PODCAST · education
The Exam Man
by John Gaston and Sophie Gaston
The Exam Man is the number 1 podcast for anyone with an interest in exams, assessment, and education in the UK and beyond. John Gaston and Sophie Gaston, the team behind the exam display tool Examscreen- used in 1500 schools in the UK and internationally- provide listeners with insights and musings on all things assessment, bringing in a variety of voices from across exams, education and beyond, tackling the issues of the moment and looking forward. They explore what we can do to build an excellent assessment system for children, schools, families, and employers, as well as offering a light-hearted take on the business of running and sitting exams. Don't miss out, subscribe today! Wherever you get your podcasts... Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.c
Episodes
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MADE FOR WALES: Over the border with WJEC
This week The Exam Man (sort of) heads to Sophie's homeland for a thoughtful, wide-ranging chat with the fountain of assessment knowledge that is Sarah Ferguson. Sarah is Director of Assessment at WJEC and Eduqas.John and Sarah confess their mutual obsession with the subject matter in hand, we…
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EXAM UTOPIA
To usher in the autumn term, we sat down with Idris Fabiyi, an education technology leader whose career has spanned secondary schools and further education. As Head of Innovation & Technology across BPP, Idris brings deep experience in digital learning, similation-based assessment, and emerging...
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LINSEY ARMSTRONG-SMITH: Exams at Shiplake College
In this special pre - exam season episode, we chew the fat about all things exams with super experienced Exams Officer Linsey Armstrong-Smith. Linsey shares how she found her way into her current role at Shiplake College in Oxfordshire, what she thinks are the skills and mindset needed to thrive…
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JCQ with baubles on
Welcome to a special Christmas episode of The Exam Man, in collaboration with JCQ, In this festive episode, John and Sophie are joined by none other than Margaret Farragher, Chief Executive Officer of JCQ. Margaret is an experienced and respected leader across the public, private and voluntary...
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RESULTS SPECIAL: "Contingency mindset", adrenaline junkies & introducing My Big Year
To usher in GCSE results week, John and Sophie spent a delightful half hour chatting to Jennifer Halpin, Exams Team Leader at David Ross Education Trust, for a special summer episode of The Exam Man. In her role, Jen supports exams officers across the 11 secondaries at DRET, a team which includes...
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SPECIAL EPISODE: Ofqual in the house
SPECIAL EPISODE of The Exam Man is here! Such a pleasure to speak to Amanda Swann, Executive Director at Ofqual, about the imminent summer exam series and the role of Ofqual- with information aplenty, helpful tips, timely reminders, and uplifting messages of appreciation for those in charge of...
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ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! What we've learned about podcasting
Celebrating One Whole Entire Year of The Exam Man! How to create a podcast... and what we've learned. The Exam Man podcast- despite originally being planned as a scrappy six- week event for the summer exam season- somehow reaches its first anniversary this week! Over the past year, thousands of...
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Could Schools Handle An Exams Overhaul?
