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sheeba
Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 1123
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 Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:01 am Post subject: IELTS examiner training |
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| Has anybody any advice or tips on how to prepare for the training with the British Council? Is it easy to pass the exam after the training? |
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johnchina
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 816
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 11:16 am Post subject: none |
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To be honest, you can't really prepare for the examiner training - just go along and they'll tell you what you need to know. I think the best thing is to go in without rigid preconceptions of what good and bad English is, since this can affect your rating.
Is the examiner test easy? Well, I'd say the speaking test is, but the writing is harder - largely because you have to rate more scripts than interviews.
It also depends somewhat on who your trainer is - feel free to pm me on this. BC trainers are contractually supposed to achieve a 75% pass rate re potential examiners taking the test, but in practise few achieve this.
If you fail the speaking and/or writing, you can retake soon enough. Don't think that failing one time (or even more than once!) will create any problems. Remember that no examiner has been fired in China for giving the wrong scores!
Welcome (almost) to the world of making piles of cash for having students bore you to tears with their crappy prepared answers! |
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sheeba
Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 1123
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| Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:45 am Post subject: |
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Thanks John for answering.
Regarding the rigid preconceptions. Are you referring to standard English differences between say American and British or Chinglish? Is that due to testing for fluency as opposed to accuracy? |
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johnchina
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 816
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 2:20 am Post subject: none |
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| A bit tricky to say without being indiscrete ... but most people taking the training course seem to be overly concerned with grammatical accuracy. Theoretically, the key thing is "Can the candidate communicate?" However, I do say "theoretically", since most Chinese candidates cannot, yet achieve reasonable scores. You'll see for yourself. Most importantly, DO try again if you are unsuccessflu the first time. And think "cash" rather than "satisfaction"! |
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bendan
Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 739
Location: North China
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:19 am Post subject: |
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| Almost everyone passes the speaking, though a lot need the second attempt. Like Johnchina says, the Writing is harder. Look at the stuff on ielts.org, especially the marking criteria. |
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Joe C.
Joined: 08 May 2003
Posts: 993
Location: Witness Protection Program
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| Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:01 am Post subject: Re: none |
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| johnchina wrote: |
| Remember that no examiner has been fired in China for giving the wrong scores! |
Not exactly true.
Although the criteria for examiners in Beijing is lower than whale $hit because they can never get enough qualified examiners, in Shanghai and Southern China they stick closely to the jagged profile system. If you are off by only one, chances are you're safe. If off by two, and nabbed (which often happens) you will get a warning letter from UCLES. Collect two and you are not allowed to work until you pass a retraining class -- offered only twice a year.
If a candidate has their score remarked by UCLES and you are off by even one band, you'll collect your first of two possible warning letters. |
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johnchina
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 816
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:29 am Post subject: none |
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| Joe C - I don't think I'm being nit-picky when I point out that a warning letter does not equal being fired. As you point out, it means a few months without examining at worst. Re warnings, the criteria are the same all over China - all over the world, in fact. Do the warning letters really come from UCLES or from the BC? (Just asking.) |
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Joe C.
Joined: 08 May 2003
Posts: 993
Location: Witness Protection Program
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:50 am Post subject: Re: none |
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| johnchina wrote: |
| Joe C - I don't think I'm being nit-picky when I point out that a warning letter does not equal being fired. As you point out, it means a few months without examining at worst. Re warnings, the criteria are the same all over China - all over the world, in fact. Do the warning letters really come from UCLES or from the BC? (Just asking.) |
You can be fired without being fired. In fact, an examiner is never really hired. It is an informal arrangement whereby they give you work if they want and just never give you work if they want, too. So, I guess it you really want to be nit-picky, nobody is ever fired because nobody has ever been hired in the first place.
After your first warning letter, expect your income to drop significantly as you will usually not be chosen to administer interviews as much as before. However, in Beijing this will not happen because they are so hard up for people that they have no other choice but to employ misfits.
The second -- and final -- warning letter does not mean you're fired, per se. But since retraining is only done twice a year, it means you'll not see any income for up to six months.
Warning letters come from UCLES.
