‘Flexible use of resources’ will cover for lack of invigilators

The comment from the Education Office came after more than a third of schools in the UK said in response to a survey they will not been able to recruit a sufficient number of invigilators for this summer’s exam series, according to the Association of School and College Lecturers.

GCSE and A-level external exams were cancelled in Guernsey and the UK for the last two years, due to uncertainty caused by the pandemic. But they are back this year.

An Education Office spokesman said it was working to ensure things went smoothly.

‘We are facing some similar recruitment challenges as the UK in relation to invigilators, but we already have plans in place to mitigate this by using our existing resources more flexibly,’ he said.

‘Therefore, we don’t envisage any impact on schools locally.’

Under normal circumstances, exam centres are required to ensure at least one invigilator is present for each group of 30 or fewer pupils, or one per 20 pupils for practical exams.

But the Joint Council for Qualifications has reportedly relaxed this to one per 40 pupils for exams or one per 30 pupils for practical exams.

The Association of School and College Lecturers said one of the reasons for the shortage was the concern among invigilators – who are often retired teachers – about catching Covid.

Covid cases have fallen sharply in the island in recent weeks, with 196 new ones reported a week today. Case numbers are reported weekly in the Bailiwick.

GCSE and A-level exams are getting under way this week.

Over the last two years exam grades have been awarded based on a range of evidence of students’ attainment, including mock exams, coursework and internal assessments.