CHIEF INVIGILATOR S SEMINAR Questions & Answers MARCH 2013
Chief Invigilator Training March 2013 Questions and Answer Session What colour of pens can be used for online marked papers? Candidates must write in black ink only for all exams. It is also important, that candidates do not use gel pens of any colour in examinations to be marked online as these pens cannot be read by the online scanner. INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Can candidates use pencil for graphs for online papers? Candidates can use pencil to draw a graph if necessary. Our advice would be to use a heavy pencil or, when the candidate is content that their graph is correct, go over the line again in ink. Instructions at the front of the AS & A2 ICT paper indicate for candidates to: Complete in blue or black ink only. Do not write in pencil or with a gel pen. As this subject is marked online use black ink only. Online Marking: Where a candidate has access arrangements and completes his/her script on a word processor, is the word processed script returned along with the scripts for online marking to the Scanning Bureau? No, in such cases the word processed script should be returned to CCEA using the appropriate stationery. Full instructions on this can be found in Appendix C of the Summer 2013 Invigilator s Diary What is a session and how many sessions does an Invigilator need to cover? A session refers to a morning session or an afternoon session in which examinations are held. If a situation arises where an invigilator does not get a lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions or if they have to stay after 4.30pm due to a late exam then this can be claimed as a third session and an explanation given on the OMR. An invigilator needs to cover the sessions which have been allocated to them. If a candidate enters their candidate number on the script but does not answer any of the questions, does this script need to be returned to CCEA? Yes. All scripts for candidates present in the examinations room must be checked off against the Invigilators Roll and returned to CCEA in the normal way. Who is responsible for training assistant invigilators? CCEA will train Chief Invigilators; any further training is the responsibility of the centre.
Once the exam is over can candidates take their question papers with them? No, papers must not be removed from the examination room. Please refer to page 67 of the JCQ Conduct of Examinations (September 2012-August 2013). Have holes been punched in the question papers to facilitate the attachment of supplementary answer sheets with treasury tags? Question and Answer papers are not pre-drilled because only the Online Marking version of the Supplementary Answer Booklet will be supplied this year. These booklets cannot be punched. If a candidate uses a Supplementary Answer Booklet this should be either attached with a paper clip (supplied with the main stationery) or enclosed in the Question and Answer Paper. Is a two-way radio acceptable? There is a range of acceptable ways for an invigilator to get help easily without leaving the examination room and without disturbing the candidates, such as using a mobile phone or a two-way radio. Mobile phones are only allowed in the examination room for this purpose. Any mobile phone used in this situation should be switched off to prevent any incoming calls or messages which may disturb candidates. Seating plans if another awarding body s exam is in the same room as a CCEA exam, must you record all candidates or only candidates completing CCEA exam? You must create a seating plan that shows the position of each candidate in the examination room for all awarding body examinations. As CCEA supplies all centres with a seating plan CCEA candidates should only be recorded in this booklet. Use of calculators most centres have calculators for candidates, however, if a candidate arrives with a scientific calculator with lids that cannot be removed what should you do? For question papers where the use of calculators is allowed, candidates are responsible for making sure that their calculators meet the awarding bodies regulations. Candidates should be told these regulations beforehand. Calculators must be: o of a size suitable for use on the desk; o either battery or solar powered o free of lids, cases and covers which have printed instructions or formulas The candidate is responsible for the following: o the calculator s power supply; o the calculator s working condition. Calculators must not: be designed or adapted to offer any of these facilities: - o language translators; o symbolic algebra manipulation; o symbolic differentiation or integration; o communication with other machines or the internet be borrowed from another candidate during an examination for any reason; have retrievable information stored in them - this includes: databanks; dictionaries; mathematical formulas; text
