GEN-Sup 2020 EN

MYP & DP: standardization and supporting your team
2020
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

International Baccalaureate® | Baccalauréat International® | Bachillerato Internacional®
Contents
Overview of examiner activities during an examination session:
eCoursework (Internal Assessment, Extended Essay)

External Assessments
Roles and Responsibilities
Preparation for the standardization meeting (Standardization team members only)
Why we standardize
Systems, websites and functionality
Sitting the exam
Available responses
Familiarisation and Simulation mode
During the standardization meeting
The role of the principal examiner during standardization
The role of a standardization team member (STM) during standardization
Markscheme refinement
Practice responses
Qualification responses
Seed responses
Payment for responses marked and submitted but not used as definitive responses
‘Complete Set-up’: principal examiner only
Standardization summary
Letter templates for team leaders
Letter 1 - to be sent by TL 3 weeks prior to examination date/start of marking

Letter 2a (for components that have an examination date) - to be sent by TL approximately 2
days prior to examination date
Letter 2b (for components that do not have an examination date) - to be sent by TL

approximately 2 days prior to start of standardisation meeting
Letter 3 - to be sent by TL at the point of launch of live marking
Letter 4 - to be sent by TL when examiner qualifies
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do I contact if I have a question?
Who do I contact with questions about the Moodle site?
Who do I contact with technical queries about RM Assessor / RM Assessor 3?
Why might marks be different on different screens?

Overview of examiner activities during an examination session
eCoursework (Internal Assessment, Extended Essay)
Date Task Description Stakeholders involved
All year Practise marking Examiners access the online All examiners
training materials,
www.examinertraining.ibo.org,
to practise marking their
component.
All year Practise using marking Examiners access All examiners
software familiarisation mode in RM
Assessor 3, to practise using
the interface.
September until November Register availability to Via IBIS, examiners register All examiners
mark for both sessions their availability to mark for
in the coming year the coming year. (My Details,
Registrations, Register Subject
Availability). You will receive
an email reminder.
February / August Confirm marking target Via IBIS, examiners confirm the All examiners
marking target they have been
allocated. (My Marking,
Emarking, Emarking targets.
You will receive an email
reminder.
A week prior to the start of Getting ready for Preparatory information will Assessment Operations
marking marking be sent to all examiners. Analyst
Team Leaders to contact their Principal Examiner
teams. Team Leaders
March-April/ eCoursework Senior examiners set up the Principal Examiner
September-October standardisation quality model within the Standardisation Team-
meeting marking software. Members
Subject Manager
Assessment Operations
Analyst
March-April/ Simulation mode Candidate responses for this Examiners who were not
September-October session are available to part of standardisation
practise mark. Marks will not
be submitted and will not
count towards marking target.
March-April/ Qualification for Examiners mark qualification Examiners who are not part
September-October eCoursework marking pieces prior to live marking. of standardisation
March-April/ Live marking All examiners complete their All examiners
September-October until live marking targets.
May / November
March-April/ Complete IA Feedback Examiners are to complete the All examiners
September-October until IA feedback for each of their
May / November allocated schools.
July / January Subject Report Principal Examiner is to Principal Examiner
complete the subject report
for their component, when

requested, and submit it
before the deadline.
July / January until Enquiry upon result Selected examiners will be Principal Examiner
September / March marking asked to re-mark work Team leaders
following a request made by Examiners
the school. (all EUR examiners will be
contacted in advance)
Analyst
External Assessments
Date Task Description Stakeholders involved
All year Practise marking Examiners access the online All examiners
training materials,
www.examinertraining.ibo.org,
to practise marking their
component.
All year Practise using marking Examiners access familiarisation All examiners
software mode in RM Assessor 3, to
practise using the interface.
September until Register availability to Via IBIS, examiners register their All examiners
November mark availability to mark for the
coming year. (My Details,
Registrations, Register Subject
Availability). You will receive an
email reminder.
February / August Confirm marking target Via IBIS, examiners confirm the All examiners
marking target they have been
allocated. (My Marking,
Emarking, Emarking targets).
You will receive an email
reminder.
Three weeks prior to the Getting ready for Preparatory information will be Assessment Operations
examination date / start marking sent to all examiners. Analyst
of marking Team Leaders to make contact Principal Examiner
with their teams using Team Leaders
templates here.
May / November Examination Date (where Examination takes place. Please
applicable) see examination timetable for
exact day. (Available in IBIS:
Library, Examination schedules)
After the examination Examination Markschemes and/or marking Principal Examiner
date (where applicable) standardisation meeting notes are amended and revised Standardisation Team
and before live marking following senior examiner Members
begins discussion and analysis of Subject Manager
candidate responses. Senior Assessment Operations
examiners set up the quality Analyst
model in the marking software.
After the examination Simulation mode Candidate responses for this Examiners who are not
date (where applicable) session are available to practise part of standardisation
mark. Marks will not be

