Every summer, I log on to mark scripts knowing that the grades I award will help shape the futures of young people. Our assessment system is high-stakes, and this year, technical failures were such that I am concerned about its integrity.
Like many examiners, I fit this work around a full-time teaching job and family responsibilities. It means a lot of late nights, but I do it because I believe in fair outcomes.
This year, I found myself battling not only the workload, but also the technology. Logging in problems, scripts not saving, platforms crashing mid-mark and annotations disappearing. It felt like the system was working against me.
I know I’m not alone. In an ongoing independent survey I launched last week, more than 70 per cent of respondents so far have reported similar technical issues during this summer’s marking period.
Their words echo my own frustrations: one examiner described being “more demotivated to mark to the best of my ability whenever the system crashed.” Another admitted they had to “rush the marking to meet the deadline and even reduced my effort when I had to mark the same script twice due to tech issues.”
These problems aren’t just inconveniences. They affect concentration, consistency and morale. They also create unfair pressure. Like many, I found myself having to catch up after losing time to technical failures.
That inevitably raises the question: what impact might this have on the quality of marking and, ultimately on the fairness of grades awarded?
Examiners are the invisible backbone of the system. We are experienced professionals. In fact, most of those responding to my survey have been examining for six years or more. Yet we are often let down by outdated platforms, patchy support and rigid deadlines that fail to account for the real difficulties caused by system failures.
We are often let down by outdated platforms, patchy support and rigid deadlines
For me, marking should be about applying my subject knowledge, assessment expertise and gaining CPD strategies to apply in my classroom. Too often this summer, it felt like I was wrestling with clunky software instead.
In addition, there are additional personal costs for many examiners. including having to purchase ethernet cables, VPNs, Mac-compatible converters and special anti-virus software just to be able to mark.
I don’t raise these issues lightly. I am proud to be part of the examination system and I know how vital it is that the public continues to trust the results.
But trust is fragile. If examiners themselves lose confidence in the systems we are required to use, how can we expect the wider public to trust them?
That’s why I’m calling for exam boards to urgently review the technical side of examining. Platforms must be robust, user-friendly and compatible with the devices examiners actually use. Technical support should be available during the hours examiners are working. And deadlines should be flexible when systems fail.
This is not just about examiner convenience. It’s about ensuring fairness, consistency and confidence in the outcomes that young people and their families wait so anxiously for every August.
As a teacher-researcher, I am committed to working with assessment experts to gather evidence and collaborate with exam boards on solutions. But for now, my message is simple: behind every exam result is an examiner, and we need the right tools to do our jobs well.
If you’re an examiner who has experienced technical issues while marking this summer, you can share your experience through my ongoing survey.
The more we can evidence these challenges, the stronger the case for change will be.
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