At AQA, we’re committed to advancing education and we’re committed to our people. As the largest provider of academic qualifications in the UK, we mark over seven million GCSEs and A-levels each year and it’s our people who make this happen.

English Assessment Lead

Permanent

Location: Guildford, Manchester, Milton Keynes or London,

Salary: North £62,000 - £74,600 South £64,600 - £77,700

Hybrid Working, Office attendance as business dictates.

Are you an English GCSE Examiner?

Other English Qualification Examiners considered.

This is an exciting opportunity focused on continually improving AQA’s Assessment of English. You will be leading the flagship English qualification for AQA, GCSE English Language (8700), which has approximately 500,000 student entries each year. You will also have a role in assessment quality across all AQA’s English qualifications for GCSE and A-level and will work closely alongside the Assessment Design, Assessment Production and Assessment Development Teams as well as other teams throughout the business.

As the English Assessment Lead, you will ensure that AQA’s suite of English qualifications comply with all regulatory requirements, adhere to the principles of good assessment, and allow students the opportunity to be fairly rewarded for the knowledge and understanding they demonstrate in any AQA English assessment they take.

You will drive continuous improvement across the entire suite of English assessments, including any new assessments developed in the future, and be accountable for the work delivered by other internal staff and external contractors relating to English assessments.

You will be a point of escalation for any issues that might impact the quality of an assessment or our ability to deliver accurate results to students.

Additionally, you will act as Chief Examiner for GCSE English Language (8700) and support post-examination activities such as standardisation and grade awarding across the English suite as required. At AQA, we aim never to let a learner down, and this role is designed to ensure this never happens in our English assessments.

What’s in it for me?

At AQA we recognise our employees' contribution and in return we are proud to offer an extensive reward and benefit package.

This includes:

• 25 days' annual leave rising to 30 days with service, plus all Bank Holidays and additional Christmas office closure
• 35-hour working week
• Excellent contributory pension (6% - 11.5% dependent on employee contribution)
• Life assurance, BUPA PMI and Health Cash Plan
• Enhanced maternity/paternity scheme

What will I need to succeed?

• An understanding of assessment practice in England.

• An up-to-date understanding of the latest thinking and policy on the way English is taught in the classroom.
• An understanding of the regulatory environment in which AQA operates and the likely impact of the regulator on assessment and product design.

• Knowledge of assessment design and delivery best practice.
• An understanding of assessment products and practice in AQA and limitations and advantages of different systems of assessment delivery.
• An understanding of continuous improvement and quality management principles and practice.
• Proven aural, oral and written communication skills to explain issues to the relevant business stakeholders with differing levels of assessment expertise.
• Experience of delivering tasks to a high level of quality, at different stages of a project’s lifecycle
• A results-focused mindset and the ability to make pragmatic decisions and deliver at pace.
• Sound judgement when analysing assessment data and deciding which improvements to implement.

What Next?

To apply, please upload your most recent CV and a cover letter outlining your motivation and key transferable skills.

We anticipate closing this role on Sunday 7th April 2024 - However applications will be reviewed throughout.

We will complete a pre-screening call followed by face to face interview in our London offices during early to mid-April 2024.

#LI-Hybrid

#Pro22

Recruitment Agencies

We have a preferred supplier list (PSL) in place.

Unsolicited CVs will be treated as a gift. We will not be subject to or liable under your terms and conditions for agency fees.

Full Job Description

Summary

Purpose:
This role ensures that AQA’s suite of English qualifications comply with all regulatory requirements, adhere to the principles of good assessment, and allow students the opportunity to be fairly rewarded for the knowledge and understanding they demonstrate in any assessment. The postholder is accountable for the quality of the entire suite of English assessments, including any new assessments developed in the future. The postholder is accountable for the work delivered by other internal staff and external contractors relating to English assessments, and will be a point of escalation for any issues that might impact the quality of an assessment or our ability to deliver accurate results to students. Additionally, the postholder will act as Chief Examiner for one, or more, English qualifications. At AQA, we aim never to let a learner down, and this role is designed to ensure this never happens in our English assessments.Landscape: This senior role sits in the Assessment business area, and you will be reporting to the Head of Assessment Development. You will work closely with colleagues across Assessment, and with the senior associates who are contracted to design and deliver AQA’s assessments and marking. The postholder will have strong links to customer-facing teams, and will use their subject expertise alongside considerable assessment knowledge to ensure AQA’s English assessments are fit-for-purpose and appealing to customers.