and before live marking submitted and will not count
begins towards marking target.
When live marking begins Qualification for live Examiners mark qualification Examiners who are not
marking pieces prior to live marking part of standardisation.
(Team leaders who are
not part of
standardisation are
encouraged to qualify as
soon as possible. Team
leaders should not provide
feedback to their team
until they have qualified
themselves.)
May / November until Live marking All examiners complete their All examiners
June / December live marking targets.
Approximately 1 week 100% target and Examiners should complete all All examiners
prior to the grade award complete examiner marking by the deadline they
meeting report have been given and submit
their examiner report.
June / July Grade award meeting Senior examiners and Subject Chief Examiner
Manager set grade boundaries
for the session. Candidate Principal Examiners
subject results are produced. Grade Awarding
Examiners
Subject Manager
Analyst
Straight after the grade At-risk marking The sub-team of examiners, Principal Examiner
award meeting contacted by the Assessment Team leaders
Operations Analyst weeks in Examiners
advance, undertake the (all At-risk marking
remarking of work deemed “at examiners will be
risk”. contacted in advance)
July / January Subject Report Principal Examiner is to Principal Examiner
complete the subject report for
their component, where
requested, and submit it before
the deadline.
July / January until Enquiry upon result Selected examiners will be Principal Examiner
September / March marking asked to re-mark a candidate’s Team leaders
examination material following Examiners
a request made by the school. (all EUR examiners will be
contacted in advance)
Analyst
Roles and Responsibilities

The organizational structure shown below is illustrative. The number of Principal examiners, Team
leaders and Examiners is determined by the assessment model for the subject/level and by the

number of candidates registered for the subject/level. A Chief examiner may adopt one or more of
the roles shown in the diagram.
Examiner hierarchy
Chief Examiner
IB staff
Subject Manager
Principal examiner
Assessment operations
analyst
Team leader Team leader
Examiners Examiners
Examiners Examiners
Where a subject has more than one component or multiple language variants this hierarchy will be
repeated and adjusted as necessary.
Senior Examiner positions

Chief Examiner (CE)
The CE is principally responsible for setting and maintaining the academic standard for their subject.
They are therefore closely involved in examination authoring, marking candidates’ work, and
determining the final grades of candidates. As part of the examining board for the IB, Chief

examiners ensure that the IB programmes as a whole are coherent and fit for purpose. During an
examination session, CEs will be expected to be Principal examiners or Team leaders as appropriate,
whilst maintaining an overview of all components in their subject.
Principal Examiner (PE)

Each examination component will have one PE (with a few exceptions). The PE might be a Chief
examiner or an experienced member of the marking team. The main role of a PE is to establish the
standard for marking a component. It is also to provide leadership to Team leaders and Examiners in
achieving and maintaining that standard. To achieve this, the PE is responsible for any amendments
to the markscheme or marking notes, and the production of any definitively-marked responses in the
quality model. Where necessary, PEs should stay in contact with the other PEs for their subject to
ensure standards between components. Once marking is underway the PE should remain in close
contact with Team leaders, Examiners and the Subject manager. PEs should resolve queries raised to
them by their Team leaders, but where necessary escalate such queries to the Chief examiner and
Subject manager. Where a Team leader has been stopped from marking after marking a seed
response out of tolerance, it is the responsibility of the PE to provide appropriate feedback. They are
expected to participate fully in grade awarding, “at risk” marking and enquiry upon results marking
following publication of results to candidates.
Team Leader (TL)

