The CCEA employs more than 2,000 examiners and moderators

The Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) said it wanted to prevent situations which have occurred in England.

Britain's three largest examination boards are to ask the government for �6m to overcome a shortage of markers.

If Edexcel, AQA and OCR get the cash, it will be given to schools to take on more supply teachers, while permanent staff take time off from the classroom to mark papers.

The boards will have 24 million GCSE and A-level scripts to check this year and are desperate to avoid the grading fiasco of 2002.

In Northern Ireland, the CCEA employs more than 2,000 examiners and moderators to mark scripts each year,

These are drawn almost exclusively from the local teaching community and mark about 500,000 exam papers.

In recent years examiners, or the lack of them, has become a major issue in education Gavin Boyd CCEA

CCEA Chief Executive Gavin Boyd said the supply of suitably qualified examiners was vital to the health of the whole examining system.

"Without their dedication, knowledge and understanding the system would simply fall apart," he said.

The body is now seeking more individuals to mark GCSE and A level examinations.

While a shortage of examiners had not yet been a major issue in Northern Ireland, the CCEA said extra exams meant it may become a problem.

New qualifications

Mr Boyd added: "In recent years examiners, or the lack of them, has become a major issue in education.

"The shortages, mainly brought about by the increase in the number of exams, have been most prevalent in England.

"However, the impact has also been felt in Northern Ireland, with a number of our schools experiencing the late or non-delivery of exam results from English awarding bodies."

There has been an upturn in the number of students taking exams

There has been an upturn in the number of students taking CCEA exams, while new qualifications such as vocational GCSEs and Essential Skills have also increased the workload, said the council.

"That is why, in the coming days and weeks, CCEA will be embarking on a major recruitment drive to encourage more people in the educational community to become involved in the process of setting and marking exams," said Mr Boyd.

While markers have the opportunity to earn extra money, there was also the benefit of professional development, he said.

The CCEA has had its own share of exam blunders and is hoping to avoid any repeats.

In August 2001, it revealed that the results of nearly 1,000 GCSE home economics results were wrong.

Northern Ireland pupils have also encountered problems while sitting exams with English boards.