UK must outsource exam marks to India

London, April 30: Schools in the UK should consider outsourcing exam marking to India to reduce costs and teachers’ workload, a leading UK-based academic and researcher has suggested.

Rebecca Allen of University College London’s Institute of Education and director of Education Datalab pointed out that one British board was already using a Bengaluru-based company to mark critical exams in reading, maths and ICT.

“We have several problems here. Its [marking in India] incredibly reliable marking. So we've got to think in radically differ- ent ways about reducing workload, not just saying ‘that’s paperwork’,” Allen said during an Education Media Centre event in London this week.

Research projects had found accurate marking could be carried out overseas, in countries such as India, for about 3 pounds per hour or less, Allen said. Teachers could review marked work and what had happened in the classroom, she said, adding another approach likely was to use computer technology However, others raised concerns over the outsourcing of what is seen as a critical aspect of teaching.