The system is not the same worldwide. Some locations fall under the UCLES ESOL Exceptions Unit and have the ability to lower the requirements. Beijing is a prime example. Guangzhou and Shanghai were once under the Exceptions Unit, but no longer are. Given that there are not enough examiners, they may return to the Exceptions Unit.
Oh, and did I mention the pay now sucks? |
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arioch36
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 3589
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:49 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Oh, and did I mention the pay now sucks? |
How much, may I ask? How much real time spent, per paid hour?
Same pay in every city regardless of living expense issues? |
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Joe C.
Joined: 08 May 2003
Posts: 993
Location: Witness Protection Program
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:08 am Post subject: |
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| arioch36 wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Oh, and did I mention the pay now sucks? |
How much, may I ask? How much real time spent, per paid hour?
Same pay in every city regardless of living expense issues? |
Between conducting interviews and grading the writing portion of the examination, the hourly average is approximately 300 RMB per real hour worked.
I realize for some people 300 an hour sounds mighty good, but you have to factor in a few other drawbacks. First, but not really so important, is that you have to pay for the examiner training. Then, you have to work wearing a shirt & tie. That's not so bad in winter, but in the summer it sucks because the heat will kill you -- even worse in the south.
You will not be able to work more than 3 weekends a month, but the norm is usually only 2. At least one of those weekends you will examin at locations outside your city so there will be an additional two days lost for travel -- unpaid. Writing scripts must be graded in the BC office -- usually on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The way it works does not lend itself to having an additional source of income unless you are freelancing and can arrange very flexible schedules.
Then there is the BC staff you have to work with. 75% of the local / expat BC staff is pretty decent to work with. 25% are real pieces of doodoo. That 25% makes your experience something you look forward to about as much as you do a root canal without anesthesia.
Everybody I know considers examining for the BC a crappy experience -- a dull, dead-end job. A reasonably industrious and intelligent person can earn more in less time and with greater stability. |
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arioch36
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 3589
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:19 am Post subject: |
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I'm here in Zhengzhou, henan. I know some students go to Wuhan for testing. Is there testing here in Zhengzhou? I know there is probably some website i should visit, but your answer was just so quick and to the pint.. uh point (my mind is on that cold bottle of Weiss beer in the fridge)
Students don't go to the main city for testing. I figured the students would come to a central test site.
| Quote: |
| because they can never get enough qualified examiners |
given that the Chinese motto is "In tests we trust", I can readily believe this
I'm think of possibly being very freelance next fall
Haven't worn a tie since  |
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Joe C.
Joined: 08 May 2003
Posts: 993
Location: Witness Protection Program
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| arioch36 wrote: |
I'm here in Zhengzhou, henan. I know some students go to Wuhan for testing. Is there testing here in Zhengzhou? I know there is probably some website i should visit, but your answer was just so quick and to the pint.. uh point (my mind is on that cold bottle of Weiss beer in the fridge)
Students don't go to the main city for testing. I figured the students would come to a central test site.
| Quote: |
| because they can never get enough qualified examiners |
given that the Chinese motto is "In tests we trust", I can readily believe this
I'm think of possibly being very freelance next fall
Haven't worn a tie since |
Only in Wuhan as far as I know. I only test in Shanghai as I will not get sucked into traveling. It takes too much time and I end up losing money. |
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arioch36
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 3589
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Wonder what it would take to set up shop here in Zhengzhou. We have lots of students, but probably not enough staff who want to work here?
thanx for all the clear answers. I'll give you a nod of thanx as i drink the best bottled brew in the world!  |
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Joe C.
Joined: 08 May 2003
Posts: 993
Location: Witness Protection Program
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:57 am Post subject: |
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| arioch36 wrote: |
| Wonder what it would take to set up shop here in Zhengzhou. We have lots of students, but probably not enough staff who want to work here? |
That I am not sure about. I remember at one point when they were setting up a test center in Fuzhou that they needed to be reasonably certain that they could get X number of candidates per month. They also needed permission from the Chinese national testing administration and a Chinese partner university to sponsor the test venue.
It's not very easy. |
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bendan
Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 739
Location: North China
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:58 am Post subject: |
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There are two tests a month in Zhengzhou.
All examiners now come under the global PSN system. |
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