This week on The Exam Man podcast we swing from talking about South Korea's all-in attitude to exams to transforming the exam system- should we? Could we, even if we wanted to? Lisa Greenslade joins us to talk about her experience of transforming at scale in higher education exams. To subscribe…
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Exams and Employability
Exams and employability- do exams prepare young people for the many decades following school?This week we are joined by Oli de Botton, the CEO of The Careers & Enterprise Company – the national body for careers education- to talk everything exams and employability. We had a great chat all about…
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How To Keep Your Exams Officer
How do you keep your exams officer? One of the most enlightening and entertaining things about running The Exam Man over the last year has been hearing all about how people have fallen into running exams, and what they were doing before. We've heard from a former Met police officer on the…
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EXAMS IN THE NEWS: Extra time, exams and SEND
This week, we are- rather predictably for The Exam Man- digging into exams- but this week, with a particular focus on assessment for students with SEND. John and Sophie dig into why access arrangements and extra time have recently made the headlines. With insights from Vicki Clayson, a former…
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Sir Nick Gibb
Nick Gibb joins John Gaston and Sophie Gaston for a far-reaching chat, spanning the freedoms that come after 27 years in the House of Commons, his career highlights, the reasons he wanted to work in education, how many schools he personally visited whilst in office, and how he thinks AI may…
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Exams In Prison
Understanding how exams run in prisons has been something that John and Sophie have wanted to cover on The Exam Man since the podcast began. It's taken a few months of conversations, approvals and sign offs, and we are delighted to launch Season 3 with a hugely thought- provoking interview with…
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SEASON FINALE: Reflections on 2024
Well, that’s a wrap for The Exam Man- for Season 2 and for 2024! Our year as weekly podcasters deep diving into everything exams was a fun one for sure. Plenty more to come in 2025, when we will launch Season 3 with a bang in February, but for now it’s definitely time for some R&R. Today we sign...
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Exams and metacognition
Metacognition is, essentially, thinking about one's thinking. This is certainly a pretty important skill for students as they approach exams, as well as for the people preparing them for them. In this week's episode, we speak to someone who fortunately has a more comprehensive explanation than…
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EXAMS IN THE NEWS: Digital Exams 2030?
It's been a big week for big chats about the move from pen-and-paper to digital exams, with several news articles describing the acceleration of online assessments and the plan for rollout by 2030. In response, there has been lots of discussion about the need for a cautious approach and plenty of...
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FROM THE SECURE ROOM: 10 Steps to Exam Season Success
On the request of The Exam Man listeners, this week's episode involves John running through the practical steps he takes to plan for a public exam season. Certainly niche, definitely technical, and helpful for exams teams both new and experienced. Over to a particularly animated John, to convince...
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Obsessed with Assessment
Lovely little collaboration on The Exam Man this week as we join forces with the mighty Sam Denno, Educational Assessment Leader at Twinkl. Sam runs the brilliant Obsessed with Assessment podcast, which covers all aspects of classroom assessment in bite- size, 15- minutes- long CPD sessions....
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FROM THE SECURE ROOM: Exams and school performance
To celebrate the 30th episode of The Exam Man, we have brought you a technical episode for true assessment aficionados. Channeling his Data Man alter ego, John takes us on a deep dive into school performance measures and the role of exams. Super useful for exams teams, teachers, school leaders…
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Lord Jim Knight
On The Exam Man podcast this week we are joined by Lord Jim Knight, a leader and advisor across a variety of areas such as education, technology, international schools, assessment, and teacher engagement. His many current hats include being a member of the UK House of Lords, Chair of @COBIS…
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FROM THE SECURE ROOM: Surviving Summer
One for the exams team as the second half of the Autumn team dawns... It feels like a safe distance from May to discuss the most critical time of an exams officers' year- the summer exam period. As most of the UK population enjoys Easter holidays and long, sunny Spring days, students and exams...
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Exams in the USA: The Exam Man goes Stateside
This week on The Exam Man podcast we go stateside (only virtually, sadly) to chat to Kelly Frindell, PhD - Test Prep Expert (SSAT/ISEE/SAT/ACT) from her home in Hawaii. We were keen to learn more (anything!) about exams in the USA. Kelly gave us a whistle-stop tour of what exams pupils sit in the...
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FROM THE SECURE ROOM: Starting Out in Exams
FROM THE SECURE ROOM: John talking about getting started as an exams officer- and his own 'unusual' introduction to the role - on the latest edition of The Exam Man podcast will resonate with many. With practical top tips for newbies to the role and experienced exams teams alike, enjoy this...
