NI schools 'will pay thousands more to hold exams'

Post-primary schools in Northern Ireland will pay more to hold exams under new proposals from the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).

The increased costs will affect GCSE, AS and A-Level exams, and will come into effect in January 2016.

CCEA has written to all post-primary principals outlining the changes.

These could cost some schools several thousand pounds.

CCEA said its funding was being reduced by £3m in 2015/16 and it was "facing a significant funding gap of approximately 11%".

CCEA wants schools to pay more for invigilators, who are the people used to supervise exams to ensure they are carried out correctly.

Currently, CCEA organises and pays more than 1,900 invigilators.

However, in the letter to principals, it said that current funding constraints meant that it could not continue the service in the same way.

Either schools would pay for all exam invigilation themselves, or entry fees for pupils to exams would rise by £1 per pupil per exam to cover the cost of the service.

CCEA has estimated that the current cost of providing the invigilation service can be as much as £5,500 for a large school entering a high number of pupils in a range of exams.

However, some principals said they expected the costs to be higher than this.

Currently, schools pay about £29 per pupil per GCSE exam and about £100 in total for each A-Level qualification.

In the letter to principals, CCEA also pointed out that it had undertaken "a range of internal cost saving measures".

In a statement, CCEA said: "Before making any decision we initiated a consultation with our local schools, seeking views as to the best option for the provision of the invigilation service.

"We have also had face-to-face meetings with some school leaders, and remain receptive to any principal or representative group who wish to provide their views.

"In the knowledge that the budget constraints are creating a different climate for all parties, we will consider all of the feedback received and, in September, will write to schools with a decision on the way forward."