Double Marker: Deadlines
Double Marker Assessment Tracker & Timeline Help Desk Guide
This document serves as an operational reference for school assessment co-ordinators, administrators, and support staff managing GCSE English Language and Literature mock examination cycles with No More Marking.
1. Summary of Working Days Between Key Steps
The Double Marker assessment model follows a structured 12-step collaborative workflow across four distinct operational phases. The table below outlines the required working days between each consecutive milestone in the standard assessment timeline tracker.
Step # | From Milestone | To Milestone | Working Days Needed | Description & Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 → 2 | Admin Setup Requested | Pupil CSV Deadline | 5 working days | School super user gathers and submits pupil CSV data and marker details (1 full week allowed). |
2 → 3 | Pupil CSV Deadline | Booklets & Scan Links Sent | 1 working day | No More Marking generates personalised, barcoded PDF booklets and secure scan links. |
3 → 4 | Booklets & Scan Links Sent | Mock Exam Date | 4 working days (excl. holidays) | School reprographics team prints and distributes personalised booklets to pupils. |
4 → 5 | Mock Exam Date | Scans Upload Deadline | 2 working days | School conducts exam, slices booklet spines, batch-scans, and uploads PDF files. |
5 → 6 | Scans Upload Deadline | Scans Checked by NMM | 1 working day | No More Marking verifies receipt, completeness, and legibility of uploaded PDF scans. |
6 → 7 | Scans Checked by NMM | Absentee Check Confirmed | 1 working day | School reviews and confirms any missing papers or pupil absentees. |
7 → 8 | Absentee Check Confirmed | AI Processing & Marking Opens | 2 working days | No More Marking completes AI transcriptions, automated judging, structural checks, and item-level allocation creation. |
8 → 9 | Teacher Marking Opens | Teacher Marking Complete | 5 working days | Teachers log into the online platform to mark their small, allocated item-level sample (1 full week allowed). |
9 → 10 | Teacher Marking Complete | Results & Feedback Delivered | 2 working days | No More Marking applies Comparative Judgement scaling, calibrates against teacher marks, conducts QA checks, and delivers reports. |
Note on Post-Exam Turnaround: Total elapsed post-exam turnaround time from Mock Date to Results Delivery is 13 net working days (equivalent to 17 calendar days in a standard term-time week).
2. Phase-by-Phase Operational Workflow
Phase 1: Preparation & Setup
- Step 1 – Admin Setup Requested (T-14 / T-28 with 2-week holiday): No More Marking issues setup instructions, deadlines, and CSV templates to the designated school super user.
- Step 2 – Pupil CSV Upload (5 working days after Step 1): School super user uploads pupil records (First Name, Last Name, DOB, Year Group, Gender) and teacher email addresses.
- Step 3 – Booklet & Scan Links Delivery (1 working day after Step 2): No More Marking provides personalised PDF booklets interleaved with unique barcodes and pupil names, along with dedicated upload links.
- Step 4 – Printing & Exam Administration (4 working days after Step 3): School reprographics prints booklets for pupil completion during the mock exam window.
Phase 2: Examination & Scanning
- Step 5 – Exam Sitting & Batch Scanning (Day 0 to Day +2): Pupils sit the exam in printed booklets. School slices off booklet spines and batch-scans papers (recommended 4 pupils per scan file).
- Step 6 – Scan Verification (1 working day after Step 5): No More Marking checks uploaded PDF batches for formatting, rotation, and complete page counts.
- Step 7 – Absentee Check Confirmation (1 working day after Step 6): School super user confirms missing candidates so the cohort dataset can be locked.
Phase 3: AI Processing & Allocation Creation
- Step 8 – AI Processing & Setup (2 working days after Step 7): AI Comparative Judgement processes open-ended questions to establish a relative rank order.
- Step 9 – Marker Onboarding: Teachers receive email invites to access the online marking platform.
- Step 10 – Allocation Creation: No More Marking generates item-level allocations equating to approximately 6 to 7 scripts per teacher.
Phase 4: Teacher Marking & Results Delivery
- Step 11 – Teacher Marking Period (5 working days after Step 8): Teachers mark allocated questions online using the official exam board mark scheme, completely blind to AI scores.
- Step 12 – Scaling, Calibration & Results Delivery (2 working days after Step 11): The optimisation engine calibrates AI scores against teacher marks, flags anomalies for senior review, and publishes diagnostic reports.
3. Worked Calendar Example (Monday, 2nd November Mock Exam)
To illustrate the operational schedule in practice, below is the complete timeline for a school running a mock examination on Monday, 2nd November 2026 (accounting for a 2-week half-term holiday from 19th–30th October):
Phase | Milestone / Task | Date | Working Days / Offset | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Prep | Admin Setup & CSV Requested | Mon, 5th Oct 2026 | T-28 calendar days | No More Marking |
Prep | Pupil CSV & Marker Upload Deadline | Mon, 12th Oct 2026 | 5 working days | School Super User |
Prep | Booklets & Upload Links Delivered | Tue, 13th Oct 2026 | 1 working day | No More Marking |
Holiday | Autumn Half-Term Break | 19th Oct – 30th Oct | 10 working days | School closed |
Exam | MOCK EXAMINATION DAY | Mon, 2nd Nov 2026 | Day 0 | School / Pupils |
Admin | Completed Scans Upload Deadline | Wed, 4th Nov 2026 | 2 working days | School Reprographics |
Admin | Scan Verification Completed | Thu, 5th Nov 2026 | 1 working day | No More Marking |
Admin | Absentee Check Confirmed | Fri, 6th Nov 2026 | 1 working day | School Super User |
AI/Setup | AI Processing Complete & Marking Opens | Tue, 10th Nov 2026 | 2 working days | No More Marking |
Marking | Teacher Marking Window Closes | Tue, 17th Nov 2026 | 5 working days | Teaching Staff |
Results | Final Results & Reports Delivered | Thu, 19th Nov 2026 | 2 working days | No More Marking |
Updated on: 28/09/2026
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