Applicants' academic qualifications, and teaching and marking experience are the key elements for consideration in the selection process. All markers are required to undertake rigorous training and to be qualified for marking. Each year, around 4 000 markers are recruited, most of whom are teachers.

Suggest adopting the standardized wording: The marking scheme may not exhaust all possible answers for each qustions. Professional discretion and judgement will be exercised by markers in accpeting alternative answers that are not in the marking schme but are correct and well-reasoned.

After the examination, sample scripts covering different approaches of candidates’ responses and illustrating performance in relation to the level descriptors are selected. These samples provide useful material for standardising marking and for grading.

The examiners compare marks awarded to the sample scripts, agree on marking principles and standards, and revise the marking scheme, where necessary, before the markers’ meeting.

The examiners brief markers on the assessment objectives and demands of individual questions. Some sample scripts are trial marked by markers to identify and rectify discrepancies in the interpretation of the marking scheme.

Candidates are assigned random candidate numbers by computer. Since the 2015 HKDSE, the written papers of all subjects have adopted onscreen marking (OSM) in which candidates’ scripts are randomly distributed to markers, with scripts from their students or close family members excluded in the distribution.Markers do not know the identity of the candidates.

Candidates are assigned random candidate numbers by computer. Since the 2015 HKDSE, the written papers of all subjects have adopted onscreen marking (OSM) in which candidates’ scripts are randomly distributed to markers, with scripts from their students or close family members excluded in the distribution.Markers do not know the identity of the candidates.

The marked scripts of each marker undergo at least two stages of checkmarking by the examiners to ensure consistency and to spot problems of marking. If a script has been selected for checkmarking, the mark awarded by the checkmarker is also recorded and may override the raw mark if deemed more reliable.

As scripts are marked onscreen, marks are automatically added up and checked by the computer system.

Points to Note
It should be noted that marking involves professional judgements and is not an exact science. Different markers may not award identical marks to the same answer, particularly for questions of an open-ended nature.Marks awarded by persons who have not been trained or standardised cannot be regarded as valid assessments of candidates’ performance.