A TL is responsible for the support of examiners in his/her team and ensuring the standard of
marking established by the PE is maintained. TLs should be pro-active during the marking period
and contact examiners to provide them with guidance on the standard of marking established by the
PE and with guidance on the application of marking notes, markschemes and assessment criteria, as
appropriate. They are the conduit for information from the PE to their examining team (and vice
versa where necessary).
TLs who are not part of the standardisation team will need to qualify for marking, and should do so
as soon as possible in order to support their team members through qualification. A TL should not
provide feedback until he/she has qualified.
Where an Examiner has been stopped from marking after marking a seed response out of tolerance,
it is the responsibility of their TL to provide appropriate feedback.
When requested by the Subject manager, TLs may participate in discussing and standardising the
markscheme, producing the definitively marked responses for the quality model and awarding the
component grades. They should be available to assist with “at risk” marking after the grade award
meeting, and for enquiry upon results marking (July – September/Jan – March).

Examiner
Examiners are appointed by the IB to assess candidate work against well-defined assessment
models. This may include the marking of candidate materials or reviewing the marking of IB
teachers and completing the appropriate feedback. Prior to each examination session, Examiners
should review all relevant IB materials relating to their role and undertake the examiner training in
their component. During a marking session, it is expected that examiners stay in contact with their
TL and are receptive to any advice on applying the markscheme and maintaining the PE’s standard.
In smaller entry subjects, examiners may be invited to undertake additional responsibilities such as
standardisation or grade award meetings, and enquiry upon results marking.
IB Staff
Subject Manager (SM)
SMs have overall responsibility for managing all aspects of the assessment provision for their
subject, on behalf of the IB’s Chief Assessment Officer. This includes managing the preparation of
examinations, coordinating and leading meetings to achieve the standardization of marking and
preparing and leading grade award meetings. During these processes the SM will work closely with
the CE and PEs.
Assessment Operations Analyst (AOA)

Each subject’s AOA is in charge of allocating work and setting emarking targets to examiners
according to standard procedures and the strict deadlines of the operational schedule to ensure that
schools and examiners have accurate information for the marking and moderation of examination
material. They also provide technical and procedural support during the examination session and
are in regular contact with examiners and the SM. The AOA is the first point of contact for all
queries regarding the marking instructions, targets and deadlines.
Emarking support team
The emarking support team work in the IB’s Assessment office and provide technical assistance to all
emarking examiners, across all IB subjects. If your AOA is away from the office, for example over a
weekend, the emarking support team are able to help resolve emarking issues. They can be
contacted by email (emarking@ibo.org) or by telephone (+44 29 2051 7114).

Preparation for the standardization meeting
Why we standardize
During the standardization meeting, the draft markscheme, where applicable, is refined in light of
consideration of candidate responses until the participating standardization team members (STMs),
led by the Principal examiner and Subject manager, agree that it is sufficiently detailed to enable all
examiners to award fair and reliable marks. Where there is a fixed assessment tool, such as for
internal assessment, this process does not apply.
The standardization team collaborates with the Principal examiner to produce marked responses
that define the marking standard for use as practice responses (that illustrate the marking standard
for examiners), qualification responses (that ensure examiners have adjusted to the marking
standard established by the standardization team) and seed responses (that ensure examiners
continue to apply the agreed marking standard throughout the marking period).
STMs who are Team leaders will go on to ensure that other examiners are supported in applying the
marking standard, engaging with practice responses and preparing for qualification so that the
marking standard can be learned and reproduced by all examiners.
The aims of the standardization meeting are to produce:
 a well-refined, clear, accurate and inclusive markscheme that supports the decision making of
examiners, where applicable.
 responses that have accurate, consistent and agreed marks/levels for use in RM Assessor (see
below).
 close alignment of marking standards and agreed interpretation by STMs.
Team leaders must be able to explain the rationale for the directions given in the markscheme and
the interpretation of these demonstrated in the practice, qualification and seed responses.
Systems, websites and functionality

