P14

Getting exams right

Belonging to the Standing Joint Committee for Examinations is worthwhile, argues Kevin Hewison. He asks other NUT members to get involved.

Are there times when you worry about the standard of the examinations sat by your students?

Have you considered that any of the questions set were inappropriate?

These and other questions are dealt with each year by the Standing Joint Committee for Examinations (SJC).

There is a separate SJC for every exam board and each is run by teachers for teachers. Most of us are still teaching, though some are retired, and all of us tend to have had, or still have, a role as examiners or moderators at different levels of examination.

Each year we produce a form for teachers to submit questions or concerns. We ask for details such as your name, school, awarding body and specification. Most of the forms are available on the NUT website (www.teachers.org. uk/commentonexams) and the whole process can be completed electronically.

We separate the returned forms into administration or subject comments. We put all the comments together by exam level, subject, then paper or assessed component.

By sorting the papers in this way we make certain the subject comments are grouped not only by paper but also by question order. All comments are treated as anonymous – no personal details are given to any awarding body.

A collator puts the various comments/ issues together in a ‘house style’, subject by subject. The collator is usually a teacher with experience of the subject. The awarding body provides us with copies of the exam paper so we can link the comments to the correct paper and specification.

Once the collated forms have been compiled they are sent to the awarding body. For example, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) comments are dealt with in early August and submitted at about the same time as the results are published.

Its response to questions on administration is always available for discussion at the September SJC meeting with AQA officers. Subject responses take a little longer, and are posted on the AQA website. Similar procedures operate for the other awarding bodies.

If you would like to join the SJC, please read the box below.

Have you used the SJC? If not, why not?

We believe we are doing an essential job for all teachers. Would you like to be involved as a collator or SJC member? If so contact Helen Hill (020 7380 4718, email h.hill@nut. org.uk) or Robert Cheesman (020 7380 4723, email r.cheesman@nut.org.uk).