During an exam can an Invigilator direct candidates to sections of the paper? The invigilator must not: direct candidates to particular questions or particular sections of the question paper; make any comment where a candidate believes that there is an error or omission on the question paper. The invigilator must however, refer the matter immediately to the exams officer; give any information to candidates about possible mistakes in the question paper, unless there is an erratum notice or permission has been given by the awarding body; comment on the content of the question paper; read a word or words printed on the question paper to a candidate, other than the instructions on the front cover; offer any advice or comment on the work of a candidate. The invigilator must not undertake any of the above as they constitute malpractice. Emergency evacuation procedures should this be read out at the start of each exam? Before candidates are allowed to start work in the examination, the invigilator must always: make sure that candidates are seated according to the set seating arrangements; (see section 5, page 15 of the ICE Instructions); tell the candidates that they must now follow the regulations of the examination; open the packets of question papers and give the papers to the candidates; check that candidates have the correct paper and all the material they need for the examination; tell the candidates to read the instructions on the front of the question paper, and ask them to check that they have been given the examination paper for the correct subject, unit, component and/or tier, if appropriate; tell the candidates about any erratum notices; instruct candidates about emergency procedures. The use of multiple answer booklets for the GCSE English Literature examination means that candidates can be confused about which booklet they should use and in some cases they use the wrong answer booklet. If the invigilator identifies this error on the day of the exam they should change the name and component code on front of the booklet to indicate the error. This will then be rectified in CCEA during processing. We have additional stationery in the centre that we can no longer use, how can we dispose of this? Please contact Bernard, Natasha or Stephen in the Distribution Team on 028 9026 1242, for advice or to arrange a collection of unused stationery.
If there are a lot of timetable clashes within a centre, this can be difficult to manage. Any issues identified by Invigilators should be raised with the Exams Officer and they, in turn, should raise the issue with CCEA. Does CCEA cover expenses in the case of a timetable clash? CCEA will cover expenses if the clash is between two CCEA exams. If there is a clash between a CCEA exams and another Awarding Body s exam, the centre must pay for this. Who takes responsibility if a candidate wishes to change tier? The Examinations Officer is responsible for managing any tier changes. If a candidate thinks that he/she has been given the wrong tier paper the issue should be reported the to the exams officer for resolution. The exams officer should check that the candidate has the correct paper and has been entered for the correct tier. If it is decided to allow a candidate to sit a paper for a different tier, the Invigilator Roll/Advice Note should be amended to indicate that the candidate sat a different Tier from the one entered for and printed on the Invigilator Roll/Advice Note. For example, if a candidate appears on the Invigilator Roll/Advice Note for Foundation Tier but insist they want a Higher Tier paper, the Invigilator must record them as absent (ABS) for the Foundation Tier on the Invigilator Roll/Advice Note and write to Higher Tier beside the candidate number. If there are other candidates sitting the Higher Tier, this candidate s number should be added to the Higher Tier Invigilator Roll/Advice Note with the detail from Foundation Tier written beside the number. Is there a limit on how late a candidate can be before they cannot sit an exam? A late candidate will be allowed to sit the examination but the candidate must be warned that their work may not be accepted for marking. A late candidate must also be reminded not to enter the examination room with a mobile phone or any other electronic communication/storage devise. The candidate must read any erratum notices. Please refer to the JCQ Instructions for conducting examinations (1 September 2012 to 31 August 2013) Section 14 for full details pertaining to candidates arriving late to an examination. Should candidates using readers be accommodated a separate room with a separate invigilator? To keep disruption to a minimum it is good practice to accommodate candidates with access arrangements separately. However, provided other candidates are not disrupted, it is permissible that candidates with access arrangements are accommodated in the main exams hall. Under Access Arrangements the Centre will pay for the invigilation. Access NI Checks are all invigilators to get vetted? The Head of Centre is responsible for vetting arrangements and for ensuring the centre s candidates are protected at all times. It is a matter for the HOC to determine whether another vetting check conducted for another AO is acceptable in his centre.
If vetted by board for AQA exams already would this cover CCEA exams? The Head of Centre is responsible for vetting arrangements and for ensuring the centre s candidates are protected at all times. It is a matter for the HOC to determine whether another vetting check conducted for another AO is acceptable in his centre.