Approximately one week before the start of your standardization meeting you should access the
Moodle standardization site (your Subject manager will inform you if you are using one) and the RM
Assessor 3 site. Make sure you can log in and navigate around each site.
 Your login details for RM Assessor 3 can be found on the eMarking page on IBIS (My Marking
> Emarking).
 The Moodle standardization site can be accessed via www.examinertraining.ibo.org
Navigate to the discussion forum, on Moodle, which should be set out to facilitate a well-ordered
discussion.
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Navigate to the documents folder on Moodle. This is where you will find copies of the examination
and markscheme, where applicable, for your meeting. They will be posted on the site one day after
the examination date.
If your standardization meeting is using Skype to communicate, please ensure that members of the
team have your Skype contact details and that Skype is functioning correctly on your computer. If you
are using Skype for Business, please ensure you have the web app downloaded ahead of the scheduled
meeting time.
Sitting the exam

Before the meeting, it is recommended that all examiners, particularly those attending
standardization, ‘sit’ the exam, where applicable. This will give them an insight into the students’
experiences and will help when it comes to marking and refining the markscheme.
Available responses
For examinations, responses should start to be available on RM Assessor 3 approximately 1-3 days
after the exam has been sat. For coursework, Subject managers will inform STMs of availability.
Principal examiners have access to an option in RM Assessor 3 that will notify them when responses
are available.
STMs are expected to prepare for the meeting by looking at a number of responses that are worthy
of discussion.
Please note that your own school’s responses may be available during standardization. You must
not, under any circumstances, look at or mark your own candidates’ work during standardization.
Each STM must declare their school connections ahead of the meeting.
Familiarisation and Simulation mode

Familiarisation allows examiners to practice using and navigating RM Assessor 3. There are a range of
responses available to cover the various subjects and response types. Marking in this mode is not
monitored or saved so examiners are free to use it as they wish. Familiarisation is available throughout
the year.
Simulation mode allows examiners to practice marking responses from the session prior to the
markscheme being finalised, where applicable, and the standardization process being completed. This
can be a particularly helpful tool if examiners have been asked to feedback on the use of the
markscheme. Marking in this mode is not monitored or saved so examiners are free to use it as they
wish.
Simulation mode is only available after the first live response has been uploaded and is not available
to STMs.
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Contacting team members
As a Team leader, you should contact the members of your team to introduce yourself to them and to
establish contact. If any team members are unresponsive, it is recommended that you inform your
Assessment operations analyst. Template letters can be found here.
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During the standardization meeting
The role of the Principal examiner during standardization
The Principal examiner is responsible for setting the standard for a given component. This should be
accomplished primarily through high quality interactions with Team leaders and, if necessary,
guidance from the Chief examiner and other Principal examiners. A close working relationship with
the Subject manager is also necessary as s/he organizes the meeting and, as representative of the IB,
assures the quality of the process.
The Principal examiner has four key roles in this process:

1. Although the Ssubject manager organizes and manages the standardization meetings, the
standardization process itself is led by the Principal examiner. Time should be managed
effectively to ensure that the standardization meeting is completed and the component is
ready to mark on schedule.
2. Initially the meeting may focus on markscheme refinement but the iterative nature of the
process means that amends may be made up until the final version is submitted to the Subject
manager. The Principal examiner is responsible for ensuring that the final markscheme is
directive and supportive; it should communicate, as clearly as possible, the agreed marking
standard to examiners. Any adjectives in assessment criteria that are likely to be interpreted
subjectively by examiners, such as “good”, “adequate” or “excellent”, should be carefully
illustrated and explained in context.
3. Responsibility for the quality of definitively marked responses lies with the Principal
examiner. Practice, qualification and seed responses prepared during standardization
exemplify the marking standard agreed by the standardization team. High quality definitively
marked responses clearly convey the marking standard and enable all examiners to apply the
markscheme in a similar way. Conversely, when practice, qualification or seed responses
contain errors, examiners become confused about application of the markscheme, leading to
substantial problems with the completion of marking and undermining the validity of the
marks awarded for the examination.
4. The quality of the interaction with Team leaders participating in standardization and other
team leaders to whom the standardization outcomes are afterwards conveyed, has a strong
influence on the confidence of Team leaders to support their own teams of examiners. A
particular effort needs to be made with Team leaders who did not participate in the
standardization meeting.
In addition to academic support from participating Team leaders, Principal examiners may draw on
support from other senior examiners, in particular the Chief examiner. There is also a team of IB
staff who support standardization. For a list of who to contact please see the FAQs.
The role of a standardization team member (STM) during standardization

