The Exam Man

Amanda Spielman, our guest this week, has worn many hats during her career. Best known in the world of education for being HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills from January 2017 to December 2023, Amanda also had a successful early career in finance and was on the founding senior leadership team at Ark Schools from 2015. Amanda is also a Visiting Professor in Practice at...

This week we welcome our first author guest onto the podcast, Sammy Wright- how could we not, when he has written a book called 'Exam Nation'! The book has certainly made waves, with reviews in The Guardian and The Times amongst others, and it was Book of the Week on Radio 4 last month. Once we established that Sammy wasn't attempting to make John and all other exams officers redundant, we entered...

Every so often on a Friday morning, a bonus episode of The Exam Man will drop. FROM THE SECURE ROOM is a series of short episodes where John explains how he carries out a specific aspect of running exams. Particularly useful for exams officers new and old, do send in ideas for future topics to cover and let us know how you approach the same tasks in your own setting. We'd love to hear from you: Co...

To launch Season 2, John and Sophie start as they mean to go on, chewing the fat with an exams officer from one of their Examscreen schools. Kirsty Wilson is the exams officer at The Cherwell School, a large secondary school in Oxford. In this hugely enjoyable and informative chat, Kirsty talks about how she started working in exams, what it's like to run exams across such a big school, and she te...

** GIVEAWAY TIME ** Just a little teaser of an episode this Bank Holiday Monday, to let you know that Season 2 of The Exam Man podcast will launch next Monday 2nd September with a very special interview, and we will be celebrating the new season with a brilliant giveaway. Tune in on the 2nd to hear how to enter the competition, and make sure you don't put it off listening to the podcast episode- y...

Just in case you've been missing your dose of all things exams over the holidays, The Exam Man is back with an extra episode to coincide with exam results days - and to tide you over until the start of Season 2! For this special, longer- length episode, The Exam Man team deep dive into the life cycle of exam papers. Have you ever thought about what happens to an exam paper once pens are put down?...

John and Sophie usher in the summer hiatus from exams with a catch up with some of the exams officers who we featured at the start of Series 1. Series 2 of weekly episodes will launch with a bang in early September, and we have a great line-up of guests and topics ahead, exploring all aspects of exams and assessment. In the meantime, watch out for a one-off long-form episode in August around GCSE...

This week Sophie and John spend a lively half hour chatting to Simon Cherriman, a Director at Tutors & Exams, the organisation that supports learners outside of schools to access assessment at their leading, independent exam centres in the UK and South Africa. Hear about Simon's late career change into the world of exams, his love and appreciation for invigilators, and how his role has wildly...

What are 'access arrangements'? The Exam Man team take you on a whistle-stop tour of this complex but important part of the exam system, in the first of a series of episodes where they delve into exams across different specialist settings. In this conversation, John and Sophie chat to Headteacher Ruth McWeeney. Ruth leads Social Arts for Education, a small and innovative independent special s...

This week John and Sophie speak to Michael Turner, an Executive Director at AQA- a leading provider of qualifications and assessment services in the UK. As well as setting out the role of awarding bodies and the epic task ahead of them once the exams are done, Michael tells us all about how exam boards work with JCQ, Ofqual and schools and colleges. Learn about how John feels in the presence of th...

Pausing for breath during the half-term exam hiatus, John and Sophie reflect on The Exam Man podcast so far. Discover what they've learned so far, the surprises along the way, and what you can expect from the next few episodes. Learn about why Sophie is hell bent on a one-woman mission to change the name of the role, and get an insight into the plan for the podcast following the summer exams. Host...

This week we are exploring the many routes that people take before becoming exams officers. This week's guest, Hayley, an exams officer in a faith school in inner-city London, tells us all about her fascinating journey from police officer to running exams at her former school. She tells us about the transferable skills that help her every day, and why she loves her job- even though she didn't...

This week John and Sophie get to grips with what 'special consideration' means in the world of exams, with a surprising appearance from Kirstie and Phil. What happens when a students' exam experience is disrupted, through circumstances beyond their control? Find out what support is available, and hear from a parent who is applying for special consideration for her son, who is currently taking his...

As the main UK exams kick off in earnest we hear about John's first day, which was not quite as smooth as he was hoping for. To bring our heart rates back down we kick back with Simon Robinson, the examinations officer at Monkton Coombe School- a leading, independent coed day & boarding school just outside of Bath. The school aims to give young people aged 2- 19 the qualities of character...

As we get nail-bitingly close to the start of the big scary exams, John gets some poor quality therapy from Sophie but more helpful advice from this weeks' special guest. Sander de Groot of Made Training is an experienced trainer, teacher, lecturer and facilitator with a fascinating journey to get to this point in his career. He has worked with hundreds of thousands of people through seminars, wor...

This week, John and Sophie chat to Rebecca Rowley of Cranleigh Abu Dhabi about her role as the exams officer there. As well as finding out all about family life as an expat in the United Arab Emirates, you'll hear about how tax inspectors and exams officers have a surprising amount in common! How does running exams differ across countries, and does running exams in sunnier climes mean it’s all gla...

How does running exams differ across countries, and does running exams in sunnier climes mean it’s all glamour and less work? The Exam Man team explore this and more in the first of two episodes where they delve into the work and life of international school exams officers. In this conversation, John and Sophie chat to Camilla Harris of Taipei European School about her role as exams officer (and e...

John and Sophie give the Covid years a good going-over. What happens when exams don't happen? What was with that algorithm? And why did the experience of Covid make John's invigilator team stronger than ever? Find out all the answers, right here, right now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's holiday time so the lurgy has inevitably hit, but the team are cracking on with the podcast nonetheless. They disturb the Mediterranean vacation of long-term pal and recent convert to the exams world, Marina Antoniou, and hear all about her experience of working in a high-performing school in south London. They also speculate on why exams officers are often given other jobs to do, and talk ab...

In this first full-length episode John and Sophie discuss a wide variety of topics from dodgy cassette recorders to the dizzying world of exam paper security. Sophie tries to figure out if one person could steal a metal cabinet from a school undetected. John sets out his theory about his vast foreign language dictionary collection, and a fellow exams officer rates John's pre-exam announcement; muc...

Introducing The Exam Man podcast from the team behind Examscreen . John and Sophie chat about the reasons for starting the podcast and who they hope to reach with it. Also, discover what John has in common with Gareth Southgate! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.