you have your own exams office?
p23 question 32 - Do you have adequate storage for your exam needs?
p24 question 33 - In what type of Centre do you work?
p24 question 34 -How many students are on the roll?
p25 question 35 -Do you have appropriate IT services and support for the exam office?
p25 question 36 -To whom do you report?
p26 question 37 -Do you feel supported by your line manager?
p27 question 38 -Do you feel supported by your Senior Leadership Team (SLT)?
p27 question 39 -Do you get additional administrative support if required?
p28 question 40 -Is there adequate provision for covering your absence in your centre?
Section D – Impact on workload - “Carrying out your role”
p29 question 41 -How have your working conditions changed from last year?
p29 question 42 -Mark a maximum of three factors that prevent you from doing your job properly.
p30 question 43 -How many students are taking the diploma in your centre?
p31 question 44- To what extent has the Diploma impacted your workload this year?
p31 question 45- What do you think are the priorities the EOA should be addressing next year?
Section E – Different types of support - “Support from the exam community”
p33 question 46 -Which EOA support services do you use?
p34 question 47- What additional on-line courses would you like to see the EOA run?
p35 question 48- Did you attend the EOA annual conference this year?
p35 question 49- Do you think large conferences should continue?
p36 question 50 - What QCDA services did you use?
p36 question 51- Which QCDA services should the EOA lobby to preserve or take over?
p37 question 52– Which Awarding Body would you opt to attend for training?
Section F - A Comparison of Awarding Body Customer Service
p38 question 53 - AQA
p38 question 54 - CCEA
p39 question 55 - Edexcel
p39 question 56 - OCR
p40 question 57 - WJEC
p40 question 58- City & Guilds
p41 question 59- NCFE
p42 question 60- ABC
p42 question 61- ASDAN
p43 question 62 -CASHE
p43 question 63 - VTCT
p44 question 64 -Engagement with other Awarding Bodies from the 140 other organisations
p44 question 65 -Awarding Body customer service profile
p44 question 66.- Comparison of service levels between Awarding Bodies (from 0204 – 0910)
Section G – Summaries and Recommendations
p45Section A – Profile of members – “About you”
p47Section B – Defining the role – “Responsibilities”
p48Section C – Defining the environment – “About your exam centre”
p49Section D – Impact on workload - “Carrying out your role
p50Section E–Different sources provide different support - “Support from the exam community”
p51Section F –A comparison of Awarding Body Customer Service
Conclusion:
Introduction
Examination Office staff across England and Wales were surveyed by the Examination Officers’ Association (EOA) using an online survey tool, over the Autumn Term in 2010. The survey link was sent to EOA members and there were over300 responses, a 20% response rate. All responses were anonymous, so it is not possible to identify geographical locations of the exam centres.
Many of the questions had a mixture of multiple choice answers as well as open-ended text boxes for further comments.
A basic criticism aimed at all surveys of this kind is that they are often viewed as a snap -shot of a community at any given moment in time. As this is the last survey of its kind there has been a greater analysis of the membership feedback which also references other surveys and communications which have taken place over this period. This approach has been used in order to help validate some of the conclusions suggested by this report.
After ten years of doing this type of survey the EOA is very aware of the issues which influence the exams office role in centres. This report tries to make comparisons between this survey and the last one to help establish whether this feedback is based upon a stable, consistentand trusted workforce from which one can extrapolate views and observations that affect the whole exam community.
This report is not just a record of responses on yet another academic year but tries to challenge the expectations of its members, the community it serves and ultimately what impact such findings will have on the future of our exam system.
The report is broken down into specific sections based upon the original survey. However, there is a certain amount of overlap and referencing across the survey responses and it is this bringing together of a number of what appears to be isolated and seemingly unrelated observations and experiences which are captured in the final section of the report under the title –‘Summaries and Recommendations’.
Section A – Profile of members – “About you”
- Profile of exam office staff (main role)
Answer Options / Response / Response
Examinations Manager / 16% / 12%
Examinations Officer / 60% / 60%
Assistant Exams Officer / 5% / 4%
Administration support / 1% / 1%
Exam & Data Manager / 7% / 6%
Exams & Assessment Officer / 3% / 2%
Other / 9% / 16%
In addition to the titles listed above, that have been identified over a number of years, there were over 47 other titles confirming the generous mix of roles that many exams office staff have across the community. The increase in exam managers may very well be in response to the increase in more qualified exams office staff being rewarded for addressing their own continuing professional development (CPD) and/or an increase in EOA membership from colleges who have more exams managers listed.
While the role of exams officer as a title remains quite stable across the school community these results reflect an increasing number of exams officers taking on more data and assessment roles within their centres. One might suggest that this trend may increase as the economic situation beginsto bite, with both centres and local authorities having to share out more roles in order to manage out their reduced funding provision.
- Profile of exam office staff (additional roles)
26 additional titles were recorded under this section. Some were repeated from the previous question but other titles were new, such as the combining of the exam office role with careers and event management. While one might have to accept in future that exams office staff will continue to be used as a resourceful and flexible workforce within centres, many members have stated that this approach simply dilutes their key role as exam office staff and that it is this additional burden that prevents staff performing their role effectively. Overworked staffare more likely to make mistakes and this can have a dramatic effect on the students they serve.
However, the reality our community will have to embrace is one that includes multiple roles while still trying to maintain all the levels of service for successful exam delivery in centres. There is no doubt that, as in all roles within the education environment, professional development backed by specific targeted qualifications mark out a community and help define a more specific titled role. This community’s wish to be taken seriously cannot be ignored any longer by the establishment.
