Assistant Examinations Officer
- Job title: Assistant Examinations Officer
- Job Type: Permanent, term time plus 3 weeks per year. 4 days per week during non-exam periods and 5 days per week during exam periods
- Salary: Circa £24,000 per annum depending on qualifications, skills and experience
- Department: Compliance
- Reporting to: Examinations Officer and Compliance Director
- Location: Highgate, North London
- Start: ASAP
- Closing Date: 11 October 2024 at 5:00 pm
This is an excellent opportunity to be part of a busy and exciting Examinations team at a leading independent School.
The successful applicant will support the operations of the Examinations Office and ensure the smooth and efficient running of all public and internal examinations, University Admissions Tests and any other official tests the School offers.
The Department
The exams team at Highgate work collaboratively and efficiently to administer the public examinations at Highgate School. This is a complex undertaking which involves large numbers of pupils and effective implementation of necessary security procedures.
The team carefully follow examination boards’ requirements, have close eye for detail and strong administrative skills. They collaborate and liaise with numerous support and academic departments to deliver one of the most sophisticated operations of the School, from Heads of all subjects, pastoral colleagues, Estates, Commercial to Catering teams. At the same time, they have a front-facing role working with pupils and parents/carers, which requires sensitivity and diplomacy.
GCSE and A level exams mark an important stage in a pupil’s school life, which can bring pressure and anxieties to the fore. Handling such situations involves understanding their perspective and communicating empathy effectively whilst showing resilience. The team members not only remain professional at all times, but they are also great ambassadors of kindness.
The team consists of an Examinations Officer and an Assistant Examinations Officer, who are supported by a team of circa 20 invigilators during the exam periods. The team is overseen by the Compliance Director and works closely with the Deputy Head (Academic) who has overall responsibility for the administration of all public examinations.
The principal duties of the Assistant Examinations Officer are:
- Preparation for I/GCSE mocks in January and Year 13 Practice Tests in February, including: liaison with relevant staff re booking of exam hall and rooms needed for exams; creating schedule of desks needed and liaison with porters re setup; arranging transport of papers to exam hall; preparing day files and checking all exam papers received from departments; arranging distribution of exam timetables via form tutors; production of new ID cards; organising invigilation
- Overseeing the day-to-day running of the I/GCSE mocks, Year 13 Practice Tests, University Admissions Tests, Speaking Tests, Summer and November Exam Seasons, including managing the invigilator team
- Preparation for the summer exam season, including: distributing estimated grade sheets etc. to departments; contacting invigilators to check their availability; working out invigilator needs for timetabled exams based on exam entries; arranging new invigilator recruitment if needed with HR and attending interviews; liaison with MFL regarding invigilator/chaperone needs for language orals; creating invigilator timetable; organising and running invigilator training/update session; liaison with relevant staff re booking of exam hall and rooms needed for listening exams; creating daily schedule of desks etc. needed during exam season for porters; recording delivery, unpacking, checking and securely storing question papers and other exam paperwork as it arrives; filing paper records of all exam entries/changes for payment purposes; preparing exam day files, exam timetables for distribution by form tutors; liaison with IT re laptops and equipment for listening exams; arranging regular and ad hoc exam paper collections with Parcel Force
- Keeping Exams Office files and notice boards up to date
- Producing updated post-results forms for reviews of results and script returns
- Helping Examinations Officer with the collation and distribution of exam results and any other related documentation
- Dealing with post-results requests, including: receiving request forms and payment; submitting requests electronically to exam boards; receiving outcomes of the reviews and scripts requested; informing pupils and relevant staff by email; creating and updating annual post-results services spreadsheet; creating schedule of payments received (reconciling cash/cheques), amounts to be added to school fees bills and any refunds due for Bursary and passing payments received to Bursary
- Logging and distributing non-examined assessment work returned by exam boards to relevant departments
- Checking and authorising exam board invoices for Bursary
- Help to organise and run any other exams e.g.: pre-tests, internal exams
- Receiving and checking all exam certificates, collating in envelopes and making arrangements for current and former pupils to collect them
- Archiving exam certificates from previous year; making returns to awarding bodies when required
These duties and responsibilities are intended as a guide. They are not exhaustive: the Assistant Examinations Officer will be expected to undertake any reasonable task or responsibility as required by the Examinations Officer and Compliance Director.
- Criteria
- How will these be tested or verified?
- Qualifications/Experience
Essential:
- Degree or equivalent
Desirable:
- Understanding of the education sector and independent Schools.
- Knowledge/Skills
Essential:
- Experienced in SIMS or other Management Information Systems (or be willing and able quickly to acquire such expertise).
- Competent Office365 user.
Desirable:
- Have previous experience working as a School Examinations Invigilator
- Knowledge of child protection and safeguarding policies.
- Experience with SharePoint
- Personal Attributes
Essential:
- Ability to work well as a member of a team.
- Attention to detail and being able to work to a high level of accuracy.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with pupils, and staff. This requires an open and friendly approach.
- Be able to guarantee security and confidentiality with regards to all aspects of examination procedures.
- The ability to maintain in strictest confidence any information received about matters concerning Highgate.
Benefits
Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered with a generous 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non-pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.
Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.
Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Lunch | A complimentary lunch.
Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate
A culture of community, kindness and belonging
Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”
Staff wellbeing
Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Charitable work and sustainability
As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 11th October 2024
- Timing of interviews: ASAP
Contact: Recruitment Team are happy to answer any questions about this post.
Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Apply hereInclusion
We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding
As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice
Please read before you apply
Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policies
Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview. DBS Code of Practice
In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.