The key responsibility of STMs is to support the Principal examiner.
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STMs need to be active in testing the markscheme, raising queries, looking for candidate responses
that deserve consideration although not covered by the draft markscheme and, once the
markscheme has been agreed, helping to produce definitively marked responses by searching for,
provisionally marking and commenting on suitable responses.
The focus of the searching and marking required of each team member should be made clear by the
Principal examiner or Subject manager. By effectively dividing the work up, precious time available
for standardization can be used most effectively and the Principal examiner’s time in particular can
be directed to finalizing the markscheme and completing the sets of definitively marked responses.
Each member of the standardization team contributes to the process. A rigorous process will achieve
a robust approach to marking and eliminate errors from the documents that are produced from the
meeting. Errors in the markscheme or definitively marked responses will have consequences for the
component and represent a significant risk. Principal examiners rely on STMs to help prevent errors
from getting through.
Markscheme refinement
It is the responsibility of the Principal examiner to amend and finalise the markscheme in light of
discussions that take place during standardization. The final version should be sent to the Subject
manager and published on IBIS for use by all examiners before pressing ‘Complete setup’.
Selecting candidate work at standardization

The marks (or level, where applicable) given by the Principal examiner and standardization team are
definitive in that they define the standard to which all other examiners need to adjust their marking
and against which grade boundaries will be set. The marks are not definitive in the sense that no
other mark could be reasonably defended or that they are the only “true” or “correct” marks. A
predetermined tolerance allows for this.
Practice responses
The purpose of practice responses is to support examiners in learning the marking standard.
These should be heavily annotated to support examiners. These responses need to exhibit some
important features that examiners will commonly face. They can be used to improve examiner
awareness of a marking issue or to correct common misunderstandings. They must not be unusual
or atypical. They should be representative of the mark range.
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The focus needs to be on preparing examiners to mark and understand how and why marks have
been awarded.
Priority order:
1. Examples that show how to mark typical student work.

2. Any common situations where examiners may misunderstand the assessment tool.
3. A good range from low to high marks will help examiners recognise where they might award
marks and what good (and bad) performance looks like.
4. Examples of exceptions/complex answers and how to deal with them.
After reviewing these examples of candidate work examiners need to be confident that they can
mark correctly.
Qualification responses
The purpose of qualification responses is to demonstrate/prove examiners are marking to the

correct marking standard.
Each set of qualification responses should be representative of the mark range. They should be
annotated to explain marking decisions. Examiners and team leaders that have not participated in
the standardization meeting will mark a set of qualification responses. These must be marked within
tolerance for an examiner to be allowed to begin live marking.
If an examiner marks one, or more, qualification responses outside tolerance s/he must receive
detailed feedback from a team leader before attempting the second set of qualification responses.
An examiner is not allowed to start marking if s/he has marked one or more of this second set of
qualification responses outside tolerance.
After completing qualification, the IB and senior examiners must be certain that the examiners are
marking to the correct standard. Therefore, when selecting responses:
 Do include responses that are difficult to mark but represent the kind of challenge that we
expect examiners to deal with on a day to day basis.
 Do include examples of any important cases we need to be sure examiners will deal with
correctly.
 Do not include responses that are designed to “catch out” the examiners.
Priority order:
1. Examples of the most common answers students will give across the full range of marks
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2. Examples of work that require the examiner to understand any common exceptions in the
markscheme and any common mistakes that students will make.
Seed responses
The purpose of seeds is to demonstrate/prove examiners are continuing to mark to the correct
standard.
Examiners and Team leaders receive seed responses among their downloaded worklist at a rate of
approximately one in ten and they are indistinguishable from live responses. Seed responses are
used to ensure that Examiners are continuing to mark within tolerance.
The first time one of these seed responses is marked outside tolerance, the Examiner is asked to
view the definitively marked response in order to discover where their marking differs from the
agreed standard. Seed responses should therefore be annotated in detail to enable Examiners to
understand how to adjust their marking.
If an Examiner marks two successive seeds outside tolerance, no more responses can be accessed
until feedback is received from a Team leader. The Team leader should ensure that
misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the markscheme are identified and corrected. If the
Team leader is satisfied, the examiner can be reapproved for marking. Repeated marking outside
tolerance also results in an examiner being stopped and receiving support from a Team leader,
where appropriate. Decisions on whether an Examiner is permitted to continue marking are often
made by the Assessment Quality team in consultation with Subject managers and senior examiners
where appropriate or necessary.
By marking seeds correctly Examiners are demonstrating to the IB and senior examiners that they
have not deviated from the required standard so that all students get a consistent mark whoever
assesses their work.
Priority order:
1. Student work that represents common mistakes that Examiners may make.
2. A good range of marks
When selecting seed responses think about the following:
 At this point Examiners are marking live student work – the focus needs to be on ensuring
students are being awarded the correct marks.
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 It may be appropriate to include demanding/difficult responses to mark – these responses
are not to “catch the Examiner out” but to ensure the markscheme is being applied correctly
in these situations.
Payment for responses marked and submitted but not used as definitive responses
If one of the STMs marks and submits 25 responses, 10 of which are used as practice, qualification or
seed responses he/she will be paid for the other 15 only. As a result of this the 15 responses count
toward that STM’s target and so a target of 110 will then be 95 when marking starts. STMs should be
aware that they must submit the responses before standardization set up is completed to receive
payment.
If a response is marked which is unsuitable as a practice, qualification or seed, it is still worth
submitting with a comment saying that it should not be considered as part of the quality process.
‘Complete setup’: Principal examiner only

