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Cambridge examiners assessment procedure: marks collection

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:26 am
by MCP58
Hi, I was wondering if there were other Cambridge Speaking Examiners on here (we used to be called Oral Examiners but they just changed the name) who are currently going through the online assessment procedure. Do any on yyou think that the marking criteria (you can be a point out on each individual category) leads you to give deliberately "safe" marks? For examploe, even with the best candidate, who in a real exam I might award a 5 to, I am only giving a 4, just in case...It used to be the case that over the whole range of the 4 or marking areas (pronunciation, discourse management, etc.) you could be a total of 3.5 points out (if memory serves) which maybe was a better system, though I'm not sure if this is the case.

(Not sure if this post is in the right section; I apologise if it isn't.)

Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:57 am
by blackmagicABC
Don't you think that some of what you mentioned might be considered confidential?

OE

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 11:43 pm
by oneota
I know this is a long time after the question, but here goes.

I got certified as an OE in 2012. We definitely were called OEs and not CSEs. Maybe it differs from region to region; perhaps my region (China+) lagged behind.

I was trained face-to-face. I didn't always agree with the official evaluations, but the point differences were not enough to cause any problems. I just answered based on my training and knowledge. How-ever, I CAN understand how some-one might be tempted "go for the middle." But if you are really trying to become an effective evaluator, I would recommend going for what you think is right and learn from the outcome. (But then I value truth over money and learning over test scores.)