Before the start of the term in which the experiment is first to be run, lab leaders should:

• Update the experiment handout, taking into account any suggestions for improvements that were made the last time the experiment was run (see 4. Lab Feedback below). Small improvements to handouts every year or so steadily increase the quality of the experiments.
• Update the risk assessment for the lab. As undergraduate students cannot currently access the online risk assessment system it would be good practice to place a PDF copy on your activities moodle page.
• If an experiment is new or has been subject to a major revision, arrange for labs to be tested by student volunteers to check that the length and content is appropriate. These volunteers can be paid, by prior arrangement with the Teaching Office. 
• Liaise with the staff member in charge of coursework for IA or IB over the printing and distribution of the lab handout. New procedures this year are that these will normally be handed out at the start of each lab session, or at the first session for many of the larger coursework activities and projects. All handouts should be available on-line in advance of the labs, and normally before the start of term.
• Find suitable people to demonstrate, and where appropriate mark, your experiment. Part I labs normally use a mixture of established staff, teaching assistants, research students, and research assistants, where marking is for standard credit. Lab leaders however remain responsible for over-sight of fair marking.
• Ensure that worker agreements are issued for all demonstrators that will receive payment for demonstrating (see below)
• Check and update the specific Notes for Demonstrators for your experiment, and issue to the demonstrators with up-to-date handouts. Point them towards Notes for Part I Demonstrators for generic information.
• Hold a briefing / training session with demonstrators to run through the lab. It is also recommended that new demonstrators shadow an experienced demonstrator once or twice before the lab is handed over to them to run without support.
• Ensure that demonstrators know whether the theory which underpins a particular lab has been covered in lectures. This may be achieved by adding information about the relevant lectures and their timings to the lab handouts.
• Marksheets for Part IA and IB are available on line

NB. Demonstrators must treat all students equally – make sure that they are aware that they should guard against unconsciously providing different support to students based on their gender or race.

• Ensure Demonstrators know and apply the mark penalties for late arrival by students (as consistency within and between labs is important), and are also aware of the Allowances procedure:

1.  Lab sessions begin at 5 minutes past the hour;
2.  Students arriving up to 10 minutes late (i.e. 15 minutes past the hour) will be penalised 1 mark for late arrival, but may be excluded entirely if the demonstrator deems it unsafe to allow them to join the activity;
3.  Students arriving more than 10 minutes late will be automatically excluded from laboratory experiments, and lose the associated credit. For other activities (Computing, Drawing, IEP etc) students may take part in the activity at the discretion of the demonstrator, but will be penalised for late arrival.
4.  Students who are penalised for late arrival or excluded due to circumstances beyond their control should be instructed to try and rearrange the coursework activity, or apply for recovery of marks if necessary via the Allowances procedure and completing an allowance form.

For long labs with separate individual reports:

• Check that the handout includes sufficient guidance to students on what is expected of them in writing the report (e.g. suggested headings, questions prompting what to cover). If possible, make changes to numerical values or other details in the experiment and write-up, to make it self-evident if students have copied from a student’s report from a previous year. 
• Ensure that the arrangements for marking provide approximately 7-8 minutes per student for marking/feedback (e.g. 15 minutes per lab group; half an hour for 4 students etc).
• Brief markers on how to mark the reports fairly and consistently. Students often complain that different markers on the same laboratory vary in the marks they award for similar work. Working from a simple marking scheme is recommended, with a list of key points to pick up in both technical content and presentation style. Note that the demonstrator role description covers marking submitted student work using "defined marking criteria where marking requires little or no interpretation".

Lab leaders are responsible for finding suitable research students and research assistants to make up a complete demonstrating and marking timetable. Direct approaches to colleagues or Subject Group email lists is recommended for identifying suitable RAs or research students.