Before the Principal examiner completes set up, the following should be checked:
1. Have all responses marked by STMs during standardization (e.g. that were not classified as
practice, qualification or seed responses) been submitted?
2. Have the correct numbers of practice, first qualification and second qualification responses
been classified? (see the classification summary in the bottom left-hand corner of RM
Assessor 3)
o indicates that the target has been met
o indicates that the target has been exceeded
o indicates that the target has not yet been met

3. Has the minimum number of seed responses been classified?
4. Has the markscheme (where applicable) been finalized and published on IBIS?
5. Has the Subject manager confirmed all the above?
Once all the steps above have been completed, the Principal examiner can press the Complete setup
button and respond to the prompts that follow.
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Standardization summary
"Sit" the exam, where your

Check that you have appropriate component is an exam component, Start looking through some
access to systems and tabs and check the application of responses available in RM Assessor
accordingly. markscheme. Note any 3.
amendments or mistakes.
PE to advise STMs which responses

Continue marking responses until Only once marking alignment is
to consider marking. Both to mark
the markscheme (where applicable) reached, work together to select
and address any discrepancies so
is finalised and marking alignment heavily annotated practice
that STM marking standard is
is achieved. responses.
aligned to PE's.
Once standardization has been

completed by the PE, draft a
Contact your teams advising them
Continue to identify and classify the communication to cascade to your
that they should consider the
first qualification, second respective teams. Include any
practice responses and start
qualification and seed responses. important information or
qualification.
clarification that has arisen as part
of standardization discussions.
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Letter templates for Team leaders
Letter 1
(To be sent by TL approximately 3 weeks prior to examination date/start of marking)
Dear Colleagues
I would like to introduce myself as your Team leader for the forthcoming examination session. I look
forward to working with you closely over the coming weeks. If you have any questions at any stage,
please contact me so that I can offer help.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the support materials available to you:
1. Examiner training (www.examinertraining.ibo.org)
However experienced you are, please ensure that you work through the training material to refresh
your understanding of the demands of marking prior to the launch of live marking.
2. Familiarisation mode (RM Assessor 3)
RM Assessor 3 is updated twice a year in March and September. Please ensure that you familiarise
yourself with the system and any developments that have been added since you last used the
system. Please note that not all components are represented in familiarisation mode and this
environment is only to help you with the RM Assessor 3 interface.
3. Simulation mode (RM Assessor 3)
Once the first responses have been scanned, you will be able to access “live” responses via
simulation mode on RM Assessor 3. This gives you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the
quality of real responses from candidates for your component. Please Note: Although you will be
able to practise marking at this stage, your marks will not be submitted and will not count towards
your marking target.
4. Examiner Instructions
Examiner instructions specific to this component can be found on IBIS. These are updated annually
in February. Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the latest version of the instructions
prior to the start of live marking.
Please be reminded that the examination for this component will be sat on […], the standardisation
meeting is due to take place between […] and live marking is due to be launched on […]. Please aim
to complete standardisation and qualification by […]. [Insert the dates for your component].
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I will contact you again shortly before live marking begins. In the meantime, if you have any
questions please contact me. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter.
Best wishes for a successful marking session.
Letter 2a (for components that have an examination date)

