Supporting centres: invigilator guidance - Helen O'Leary

This blog has been updated to amend the information originally published on 4 March 2016.

At this time of the year you’ll be thinking about preparing your briefings and training for your invigilation team so that everything is fresh in their mind for the big day.

Here are some useful resources we’ve come across in our travels when talking to exams officers at network meetings, that you might find useful to support your training:

1. The yellow 'ICE' book is the key document for all of us when thinking about invigilation. There are some useful FAQs at the back of the book that can be used during your training to facilitate a managed discussion or simply to check your team’s understanding of the rules. You can find the book on the JCQ website.
   
   
2. Membership services such as The Exams Office and The Examination Officers' Association both have invigilation resources available to their members. You’ll even spot our very own Customer Support Managers in The Exams Office invigilator training videos! Have a look at their websites for more information.
   
   
3. Training providers such as Communicate-ed provide online invigilator training courses.
   
   
4. The Exams Officers UK Facebook group is a great resource for sharing best practice and getting support from colleagues who really know what it’s like. Simply search on Facebook for Exams Officers UK and click 'Join'. The ‘Files’ section is particularly useful!
   
   
5. Some great clips on YouTube that can be used to demonstrate how not to do it, to provoke debate and discussions, or even just to lift the mood. Our favourite examples are:
   • Armstrong and Miller
   • Mock the Week
   • Russell Howard's Good news
6. Add Invigilator training to your local network meeting agenda and grab the opportunity to share your experiences and perhaps resources with other local exams officers in your area. Get in touch with your OCR Customer Support Manager to find out more about network meetings in your area.

Good luck!

About the author

Helen O'Leary - Senior Customer Support Manager

Since joining Cambridge Assessment in 2004, Helen has worked in many areas of the organisation, starting her career with Cambridge International Examinations, before taking up her current role in 2011 as Senior Customer Support Manager for OCR.

Helen's role is extremely varied and she considers herself really lucky to get to meet many of OCR's customers, across a wide variety of educational contexts. She is passionate about great customer service and loves to hear about what OCR get right, as well as what could be improved, so that OCR can provide an enhanced customer experience.

In this blog series, you’ll hear from a variety of experts across OCR and the wider organisation. Helen hopes you find the information useful and if there’s anything that you would like to see featured then please do get in touch.