Exam board may hire overseas teachers to mark GCSE papers
GCSE papers could be marked in countries such as Spain or South Africa to help deal with a shortage of examiners, it has been suggested.
The idea is being explored by OCR, one of England’s biggest exam boards, the sister organisation of which is already using overseas markers for the international GCSE (IGCSE).
The suggestion follows growing demand for examiners after reforms – such as the move towards end-of-year rather than modular exams – have led to a rise in papers taken in the summer. In an interview with the Times Edu
cational Supplement ( TES), Michael O’Sullivan, chief executive of OCR’s sister company Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), said: “I think the internationalisation of examiner supply is a big opportunity to relieve pressure on the system.
“The amount of scripts to be marked and graded in June and July is already much higher than before.”
CIE already uses markers in countries such as New Zealand, South Africa and Spain to mark the IGCSE.
Mr O’Sullivan told the TES that he is chairing an “examiner task force” on the recruitment and retention of markers, which has been set up by OCR and CIE’s parent company, Cambridge Assessment.
He said that CIE only uses examiners who are qualified teachers who teach in English, but said he would not rule out any country from providing examiners for UK papers.
Any overseas marker would have to go through the same checks as one in the UK, Mr O’Sullivan insisted, including asking them to mark papers from previous years to ensure they were up to standard.
In a statement, an OCR spokesman said: “OCR currently has no overseas examiners. However, it is an option being explored.”
Exam boards, who traditionally rely on teaching staff to serve as markers, have previously warned that teachers’ growing workload means that there are difficulties recruiting examiners. Mark Dawe, OCR’s outgoing chief executive, has previously said that the board, which has around 15,000 examiners, will need an extra 5,000 in 2016.
Jill Stoke, an assessment expert at the ATL teaching union, told the TES: “It would be difficult for experienced teachers [overseas] to get to grips with the GCSE syllabus and marking criteria, having not taught the qualification. It will affect marking consistency.”
Neil Walker, headteacher at Benfield School in Newcastle, said: “I think there will be difficulties applying the mark schemes consistently, especially in English and history where there are more nuances.
“I find it worrying.”