- How long have exam office staff been in post?
2009 – 10 2008 – 9
Answer Options / Response / Response
Less than a year / 5% / 7%
1 - 2 years / 16% / 20%
3 - 5 years / 34% / 38%
6 - 8 years / 26% / 18%
9 - 12 years / 9% / 7%
More than 12 years / 10% / 10%
As mentioned in the introduction the survey results reflectsthe stability of our EOA community. Many who have filled out this survey are more established and long serving. This is a complete contrast to the profile of those attending QCDA induction events. Most of the new exams office staff who attended those events often did not join the EOA but reliedsolely on the induction programme support to carry them through. Unfortunately, despite all the encouragement to explore a wider community through the EOA, as the induction programme is only designed to look after very new exams office staff initially, many get by but eventually the pressures build up and they leave.There has simply been too much emphasis and resources focused on dealing with the exam communityas a patient needing constant paramedic help and not enough, as advocated by the EOA,on developing more established in-house, long-term support mechanisms that generate a more self-supportive workforce.
External support, despite its valuable operational advantages that have been delivered at centre level, has not encouraged theestablishment of a more confident workforce with its own professional aspirations. Prior to the arrival of the EOA there was no such cohesion in our community. But one can refer to other communities that exist within education to see how they value having their own community. Members who come from the teaching community are very aware of the importance of being part of their own community and despite the difficulties of the environmentthey feel supported, especially when things get tough. Our exams office community is no different. A sense of belonging gives people a better sense of survival and endurance. Being left on one’s own only intensifies this feeling of despair and isolation when faced with problems. Having someone external to call on is, in many members eyes, a god-send but what happens when the person is no longer there to call upon? Our community will definitely miss some key QCDA services if everything is withdrawn but just consider the following thought, if the EOA had had established a majority membership of the existing exams office community,as proposed under the NAA modernisation programme, the EOA would have been able to put up a sterner representative fight to save an agency that has, in our community’s terms, provided so much operational support over the years.
- Do you have a recent job description?
2009 – 10 2008 - 9
Answer Options / Response / Response
Yes / 71.6% / 68.7%
No / 28.4% / 31.3%
Certainly over this recent period there has been a lot of emphasis on exams office staff getting up- to-date job descriptions and defining their role more clearly to themselves and to the centres they serve. These figures once again demonstrate that amongst a hard core of EOA members theconfirmation of up-to-date job descriptions, have been recognised and implemented. However, that is not the case with new exam office staff coming into the role.
At the recent QCDA induction events,including over 500 delegates, less than 20% of those who attended each event, had accepted a role with job description attached. It’s not surprising, therefore, why these people do not last very long, as centres still do not seem to recognise the full scope of the exams office role. In addition the constant impact of job re-grading which is bound to increase next year, in response to cut backs in local authorities, will result in changes in job role and that needs to be captured in accurate and up-to-date job descriptions.
There is no doubt that individuals-because they might think of themselves as just support staff; are part-timeormay even feel slightly intimidated by their senior management, may not feel confident in addressing this very important area. Seeking help from the EOA to address this very important activity, by getting one’s own job description, is vital as it will help define more clearly what one’s role is especially when a centre is undergoing change. The EOA will be providing much more help and support on this area, especially through the EOA website.
- When was your last job review?
Job re-grading over this recent period has increased so it’s not surprising that the record of job reviews has also increased. However, many members commented that despite going through this process they found that the attitude to support staff was generally very poor. There was evidence of pure tokenism. If problems or issues were highlighted, these were often ignored or placed low on the priority list, begging the question.What is more important than the out-put of the whole education system, exams delivery and assessment? That process is dependent on good professionally focused staff working together on behalf of students.
Exams office staff with very little targeted training are expected to marshal an exam system, on behalf of government, awarding bodies and centres and yet are often not given the priority in job reviews which would be invaluable in sorting out many of the issues and problems affecting the delivery of exams in centres.
This comment from one member probably sums up the experience of many who seek more appropriate remuneration for all their good work – “Congratulations on what I have done, but no money for help and improvements.” But for others even a simple thank you is difficult to get. Many members still constantly reflect on the lack of respect for whom they are and what they do.
In the past, the view of some exams office staff was, that it istheir (the teaching community) problem;they are not treating us (support staff) correctly. But the teaching community are under just as much pressure and part of the approach by the EOA has been to try and get both sides to understand each other’s needs and concerns.After ten years wemay have had one EOA member being awarded a MBE for her services to the exam office community but the majority still feel they are being under-valued. However, in contrast in the recent survey feedback from – ‘Hanging on in there’ (full report on the EOA website) the SMT support for examsoffice staff was very positive and encouraging. That support might not translate into money and power but being valued as part of an important team does help with morale.
So may be we still have a long way to go to translate some of that ‘good will’ between our two communities (teaching and non teaching) into formal job processes and practices, starting with more accountable and effective job reviews based upon up-to-date job descriptions. Many members have not had successful job reviews because the review process has been flawed. The job descriptions upon which these reviews have taken place often completely ignore the management and responsibilities that are undertaken by staff.
What has become very frustrating for members is the lack of more effective support and dialogue from union representation in centres, to address the exams office role. The EOA must continue to challenge all the unions on behalf of exams office staff, to lobby for amore established campaign which profiles this role appropriately.