Exams Officer

**Protection of Children and Young Persons**

**Background to the Post**

The College MIS team is responsible for the collection, processing and management of the College’s core data, including programmes, enrolment, examinations, funding and achievements. The Exams Officer plays a crucial role within the team, liaising with many different examining bodies and therefore the ability to understand and execute regulations is crucial to success in this post.

**Purpose of the role**
- To be responsible for managing the effective and efficient administration of external examinations in accordance with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) regulations (on behalf of the JCQ member awarding bodies_[1]_) and/or awarding body rules for exams administration in a consistent and secure fashion, thereby helping to maintain the integrity of the assessment process
- To support theHead of Exams in ensuring that the centre is compliant with the JCQ regulations and awarding body requirements in order to ensure the security and integrity of the examinations/assessments at all times
- To act on behalf of, and be the main point of contact for, the centre in matters relating to the general administration of awarding body examinations and assessments
- To closely liaise with key staff (external and internal) to ensure exams administration processes are strictly followed and key deadlines met
- To ensure examinations are conducted in accordance with the regulations
- Through taking an ethical approach and working proactively to avoid malpractice among students and staff, supports the head of exams in taking all reasonable steps to prevent the occurrence of any malpractice/maladministration before, during the course of and after examinations have taken place
- The post is managed by the Head of Exams.

**Duties and Responsibilities**

**Before examinations**

Planning
- Maintain and develop systems to manage and coordinate all aspects of the exams administration process
- Research and understand qualifications and how they are assessed
- Identify and access relevant support available from external companies (Awarding bodies/JCQ/Network group/The Exams Office etc.)
- Comply with JCQ and awarding body regulations, guidance and instructions and keep abreast of developments/changes/updates
- Effectively use JCQ and awarding body online tools where required (e.g the Centre Admin Portal (CAP), secure extranet sites)
- Oversee and manage appropriate access rights for relevant internal staff using JCQ and awarding body online tools
- Manage own time effectively to ensure key tasks are undertaken and external key dates and deadlines are met (Achieved by creating and working to an annual exams plan)
- Communicate clear internal deadlines and processes for gathering/sharing exam-related information from/with relevant internal staff
- Annually confirm the information required by the National Centre Number Register (as administered by OCR on behalf of the JCQ) and informs of any changes to centre status
- Manage arrangements to receive, check and store confidential question papers and examination material safely and securely at all times and for as long as required in accordance with the regulations
- Support the head of exams in managing potential conflicts of interest by informing the awarding bodies to timescale for each examination series and recording the measures taken to mitigate any potential risk to the integrity of the qualifications affected

Entries
- Implement processes and liaise with relevant internal staff to gather correct entry information to internal deadlines implementing strategies to avoid late (or other penalty) fees.
- Verify the identity of all students that are entered for examinations/assessments
- Effectively use internal and external IT systems to submit and manage awarding body registration and entry data
- Liaise with Finance to ensure fees are paid as instructed and at the time specified by the awarding bodies

Pre-exams
- Train update any member of staff at WCG
- Train, update and manage a team of invigilators
- Train Manage the arrangements for the timetabling, rooming, seating, resourcing and invigilation of examinations in accordance with the regulations
- Effectively resolve exam timetable clashes and manage overnight supervision arrangements (where arrangements may be required after all other options have been explored) in accordance with the regulations
- Confirm relevant internal staff complete administrative tasks associated with centre assessed work in an accurate and timely manner in accordance with the requirements of awarding bodies and moderators
- Effectively manage arrangements for the secure storage and dispatch of examination scripts for marking

**During examinations**

Exam time
- Effectively manage the conduct of examinations in accordance with JCQ regulations and/or awarding body rules
- Ensure all exam accommodation is prepared in accordance with the requirements
- Inform the JCQ Cent