This section is about the people in the room. Examiners decide the score. Simulated patients decide whether every candidate meets the same case. Between them, they account for more of the variation in results than most schools expect. Some of that variation can be reduced through training. The rest the design has to absorb.
The section covers examiners first. It explains how many an exam needs, where they come from, and what keeps them. It sets out what an examiner training program must contain. It shows how the calibration exercise is designed and how often training repeats. It carries the numbers on how much examiners move results, the hawks and the doves. It lists the five controls an organizer has: sampling, exam-level decisions, rotation, monitoring and adjustment.
Simulated patients come next. The section shows how to build a program to the published best-practice standards: a coordinator, a bank, recruitment, pay, welfare, and video quality checks. It then trains one person for one case, from the read-through to the day's drift check. It covers the feedback and rating roles that a simulated patient may take on.
The section closes with the three briefings on the morning of the exam. There is one each for candidates, examiners and simulated patients. It ends with what the examiner sees on screen when the first candidate walks in. The roles around the circuit- marshals, floor managers and reserves- belong to the delivery section.
Examiner trainers, the simulated patient coordinator and the exam office own this section.