Meet the Subject Officer – Julia Harrison-Pickard, GCSE English Literature.

What is the role of a Subject Officer? 

As a Subject Officer, my role is multifaceted, tailored to meet the diverse needs of our schools and colleges and involves different things almost every day. It is one of the reasons I love my job. I learn something new almost every week and I have been in post for over a decade now.  I help teachers and lecturers who are new to the course and have complex queries about assessment criteria, application of assessment criteria and approaches to the teaching and learning of our specification.  I ensure that our support materials are relevant and up to date – from Frequently Asked Questions to Guidance for Teaching and lots of exemplar that covers our wide range of texts. I also help experienced teachers who may be thinking of trialling a new text or a new approach.

I manage large teams of examiners (although we are always looking for new examiners to join our team!)  and I, alongside my senior team, am responsible for all aspects of their training to ensure the marking of assessment papers remains fair, consistent and that learners get their results on time. The summer goes very quickly but there are months and months leading up to the marking period where we look at training pedagogy, how best to structure our training sessions and how to make the marking as accurate and as timely as possible.

An interesting part of my role is looking at our current specification to ensure the texts on it remain accessible. We have recently replaced one of our Shakespeare texts, introduced new texts as part of Component 2 to increase diversity and we have a new poetry anthology for first assessment in 2027. The introduction of new texts to the specification is a long and quite complex process involving the regulators, educators, our Principal Examiners and the wider team in Eduqas – particularly the Resources team who work hard to ensure there are surround resources for the new texts.

Creating the assessments the learners sit every summer is another key area of my role. Our expert Principal Examiners write the papers, while my role as Subject Officer involves quality-checking to ensure fairness and consistency. We have to balance coverage of the specification while ensuring the questions aren’t easy to predict and tracking content across the years. It is a challenging aspect of the role, but I am supported by an excellent and knowledgeable team. 

Beyond direct support, I play a key role in developing training events. I collaborate closely with our Professional Learning team to design sessions that are both impactful and engaging. Recognising the demanding schedules of teachers and lecturers, we strive to make every training event useful and enjoyable. 

How do you support Eduqas schools and colleges? 

As Subject Officers, we provide comprehensive support to schools and colleges through collaborative efforts across our organisation. By working with our Regional Support, Professional Learning and Educational Resources teams, we can provide schools and colleges with different layers of support. 

Throughout the academic year, we provide ongoing support through a wide range of free, interactive resources. These include 'ready-made' units of work, including exam walk-throughs and knowledge organisers, which teachers and lecturers can deliver right away. These tools not only support teachers and lecturers but also help learners with independent study and revision. 

We provide further support through our annual Professional Learning events, available both face-to-face and online. These sessions foster connections with educators and ensure our training is accessible to all. For schools and colleges requesting in-house training, we coordinate with our Regional Support team to arrange convenient online or face-to-face sessions. 

Our 'on the ground' support is highly valued, particularly for schools and colleges transitioning to Eduqas. Catherine Oldham, our experienced subject and assessment expert, guides new schools and colleges through key specification components and introduces our comprehensive resources, ensuring a smooth transition process. 

What do centres like best about Eduqas? 

Every year, we get positive feedback on our papers. Centres like our clear approach to question setting. They also like the way we assess and mark – rewarding rather than penalising.

Having years of experience in teaching myself, I understand the value of customer support and the value of having an experienced teacher, who understands the pressures of the classroom, as a point of contact alongside our hugely knowledgeable staff such as our Subject Support Officers.  

Teachers and lecturers like our ethos and our approachability, contributing to our high retention rates and part of why we attract new schools and colleges each year. We have continued to grow our entry numbers year on year which is a testament to our clear assessments and the support we offer. We pride ourselves on responding to queries promptly and helpfully. All our resources are free as is the individual support offered by the regional representatives.

Ultimately, our focus is on the learners taking our qualifications. We strive to create a positive experience that maximises their chances of success. We understand how stressful examinations can be for candidates and teachers. We strive to make that time a little less stressful by being open, approachable, and fair.