NQs: Examinations And Your Chief Invigilator

Timetable

You will receive a summary Examination Timetable for National Qualifications about a year in advance. Later you will receive a full timetable - this will also be available on the website.

You can change the time of an examination by up to half an hour before or after the time given. Requests for other changes must be made to SQA - please see Conditions and Arrangements.

Invigilators

You will be sent a form asking you to nominate a Chief Invigilator and other Invigilators (depending on the size of your centre). Make sure that your nominees understand what is required of them - there are detailed instructions on their duties and responsibilities in the Handbook for Invigilators - and that they undertake to carry out these important duties.

You will have to work closely with your Chief Invigilator. He or she is responsible for:

• arranging secure storage for exam papers
• supervising and training Invigilators
• conducting examinations as prescribed, including checking Attendance Registers and the daily dispatch of answer books
• submitting reports to us about irregularities or disturbances in the conduct of an examination

Your Chief Invigilator will particularly need your help to:

• check the accuracy of the papers that we send to him/her
• allocate duties to the other Invigilators - you will have to discuss how many Invigilators will be required for each exam, especially if there are alternative assessment arrangements in place
• keep an accurate record of the Invigilators’ duties, along with your centre's accommodation requirements, to send to us at the end of the Diet

If you have concerns about the conduct of any of your Invigilators, you should try to avoid using them for the rest of the Diet and do not nominate them again. If the problem lies with your Chief Invigilator, discuss your concerns with your CSM.

Accommodation

It is your centre's responsibility to provide suitable accommodation and, if required, equipment and teachers (eg for Higher Modern Languages Listening/Writing, a Nominated Teacher is needed in each examination room). Conditions and Arrangements will give general advice but, for specific requirements, look at the Arrangements documents on the website and check the Handbook for Invigilators.

Attendance Registers

We will send you the Attendance Registers listing the candidates who have been entered for each subject before the examinations are due to begin. This will give you a final check on your entries.

Candidates

Candidates will receive a copy of Your Exams which will tell them how they should behave during examinations and we hope you will emphasise that they must follow the rules - for example they mustn't bring prohibited items such as mobile phones or certain types of calculators into the exam room.

Sitting exams at another centre

If a candidate is sitting an exam at another approved centre, you will need to let us know, using Form SA00, by the end of February (see your the Operational Help Centre for how to go about this).

If you want a candidate to sit an external assessment at another venue which is not an approved centre, you should complete an Alternative Venue form and submit it to the External Assessment Unit. Again, the Operational Help Centre will tell you how to go about this.

Absentee Consideration

Look in Conditions and Arrangements for information on what to do if candidates are absent from exams. You will receive forms, with full instructions, before the exams start.

Coincident Examinations

You may find that a candidate has been entered for two subjects for which the examination papers are timetabled at the same time. Look in Conditions and Arrangements for the procedure you should follow.