Examinations Officer
 Job Description

St Mary’s School
Bateman Street
Cambridge
CB2 1LY

T: 01223 353253
F: 01223 280254

stmaryscambridge.co.uk

St Mary’s School Cambridge – A Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Office: Bateman Street Cambridge CB2 1LY – No.
184031 England Registered Charity No. 290180

 About the Role

Job Title: Examination Officer
Accountable to: Deputy Head (Data and Operations) or other nominated person
Salary: £29,000 - £32,000 per annum
Hours of work: 4 days a week for Autumn and Spring terms and 5 days a week for Summer term (plus additional 5

weeks during school holidays)

Place of work: Bateman Street, Cambridge; On-site/Hybrid

The Exams Officer is part of a small department and will report to the Deputy Head (Data and Operations).
The Examination Officer is responsible for the line management and appointment of Exam Invigilators

About the team

Role responsibilities
This is a varied and autonomous role and will involve the management of the operational aspects of the examination
processes. You will be responsible for the efficient and effective running of the administration of all internal and
external examinations within the school, including liaising with staff, pupils, invigilators and examination boards,
adhering to national regulations and guidelines and managing an annual budget. This will include management of
exam invigilators, exam scheduling and publishing, liaison with systems professionals for exam data handling and
problem-solving exam related issues.

•  To provide support, advice and guidance to the head of centre/senior leadership team 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 stakeholders (external and internal) to ensure exams administration processes are

strictly followed

•  To understand JCQ and awarding body key dates and deadlines and have in place robust procedures to

ensure these are 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 centre in taking all reasonable steps to prevent the occurrence of any
malpractice/maladministration before, during the course of and after examinations have taken place

Other responsibilities include:

Administration Duties

•  Attend regular CPD training on examination updates, codes of practice etc
•  Amend, create and implement relevant examination policies for the school so that the examination system,
rules and regulations set by the awarding bodies and JCQ are clear to all members of staff, students and
parents in the school

•  Manage JCQ inspections and, in consultation with the Deputy Head, ensure that all policies and procedures

are kept up-to-date

•  Manage, build and maintain good working relationships with the external Examination Boards
•  Updating key internal staff on current examinations policies and procedures
•  Recruit, train, update and manage a team of invigilators
•  Training of the Examination Team, including teaching staff in line with relevant JCQ updates, ensuring

relevant records are kept of the invigilators training certificates
Liaising with and supporting Senior Management with examinations related decision making

•
•  Manage the Examination budget and ensuring that the department is operating in a cost-effective manner at

all times

•  Provide reports on examination results to relevant stakeholders (internal and external)f as required

•  Provide data and analysis on examination entries and results
•  Manage candidate personal information within GDPR
•  Attend weekly meetings with the Exams Officer line Manager (Deputy Head)
•  Attend weekly ‘Exams Access Arrangement meetings’ with Line Manager and school SENCo.
•  Managing the process of coordinating internal and public examinations, including any University Admissions

tests

•  Manage appropriate access rights for teaching staff using JCQ and awarding body online tools
•  Maintain SMC and Firefly by updating JCQ information/policies etc
•  Generate candidate numbers and input ULN’s
•  Check candidate’s names are correct
•  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

•  Support the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) (or equivalent role) in implementing

examination access arrangements and reasonable adjustments for eligible candidates (processing approval
applications and requesting modified papers by the published deadlines)

Examination Duties

•  Obtain information from Heads of Departments regarding estimated entries and exam board and syllabus

information, including students being entered early for a public examination Submit these to the examination
boards

•  Download the base data from the exam boards and complete the entries for the public exams. Check these

are correct with Heads of Departments

•  Complete the official public examinations entries after getting final sign off from Heads of Department,

including early entrants and resit students.

•  Provide examination assemblies to students in Years 11, 12 and 13 to make them aware of what they need to
do when taking a public examination. Keeps logs of who attended the training session and meet with those
who were absent

•  Keep logs of which parents and students have read and understood the JCQ examination rules and the

consequences if these are not followed

•  Have meetings with the school SENCO to ensure that the correct access arrangements will be applied for to

the exam board by the deadline and upload the related documentation to evidence the need for the
arrangement

•  Publish and distribute exam timetables, procedures and exam board information including the resolution of

clashes to students

•  Ensure all centre assessed subject exams (NON written ones) are run according to JCQ Guidelines e.g. orals,

practical's etc

•  Enter and submit centre assessed marks, provided by HODs, are entered by the board set deadlines
•  Apply for special consideration for students who have had their examinations affected by illness, event etc.

