There's just been a report on Channel 4 News about the fiasco marking "SATs" exams. Markers are getting fed up and resorting to ring up the not for profit company, ETS Europe, which is running it all.

On visiting its website, lo and behold it's an 0870 number!

On expenses for telephone calls (see here) it says:


Quote:

Why is the communication fee low? I am worried that the fee won't cover the time I spend on the telephone supporting my team of markers. The communication fee is calculated by assuming a reasonable level of telephone calls made between markers and their supervising markers. Each marker receives a communication fee of £5. If you have incurred costs above this amount, please send a copy of you phone bill with the appropriate charges highlighted, together with an expense claim form which would be in your Marker handbook or Supervising marker handbook.

So £5 at BT's rate of 6 pence per minute is 1 hour and 23 minutes. At Virgin Media's 10 pence per minute rate that's 50 minutes. These figures don't include connection fees, so the actual number of call minutes the £5 covers is likely to be less.

Perhaps ETS Europe management should go back to school. Even if they get revenue from the calls, they are still paying for it. Offsetting the revenue against the expenses will still mean it is costing them more than if it had been on standard number. Indeed, would it not have been more sensible to issue a freephone number and stand to the incoming call charges?


Stories on this are here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7403114.stm

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/schools-tests-branded-a-fiasco-as-organisers-deny-papers-are-missing-837823.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021553/Labour-obsession-league-tables-damaging-childrens-education.html