Marker update

31 May

 

Dear markers

 

We would like to provide you with an update on the progress of marking to date, as well as inform you of the details of a financial incentive plan for ensuring the marking is completed on time.  Furthermore, we would like to address and answer the most frequently asked questions the marker helpdesk has received about script verification.

 

Progress to date

Through the online mark capture system we are able to closely monitor the number of scripts for which the marks have been entered and submitted.  We have made considerable progress towards marking scripts for all of the pupils who sat the tests this year.  By maintaining our current pace we should be on track to complete marking on time.  Thanks for all your hard work in getting the marking launched and on its way.

 

Throughout the remainder of the marking period we will be contacting markers who are marking at a slower than expected rate.  Starting this weekend we will be calling markers who have not yet completed their first benchmarking set to get an update on their progress and to try to address any questions or concerns they have.

 

To help us ensure steady progress, please send scripts back to us as soon as you complete marking scripts for an individual school.  You do not need to wait for the deadline, or even until you finish your whole allocation.  If you have completed marking scripts for some schools and have packed them up, please write "MARKED SCRIPTS" clearly on the top of the boxes with a marker pen, and follow the step-by-step guidance provided in the 'UPS parcel carriage instructions' which can be found in our '2008 document library'. 

 

As we are expecting a huge influx of scripts in the final weeks of marking, by sending us your scripts for individual schools as soon as you complete them for you can help us prepare them for return to those schools as quickly as possible.

 

Incentive plan

We are pleased to announce a financial incentive programme for all markers who mark their materials to the required quality standard and return them to us by the published deadlines.  We are also offering a payment to the small number of standardised markers who do not receive an allocation of scripts. 

 

The programme will work as follows:

 

1.    All markers who mark and return at least their standard contractual allocation of test papers by the published deadlines of 23 June for key stage 3 and 26 June for key stage 2 will receive an extra taxable incentive payment of £100. 

 

2.    All markers who successfully standardise, do not withdraw or resign from the programme, and do not receive an attempted delivery of test papers during the marking window will receive an extra taxable incentive payment of £250.

 

The purpose of these payments is to recognize the time and commitment shown by all markers who attended a face-to-face training session, were ready to mark post-standardisation, and helped us meet our deadline for return of results to schools. 

 

The two types of payments outlined above will be made upon completion of the marking cycle to all markers impacted, and will be included with markers’ final payments.

 

Reallocations

To those of you still awaiting your first allocation of scripts to mark, we cannot thank you enough for your ongoing patience.  Our warehouse is beginning to receive scripts for reallocation to markers who have not received an allocation yet.  A dedicated team in the warehouse is checking each package as it comes in and is prioritising it for redelivery to markers without scripts as quickly as possible.  It is still our goal that every marker who completed standardisation will receive scripts to mark, but whether we can achieve this goal will depend on how many papers are returned to us for reallocation. That figure will always be variable in such a large scale and dynamic process.

 

We would like to thank you all for your ongoing commitment to the marking process and for all of the excellent work completed to date.

 

Questions about script verification

 

Judging from the number of calls to our marker helpdesk, script verification appears to be the issue causing the most frustration.  Here are some commonly encountered script verification issues and the actions you can take to resolve them.

 

ISSUE: I have received papers for one or more pupil(s) who are not listed in the script verification screen.

ACTION: Please contact the marker helpdesk.  The marker helpdesk will cross reference the school’s attendance register to determine why the pupil’s name is missing.  If we need to contact the school, please note that the turnaround for resolution can take a few days but we will notify you as soon as it is resolved.  In the meantime, please do the following so that you can keep marking without interruption:

1.    Go ahead and submit your script verification for that school and paper after contacting the helpdesk, even if the pupil’s name has not yet been added.

2.    Mark the scripts that you have received and capture these marks online.  Please note that you can capture marks in this way without submitting them for the school, and it will not impact your ability to be triggered for benchmarking and payment. 

3.    Continue capturing marks online but do NOT submit the marks for this school until the pupil appears on your script verification screen. 

4.    When the pupil is added to your script verification list, you will then need to resubmit the script verification for that paper, capture marks for this pupil, and then submit the school when it is complete.

 

 

ISSUE: I am missing scripts for pupils who are listed in my script verification screen and I am expecting another delivery for this school.

ACTION: On your script verification screen, mark the ‘Paper received’ column as ‘No’ for the papers you have not received.  Once you have completed this, press the submit button.  You can now begin marking the scripts you have received and capturing the marks online.  This will not impact your ability to be triggered for benchmarking or payment. 

When you receive your additional delivery of missing scripts, contact the marker helpdesk.  They will update the ‘Paper received’ column for you.  Once the helpdesk has submitted the script verification changes, you may capture marks for these pupils online.

 

ISSUE: I have entered marks for a school and paper however cannot submit their marks.

ACTION: Please contact the marker helpdesk.  The most likely cause of this problem is that you have some papers which you have indicated you have not received and our system shows that these pupils were present.  Each missing paper will be investigated and cross-checked with the school’s attendance register.  Once we are satisfied that these scripts are correctly missing, we will unlock the submit button so you can submit your marks.  In the meantime, please continue marking your remaining consignment.  This will not have any impact on your ability to capture marks, trigger benchmarking or payment.  We will notify you when the issue has been resolved.