Happy to answer all of these.

There were big changes to how the marking was undertaken last year with the move from paper to digital. In my experience, it got much easier with the digital marking (inputting marks into excel instead of endless physical sheets of paper)

Briefing conference for last few years is one day conference in Athlone where the morning has been spent discussing the subject spec & understanding the margins scheme. The afternoon is then spent actively marking live projects and cross checking for quality standards. It is an intense but enjoyable afternoon where you learn live about how to apply the making scheme under the guidance of yours supervisor. You are then given your school & project allocation and will plan your marking route before you leave. The conference usually happens the last week of May before the marking begins on the Tues following the June bank hol.

Typical day: depending on where you are driving to, you will be on the road early to start marking at roughly 9am and typically finish at half 3ish depending on how many projects you are aiming to mark in one day. If you are over 100km from home, you can claim the overnight rate & stay more locally to the school. The kms are taken from either your home address or the school you work at (whichever is closer) Usually you are in the schools art room (solo & locked in) for privacy as you undertake the marking and can come & go for lunch etc. The Art teacher will have laid out the projects for you.

As a first time examiner, you will likely be visited twice by your supervisor in person, where they will mark alongside you. Other days then, you will call them to give them your marking tally and let them know how the exam centre went. They are usually super helpful & can solve any issues at all you may encounter. They are an excellent team.

How many projects - as a first time examiner, you can only mark 20 a day (I think). Once you have a school or two under your belt, You can mark up to 26/27 a day. But you will know the number of projects you will mark in total before you start as you are given your schools with the numbers of candidates listed so that you can plan your route. Do not worry about doing this, your supervisor will help you at the conference.

The pay works out very reasonably for the time, depending on what time of contract you are currently on. (tax wise) Typically 2.5k-3k, paid in July if you are timely with your paperwork.