Activities:
The postholder will:
be the Chief Examiner for GCSE English Language.
be accountable for ensuring that all English assessments appropriately balance regulatory requirements with customer expectations.
keep up to date with latest thinking and policy on the way KS3, KS4 and KS5 English is taught in the classroom. Ensure that AQA’s assessment of English is fair to students, and achieves appropriate consistency across specifications.
work with the Curriculum team to understand what customer expectations are, and with the Assessment Design Manager to produce assessments that meet these expectations whilst still complying with all regulatory conditions.
set expectations for the quality of future assessments across English qualifications, set direction, and evaluate the work of contractors charged with delivering high quality assessments.
be available as a point of escalation for issues related to the quality of English marking, ensuring we act to never let a learner down.
act as a point of internal escalation for issues related to English assessments, using knowledge and expertise to provide the right outcomes. Accountable for how we assess English across our qualifications, and the quality of those assessments.
demonstrate commercial flexibility by undertaking other responsibilities which are of a commensurate level as business needs change.
provide expertise and advice to AQA on matters that have a bearing on the specification, by supporting Curriculum colleagues to respond to customer queries.
provide clear, accurate expertise in writing to support other teams in the creation of assessments that are unambiguous and adhere to the principles of plain English.
build and maintain collaborative relationships with other senior associates involved in writing and quality assuring assessments.
monitor and take lead on continuously improving English assessments across AQA; providing quality assurance throughout.
sign off assessments for operational use, ensuring that the content and demand is appropriate for the level being tested, and that contexts used are appropriate for the audience.
contribute to the creation and development of key documents to support good assessment delivery in line with any assessment strategy.
create blueprints and provide advice to assessment writers on the question development process to ensure alignment with the Specification Handbook.
contribute to the awarding process to ensure that the specification standards are maintained at the appropriate level from one year to the next.
participate in the assessment materials production process for a specification including review, planning and sign off of assessment materials and attendance at the planning and Content Review meetings.
author items and mark schemes for use in future assessments.
monitor the effectiveness of the standardisation and marking processes to ensure that the mark scheme is applied consistently and accurately.
ensure AQA is safe and legally compliant by applying AQA’s policies and other legislative requirements including but not limited to HSE, Equal Opportunities and ISMS.
use subject expertise to support the Assessment Design Manager to ensure that specifications and supporting materials comply with Ofqual requirements and will deliver valid and reliable education and assessment outcomes.
Support the management of and incidents that arise and the qualification change process when alterations to the assessment are needed.
analyse and synthesise diverse data and information, including statistical data and qualitative information, to help Assessment Design Managers make recommendations to associates in the face of complex and/or incomplete evidence.
collaborate with other colleagues to determine best practice and to facilitate further learning and development from peers and managers.
support project work as appropriate.
ensure all relevant documents and data are comprehensive, consistent and accessible and are appropriate in order for the intended operational benefits to be achieved.
support the work of Assessment Design Managers and Chief Examiners in their contribution to the review of assessment performance.
collaborate with the Heads of Assessment Design and Assessment Development in dealing with cross-subject issues and project work.
build and foster strong working relationships with colleagues and key business stakeholders and throughout AQA.
support, in time of business change, other responsibilities which are of a commensurate level outside the terms of this job description.
model AQA’s values and behaviours.
comply with all AQA’s policies and other legislative requirements.

Need to know (to be successful in this role, you will need to know/have):
The nature of English teaching and assessment in England, with experience and expertise in successful delivery of the teaching of English in a KS4 or KS5 environment.
A strong understanding of AQA's business and/or processes.
An understanding of assessment practice in England.
An understanding of the regulatory environment in which AQA operates and likely impact of the regulator on assessment and product design.
Knowledge of assessment design and delivery best practice.
An understanding of assessment products and practice in AQA and limitations and advantages of different systems of assessment delivery.
An understanding of continuous improvement and quality management principles and practice.
Good communications skills to create and explain a succinct and coherent view of complex assessment issues.
Good interpersonal skills in a variety of situations.
Proven aural, oral and written communication skills to explain issues to the relevant business stakeholder with different levels of expertise.
Demonstrates resilience and calmness under pressure to meet tight deadlines in complex contexts
Demonstrates proactive collaborative working across functional areas to deliver shared goals
Experience of delivering tasks at a high level of quality, at different stages of the project lifecycle
Ability to receive feedback and learn from mistakes for continuous self-development
Experience of working with a variety of stakeholders to understand their needs and identifying solutions to take forward.
A results-focused minset and the ability to make pragmatic decisions and deliver at pace.
A “step up mindset, to use sound judgement when analysing the data and take accountability for actions.