(To be sent by TL approximately 2 days prior to examination date)
Dear Colleagues
I hope you have been able to access examiner training and RM Assessor 3 familiarisation mode and
have found them both useful and reassuring in establishing a detailed understanding of the
requirements of this component.
Please be reminded that the examination is due to be sat in two days’ time. I would like to remind
you of the support material which should now be the focus of your attention.
1. Release of live assessment material on IBIS.
24 hours after the examination has been sat you will be able to access the assessment material for
this component on IBIS. This will be […] for most examiners, but could be […] for examiners in the
east of Asia/Oceania, due to time differences. Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the
content of the assessment. If you notice any errors or potential ambiguities in the questions, please
let me know, so that these can be forwarded to the Principal examiner and addressed or clarified
during standardisation. [Insert the dates for your component].
2. RM Assessor 3 (simulation mode)
Once the first responses have been uploaded (usually within 1-3 days), you will be able to access
“live” responses via simulation mode on RM Assessor 3. This gives you the opportunity to
familiarise yourself with the quality of responses from real candidates and any ambiguities in how
the candidates have addressed the questions set. Please note: Although you will be able to
practise marking at this stage, your marks will not be submitted and will not count towards your
marking target. Responses in simulation mode are downloaded randomly, so it is highly likely that
you will access different responses to those being used for the standardisation meeting. If you
notice any questions which are causing confusion for candidates, or frequent unexpected responses,
please let me know, so that these can be forwarded to the Principal Examiner for clarification during
standardisation. Please note: Simulation mode is discontinued as soon as the standardisation
meeting is complete.
I will contact you again to inform you that marking for the session has gone live, but please do not
hesitate to contact me if you need any further advice or guidance. Please acknowledge receipt of
this letter.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Letter 2b (for components that do not have an examination date)

(To be sent by TL approximately 2 days prior to start of standardisation meeting)
Dear Colleagues
I hope you have been able to access examiner training and RM Assessor 3 familiarisation mode and
have found them both useful and reassuring in establishing a detailed understanding of the
requirements of this component.
I would like to remind you of the support material which should now be the focus of your attention.
1. Access assessment material on IBIS.
Where applicable, assessment materials such as case studies, data booklets, preparation notes etc.
may be made available on IBIS. Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the content of any
documents relevant to your component.
2. RM Assessor 3 (simulation mode)
Once the first responses have been uploaded, you will be able to access “live” responses via
simulation mode on RM Assessor 3. This gives you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the
quality of responses from real candidates. Please note: Although you will be able to practise
marking at this stage, your marks will not be submitted and will not count towards your marking
target. Responses in simulation mode are downloaded randomly, so it is highly likely that you will
access different responses to those being used for the standardisation meeting. If you notice any
frequent unexpected responses, please let me know, so that these can be forwarded to the Principal
examiner for clarification during standardisation. Please note: Simulation mode is discontinued as
soon as the standardisation meeting is complete.
I will contact you again to inform you that marking for the session has gone live, but please do not
hesitate to contact me if you need any further advice or guidance. Please acknowledge receipt of
this letter.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
21

Letter 3
(To be sent by TL at the point of launch of live marking)
Dear Colleagues
I am pleased to confirm that standardisation has now been completed and marking is live.
I would like to draw your attention to the following material which is now available and guide you
through the practice and qualification procedure.
It is now the role of every Examiner to align themselves with the standards of the Principal examiner
and the senior examining team and ensure that you apply these standards, even if, on occasion, you
may disagree with certain decisions.
1. Release of final standardised markscheme on IBIS [where applicable].
The final version of the markscheme for this component is now available on IBIS. Please ensure that
you access and download this and familiarise yourself thoroughly with the content BEFORE you
access the practice responses.
2. Practice Responses
The practice responses have been chosen by the senior examining team to exemplify the standards
they have applied to the marking this session. There will be detailed commentaries and annotations
on each response, which aim to clarify the standards set and justify the reasons for the marks
awarded. Some of the responses will also highlight common difficulties which have been identified
during standardisation and will detail how these difficulties were addressed. If you would like any
further support or guidance on the application of the agreed standards, please contact me BEFORE
progressing to the Qualification responses.
3. Qualification Responses
Before commencing live marking, you must complete a qualification task to guarantee that you have
understood the required standards and you are able to apply these independently. The qualification
responses have been chosen to exemplify standards. They do not contain any atypical responses or
anything deliberately included to catch you out. This is the one stage where I am not able to offer
any support or guidance. The qualification process must be completed independently.
Good luck in the qualification process.
Best wishes
22