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SATs: exams in primary schools
Next up on The Exam Man we have Daniel Walton - Smith, to get the lowdown on exams in primary schools. The Deputy Headteacher of a 2-form primary school on the Wirral- Prenton Primary- Dan also sits on The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) Expert Panelist for the Department for Education. As…
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FROM THE SECURE ROOM: Mock Exams
FROM THE SECURE ROOM is a series of short episodes where John explains how he carries out a specific aspect of running exams. Today, our bonus episode is all about running mock exams. Also unexpectedly featuring our first ever poem, written and submitted by an exams officer in the East Midlands!...
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Exams In Universities: King's College London
We all know that universities run exams, naturally. Yet most of us, even if we work in exams, wouldn't have a clue how it all works. In this week's episode, John and Sophie are joined by Karen Williams & Jess Price, Exams Managers at King's College London, to answer John's many, many questions...
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Examscreen: More Than A Clock!
Ever wondered what Examscreen does, and how it came into existence? Due to popular request, on this week's episode of The Exam Man podcast, John Gaston and Sophie Gaston talk about the background to Examscreen. They retell the story of how John's frustration with schools using big, expensive…
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Amanda Spielman On Assessment
Amanda Spielman, our guest this week, has worn many hats during her career. Best known in the world of education for being HM Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills from January 2017 to December 2023, Amanda also had a successful early career in finance and was on the…
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Sammy Wright, Author Of 'Exam Nation'
This week we welcome our first author guest onto the podcast, Sammy Wright- how could we not, when he has written a book called 'Exam Nation'! The book has certainly made waves, with reviews in The Guardian and The Times amongst others, and it was Book of the Week on Radio 4 last month. Once we...
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FROM THE SECURE ROOM: Recruiting Invigilators
Every so often on a Friday morning, a bonus episode of The Exam Man will drop. FROM THE SECURE ROOM is a series of short episodes where John explains how he carries out a specific aspect of running exams. Particularly useful for exams officers new and old, do send in ideas for future topics to...
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Exams Officer Of The Year
To launch Season 2, John and Sophie start as they mean to go on, chewing the fat with an exams officer from one of their Examscreen schools. Kirsty Wilson is the exams officer at The Cherwell School, a large secondary school in Oxford. In this hugely enjoyable and informative chat, Kirsty talks...
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The Great Giveaway
** GIVEAWAY TIME ** Just a little teaser of an episode this Bank Holiday Monday, to let you know that Season 2 of The Exam Man podcast will launch next Monday 2nd September with a very special interview, and we will be celebrating the new season with a brilliant giveaway. Tune in on the 2nd to…
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Precious Cargo- the journey of exam papers from pens down to results days
Just in case you've been missing your dose of all things exams over the holidays, The Exam Man is back with an extra episode to coincide with exam results days - and to tide you over until the start of Season 2! For this special, longer- length episode, The Exam Man team deep dive into the life...
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Rest Break
John and Sophie usher in the summer hiatus from exams with a catch up with some of the exams officers who we featured at the start of Series 1. Series 2 of weekly episodes will launch with a bang in early September, and we have a great line-up of guests and topics ahead, exploring all aspects of...
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Come One, Come All
This week Sophie and John spend a lively half hour chatting to Simon Cherriman, a Director at Tutors & Exams, the organisation that supports learners outside of schools to access assessment at their leading, independent exam centres in the UK and South Africa. Hear about Simon's late career…
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Access All Areas
What are 'access arrangements'? The Exam Man team take you on a whistle-stop tour of this complex but important part of the exam system, in the first of a series of episodes where they delve into exams across different specialist settings. In this conversation, John and Sophie chat to Headteacher...
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All a-Board! (with AQA)
This week John and Sophie speak to Michael Turner, an Executive Director at AQA- a leading provider of qualifications and assessment services in the UK. As well as setting out the role of awarding bodies and the epic task ahead of them once the exams are done, Michael tells us all about how exam...
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Over The Hump
Pausing for breath during the half-term exam hiatus, John and Sophie reflect on The Exam Man podcast so far. Discover what they've learned so far, the surprises along the way, and what you can expect from the next few episodes. Learn about why Sophie is hell bent on a one-woman mission to change...
