Nearly 200 examination officers from schools and colleges around the country have visited Edexcel’s examinations processing centre in north London to see for themselves how the system works and Edexcel’s vision for exam management for 2005.

They join the ranks of civil servants, QCA officials, journalists and MPs, including members of the Education Select Committee, who have visited the facility over the past year.

Edexcel has been opening its doors to the public in an attempt to demystify the whole process since March 2001.  Lawrence Anderson, the Operations Manager, explains:

“People seem to have this vision that the exams process is managed by men in grey suits.  The truth is that, whilst it is a huge operation logistically, exams are a very human process.  We never lose sight of the fact that the end result of every grade matters to one individual, the student whose grade it is.

“Exams are set by our most senior examiners, each has been a teacher and knows just what is at stake.  All our examiners are trained and are themselves marked.

“All the administration is carried out by individuals who are trained and monitored.  And we have all been at the receiving end of waiting for exam results.  We do know what is involved emotionally.”

Edexcel is running some exciting pilots with schools and colleges that will transform the job that exams officers have to do.  Online entering of students, online marking by examiners, online entering of assessment marks as well as exam results.  All of these pilots, when they go live in schools and colleges, will make full use of modern technology and transform the administration of the exam process.