Exams officers: Top tips to support your home working
27 March 2020
Hints and Tips – 2 minute read
Kate Marritt – Customer Support Manager for the North West and West Midlands
In these unprecedented times, many of you will find yourself having to work from home for the first time.
This is difficult and can be daunting. What can an exams officer do at home? And how do you successfully work from home? Having been an exams officer in the past and a home-worker full time now, here are my top three tips to make this recent change a successful one:
- Environment
Not every exams officer has a home office and it’s likely the workspace is shared with a partner who is also working from home, and children who are being home-educated. Set aside some space – even if it’s just one-quarter of the dining table. Keep your workspace and your relaxation space separate if you can.
- Contact
An exams officer can be a lonely role at the best of times so make sure you stay connected. Perhaps set up a WhatsApp group for local exams officers in your area to keep in touch with, or use Houseparty, Zoom or Google Duo to maintain face-to-face contact with people online. We will also be running regular online network meetings for you to join. The Exams Officers UK Facebook group, set up by exams officers for exams officers, is another very supportive space.
- Get ahead
Use this time to do things you never normally have time to do: check your policies, write a step-by-step handbook for future contingency requirements, look at the 2021 provisional exam timetable, maintain housekeeping duties by cleaning your domestic seasons or computer files.
We appreciate these are challenging times. We want you to keep safe and keep well. Remember, we're all in this together – you are not on your own. Contact your local Customer Support Manager and keep in touch.
About the author
Kate Marritt – Customer Support Manager for the North West and West Midlands
Kate joined OCR in January 2018 and has been working in the education sector since 1998. She has experience of exams administration through her role as Assessment Manager at a university medical school and more recently as an Exams Officer in a large high school so she knows, first hand, how challenging the role can be.