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In The Line Of Duty
This week we are exploring the many routes that people take before becoming exams officers. This week's guest, Hayley, an exams officer in a faith school in inner-city London, tells us all about her fascinating journey from police officer to running exams at her former school. She tells us about...
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Consider This
This week John and Sophie get to grips with what 'special consideration' means in the world of exams, with a surprising appearance from Kirstie and Phil. What happens when a students' exam experience is disrupted, through circumstances beyond their control? Find out what support is available, and...
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Escape to the country- spotlight on Simon
As the main UK exams kick off in earnest we hear about John's first day, which was not quite as smooth as he was hoping for. To bring our heart rates back down we kick back with Simon Robinson, the examinations officer at Monkton Coombe School- a leading, independent coed day & boarding school…
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Exam hacks with Sander de Groot
As we get nail-bitingly close to the start of the big scary exams, John gets some poor quality therapy from Sophie but more helpful advice from this weeks' special guest. Sander de Groot of Made Training is an experienced trainer, teacher, lecturer and facilitator with a fascinating journey to…
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Seasons In The Sun Part 2: Rebecca
This week, John and Sophie chat to Rebecca Rowley of Cranleigh Abu Dhabi about her role as the exams officer there. As well as finding out all about family life as an expat in the United Arab Emirates, you'll hear about how tax inspectors and exams officers have a surprising amount in common! How...
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Seasons In The Sun Part 1: Camilla
How does running exams differ across countries, and does running exams in sunnier climes mean it’s all glamour and less work? The Exam Man team explore this and more in the first of two episodes where they delve into the work and life of international school exams officers. In this conversation,...
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The Covid Test
John and Sophie give the Covid years a good going-over. What happens when exams don't happen? What was with that algorithm? And why did the experience of Covid make John's invigilator team stronger than ever? Find out all the answers, right here, right now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
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Multi-Tasking, Marina & Moving On
It's holiday time so the lurgy has inevitably hit, but the team are cracking on with the podcast nonetheless. They disturb the Mediterranean vacation of long-term pal and recent convert to the exams world, Marina Antoniou, and hear all about her experience of working in a high-performing school…
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Summer's Coming
In this first full-length episode John and Sophie discuss a wide variety of topics from dodgy cassette recorders to the dizzying world of exam paper security. Sophie tries to figure out if one person could steal a metal cabinet from a school undetected. John sets out his theory about his vast...
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Episode 1
Introducing The Exam Man podcast from the team behind Examscreen. John and Sophie chat about the reasons for starting the podcast and who they hope to reach with it. Also, discover what John has in common with Gareth Southgate! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Exam Man is the number 1 podcast for anyone with an interest in exams, assessment, and education in the UK and beyond. John Gaston and Sophie Gaston, the team behind the exam display tool Examscreen- used in 1500 schools in the UK and internationally- provide listeners with insights and musings on all things assessment, bringing in a variety of voices from across exams, education and beyond, tackling the issues of the moment and looking forward. They explore what we can do to build an excellent assessment system for children, schools, families, and employers, as well as offering a light-hearted take on the business of running and sitting exams.
Don't miss out, subscribe today! Wherever you get your podcasts...
Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.c
HOSTED BY
John Gaston and Sophie Gaston
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Exam Man have?
The Exam Man currently has 48 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Exam Man about?
The Exam Man is the number 1 podcast for anyone with an interest in exams, assessment, and education in the UK and beyond. John Gaston and Sophie Gaston, the team behind the exam display tool Examscreen- used in 1500 schools in the UK and internationally- provide listeners with insights and musings...
How often does The Exam Man release new episodes?
The Exam Man has 48 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Exam Man?
You can listen to The Exam Man on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Exam Man?
The Exam Man is created and hosted by John Gaston and Sophie Gaston.
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