Letter 4
(To be sent by TL when examiner qualifies)
Dear Colleague
Congratulations on successfully qualifying to mark this component.
I would like to remind you that this does not end my availability to respond to your questions and
offer support and guidance. Please contact me at any stage during the live marking session.
What happens now?
During your live marking, the accuracy and consistency of your marking will be continuously
monitored via pre-marked responses known as “seeds”. You will download one “seed” for
approximately every 10 responses. Each time you submit a “seed” which has been marked to
agreed standards you will be notified.
When you submit a “seed” which has not been marked to agreed standards, you will receive an
automatic notification. The notification can be interpreted as rather blunt, but please do not take
this personally. Nearly every examiner will receive this notification at some stage. You will be able to
access the agreed marks and see where the differences are. It is important that you use the
information to re-align yourself with the agreed standards. If you have any questions at this stage,
please contact me.
Best wishes and happy marking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do I contact if I have a question?

For general support regarding the plans for standardization and questions about your role please
contact your Subject manager.
For questions regarding examiner teams and marking targets please contact your assessment
operations analyst.
For academic support regarding difficult marking decisions please contact your Principal examiner or
Team leader.
Support for Principal examiners is available from the Subject manager or the Chief examiner.
23

Who do I contact with questions about the Moodle site?
If you need technical assistance with using Moodle such as your password or a link to the site please
contact examiners@ibo.org
Who do I contact with technical queries about RM Assessor 3?

For help with RM Assessor 3 issues please contact emarking@ibo.org
Why might marks be different on different screens?

If a standardization team member submits a response as a provisional response and the Principal
examiner changes its marks, the response will be displayed with different marks on different screens
in RM Assessor 3. The response will be displayed in the Provisional Response list with the original
mark but in the Principal examiner’s Response Classification screen with the new mark. The Principal
examiner will then get paid for this response.
24

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MYP & DP: standardization and supporting your team

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Overview of examiner activities during an examination session:

eCoursework (Internal Assessment, Extended Essay)

Roles and Responsibilities

Preparation for the standardization meeting (Standardization team members only)

Systems, websites and functionality

Sitting the exam

Familiarisation and Simulation mode

During the standardization meeting

The role of the principal examiner during standardization

The role of a standardization team member (STM) during standardization

‘Complete Set-up’: principal examiner only

Letter templates for team leaders

Letter 1 - to be sent by TL 3 weeks prior to examination date/start of marking

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Letter 2b (for components that do not have an examination date) - to be sent by TL

Letter 3 - to be sent by TL at the point of launch of live marking

Letter 4 - to be sent by TL when examiner qualifies

Frequently Asked Questions

Who do I contact if I have a question?

Who do I contact with questions about the Moodle site?

Who do I contact with technical queries about RM Assessor / RM Assessor 3?

Why might marks be different on different screens?

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Roles and Responsibilities

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Senior Examiner positions

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Principal Examiner (PE)

Team Leader (TL)

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Assessment Operations Analyst (AOA)

Emarking support team

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

The aims of the standardization meeting are to produce:

Systems, websites and functionality

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Sitting the exam

Familiarisation and Simulation mode

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

The Principal examiner has four key roles in this process:

The role of a standardization team member (STM) during standardization

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

Selecting candidate work at standardization

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

1. Examples that show how to mark typical student work.

The purpose of qualification responses is to demonstrate/prove examiners are marking to the

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

When selecting seed responses think about the following:

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

‘Complete setup’: Principal examiner only

o indicates that the target has been met

o indicates that the target has been exceeded

o indicates that the target has not yet been met

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020

"Sit" the exam, where your

PE to advise STMs which responses

Once standardization has been

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2020