Using SecureMarker for end-to-end on-screen marking

SecureMarker is a standalone, on-screen marking solution that integrates with Surpass and is used for the “blind” marking of candidate scripts on an item-by-item basis. SecureMarker includes quota allocations and robust quality control features that prevent examiners from marking scripts out of accepted tolerances, further increasing your confidence in your results.

This article outlines the complete end-to-end process you will need to follow in order to mark candidate scripts in SecureMarker.

In This Article

1. Configure your test form for SecureMarker

You can set up your test form in Surpass to automatically export candidates’ scripts to SecureMarker after submission. These scripts will bypass the standard Surpass marking workflow and instead go through SecureMarker before returning to Surpass at the Audit stage. You can configure your test form in the Test Creation section of Surpass. For more information, read Configuring a test form for SecureMarker.

2. Set up your roles and users

You must create the necessary roles and users in your SecureMarker instance. In SecureMarker, a “role” is a predefined set of permissions that grant access to specific areas of the system. A “user” is someone who interacts with the system. A user in SecureMarker can view candidate responses, mark scripts, and perform administrative tasks.

You can assign roles to users at the global or exam level. Roles assigned at the global level allow users to perform actions across all exams in SecureMarker. Roles assigned at the exam level allow users to perform actions across exams they have access to in SecureMarker.

Roles and users can be set up and managed in the Roles and Users screens of SecureMarker. For more information, read Roles and Users.

3. Choose a qualification and exam

Before you can assign users to mark responses, you must choose the qualification and exam that contains the scripts you want to mark. A “qualification” and an “exam” in SecureMarker translate to a “subject” and a “test” in Surpass, respectively. A subject is where you create and manage items for use in tests.

You must select a qualification and an exam on the top navigation bar when working in the Examiners, Item Groups, Quality Control, and Quotas screens of SecureMarker.

4. Assign users to an exam and set quotas

When you have chosen a qualification and exam, you must assign users to the selected exam in the Examiners section of SecureMarker. Users with exam-level roles in SecureMarker can assign marks to and interact with candidates’ responses.

When you have assigned users to an exam, you can then set quotas in the Quotas screen. A quota contains a number of responses allocated to an examiner for marking. Quotas can either be unlimited or for a fixed number of responses. For more information, read Examiners and Quotas.

5. Set up quality control features

Before you can release your exam for marking, you must set up your quality control features. This includes setting up control items, which are pre-marked items that have been approved by senior examiners and are used to test whether examiners are marking within accepted tolerances. You can create and manage control items in the Quality Control screen. For more information, read Creating control items in SecureMarker and Managing control items in SecureMarker.

For more information on the other quality control features available, read Quality Control.

6. Release your exam for marking

After you have set up your exam’s quality control features, you can release an exam for marking in the Quality Control screen. In this screen, you also have the ability to suspend marking for specific items or all items in an exam. For more information, read Releasing an exam for marking in SecureMarker.

7. Mark your candidates’ responses

SecureMarker supports anonymous marking of candidate scripts on an item-by-item basis. The Marking section of SecureMarker is where examiners can mark and interact with responses using a variety of on-screen marking and annotation tools. For more information, read Marking.

When responses have been marked by examiners, they can be moderated and re-marked in the Script Review section of SecureMarker to ensure consistency in grading. For more information, read Script Review.

8. Send completed scripts from SecureMarker to Surpass

When candidates’ scripts have been marked, these scripts can be sent from SecureMarker to Surpass in the Script Review screen. Completed scripts return to the Audit screen in Surpass. For more information, read Sending completed scripts from SecureMarker to Surpass.

When scripts sent from SecureMarker are back in Surpass, psychometric data and item statistics for all tests can be viewed in the Reporting screens.