This may include the gathering of evidence for the special consideration application
•  Developing and delivering communications relaying examination invigilation schedules
•  Complete the invigilation rota for the exams and publish this in good time.
•  Ensure all exam accommodation is prepared in accordance with the requirements
•  Prepare and organise examination materials, including managing the secure storage of examination papers
•  Manage the daily running of internal and external examinations, including ensuring the examination

materials are in place for the start of the examination and collected and dispatched after the examination in
accordance with the appropriate regulations

•  Supply examination boards with all completed documentation and requests
•  Access results of external examinations and manage the integration into the school ICT system. Need to add

something about creating the statistics

•  Effective communication with Exam Board personnel, school staff, students and parents ensuring that all

queries and appeals are dealt with efficiently meeting required deadlines

•  Apply for ‘review of marking’ requests from students following their examination results and inform them of

the outcomes of these

•  Manage the requests from students for accessing their examination scripts post results
•  Complete ISC data and update as appropriate
•  Managing and distribution of all Examination results and Certificates
•  Providing any requested data in a timely manner by Head of other members of SLT

The above list is not an exhaustive list of duties and you may be expected to perform different tasks as
necessitated by your line manager and your changing role within the School and overall business objectives of the
School.

Person Specification

Essential

Desirable

Qualifications

Skills and Experience

Knowledge / Abilities
(Competencies)

•  A  good  standard  of  education  including
Maths  and  English  GCSEs  Grade  A*-C  (or
equivalent)  or  Level  2  Literacy  and
Numeracy is essential

•  Highly proficient in the use of spreadsheets
and data management, with a high level of
accuracy and attention to detail

•  Experience  of working with children aged

13 – 18 years old

•  Good  written  and  verbal  communication

skills

•  Highly  proficient  in  the  use  of  MS  Office

including Outlook, Word and Excel

•  Significant administrative

experience

•  Experience of working with SEN

students

•  Knowledge and understanding of
how  independent  boarding  and
day schools operate

•  The  ability  to  handle  confidential  and
tact  and

information  with

sensitive
discretion

•  The  ability  to  establish  good  working

relationships

and

understanding

•  Proven  organisational  skills,  capable  of
multitasking,  prioritising  and  working  to
deadlines
•  Knowledge

of
awarding organisations and the regulatory
framework
administering
examinations
•  Knowledge  of

school  policies  and
procedures  relating  to  health,  safety,
security  and  confidentiality  of  data  and
equal opportunities

for

Personal Qualities

•  Friendly, approachable manner and able
to work as part of a team as well as the
ability to work on your own

•  Discreet,  tactful,  diplomatic  and  the

ability to maintain confidentiality

•  Resourceful,  proactive,  self–motivated

and resilient

•  Diligent and conscientious
•  Ability  to  work  with  people  at  all  levels
always  maintaining  a  high  degree  of
professionalism.
•  Calm under pressure

We  are  all  members  of  one  community  and  must  therefore  endeavour,  always,  to  maintain  positive  working
relationships with all colleagues, treating others with the same level of professionalism, respect and politeness that
we would wish for ourselves. In addition, you are required to work in pursuit of our core aim, which is to ensure every
student’s aspiration, capabilities, interest, and talents are recognised, nurtured and celebrated. We pride ourselves
on  our  academic  standards,  extra-curricular  provision,  and  pastoral  care.  Your  performance  in  this  regard  will  be
judged by your outcomes relating to work, attitude, and professional behaviour.

Child Welfare and Child Protection Issues
The interview for this post will include exploring issues relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
including:

•  Motivation to work with children and young people.
•  Ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships with children and young people.
•  Emotional resilience in working with challenging behaviours.
•  Attitudes to the use of authority and maintaining discipline.
Any relevant issues arising from the take up of references will be discussed at interview.
The  school  is  an  equal  opportunities  employer.  We  are  committed  to  safeguarding  and  promoting  the welfare  of
children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  Successful applicants are
subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Check.