External Examiners – Guidance for Staff

(Taught Provision)

Introduction

This document has been developed by the External Examiners Committee in line with Chapter B7 of UK Quality Code for Higher Education to provide guidance to staff on a range of matters relating to external examiners. For ease of reference, the document has been divided into the following sections:

  • General Principles
  • Criteria for the Appointment of External Examiners
  • Conflicts of Interest
  • Nominations Process
  • Duration of Appointment
  • Extension of Appointment
  • Termination of Contract
  • Partner Colleges
  • Fees
  • Roles and Responsibilities following Appointment
  • Responsibilities in the Management of External Examiners Reports
  • Other Useful Documents

General Principles

  • An external examiner must be appointed for every programme leading to an award of the University.
  • Each module* contributing to an award must be assigned to an external examiner (*please note that, at its meeting on 24 June 2014, Academic Board approved a recommendation that all new external examiner contracts must now stipulate level 1 coverage).
  • Heads of School are responsible for ensuring that all external examiners are in place before the beginning of the academic year.
  • Heads of School are advised to seek a replacement external examiner 18 months prior to the end of an existing external examiner’s tenure. In cases where a replacement may be difficult to find or in niche subject areas, this task should be undertaken 24 months prior to the end of the existing examiner’s tenure.
  • Heads of School are responsible for ensuring that specific requirements in relation to external examining which may be stipulated by relevant professional, statutory or regulatory bodies (PSRBs) are satisfied.
  • The number of externals to be appointed to a programme will be dependent on a number of factors which include, inter alia, the number of specialisms within the programme and workload considerations.
  • External examiners may be appointed to subjects, programmes or modules, depending on the School’s requirements. Appointment forms should clearly identify the modules for which the examiner is to be responsible.
  • Examiners may be appointed to more than one subject/programme where there is commonality and small numbers of students, provided that this does not result in an overload. A separate report will be required for each individual subject/programme.
  • Where more than one external examiner is appointed, it can be helpful to phase examiner appointments to enable the mentoring of new examiners.

Criteria for the Appointment of External Examiners

In line with Chapter B7 of the UK Quality Code, the University will seek to appoint external examiners who can show appropriate evidence of the following:

  • Knowledge and understanding of UK sector agreed reference points for the maintenance of academic standards and assurance and enhancement of quality.
  • Competence and experience in the fields covered by the programme of study, or parts thereof.
  • Relevant academic and/or professional qualifications to at least the level of the qualification being externally examined and/or extensive practitioner experience where appropriate.
  • Competence and experience relating to designing and operating a variety of assessment tasks appropriate to the subject and operating assessment procedures.
  • Sufficient standing, credibilityandbreadthofexperiencewithinthe disciplinetobeabletocommandtherespectofacademicpeersand, whereappropriate,professional peers.
  • Familiaritywiththestandardtobeexpectedofstudentstoachievethe awardthatistobeassessed.
  • FluencyinEnglish,andwhereprogrammesaredelivered andassessed inlanguagesother thanEnglish,fluencyintherelevantlanguage(s)(unlessother securearrangements.
  • Meeting applicable criteria set by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies.
  • Awareness of current developments in the design and delivery of relevant curricula.
  • Competence and experience relating to the enhancement of the student learning experience.

Exceptions:

  • The External Examiners Committee recognises that there are circumstances where a programme of study would benefit from the appointment of an external examiner who does not meet all the criteria listed above.
  • For example, external examiners drawn from business, industry or the professions make a significant contribution to external examining but might not meet all the criteria. In those circumstances, the nomination will be considered by the Committee as an exception to the criteria.
  • To assist in its deliberations, the External Examiners Committee may choose to have regard to the experience and attributes of any other external examiner(s) appointed to the programme/subject area.

Additional Requirements:

  • A prospective candidate should have no more than two substantial current external examiner appointments at any one time.
  • Where the prospective candidate is retired, it will be important to demonstrate that they remain engaged within the HE context and have current skills. In such instances, consideration should be given to the strength of the application in terms of experience and/or professional body experience.
  • Where a number of examiners are attached to a programme, each of the examiners appointed must be from a different institution.
  • The External Examiners Committee will consider nominations where the proposed candidate has very little or no previous experience of external examining. A key consideration in those circumstances will be the articulation of what actions, such as mentoring by a more experience examiner, will be provided to support the examiner.

Conflicts of Interest

External examiners should not be appointed if they are:

  • A member of a governing body or committee of the appointing institution or one of its collaborative partners, or a current employee of the appointing institution or one of its collaborative partners.
  • Anyone with a close professional, contractual or personal relationship with a member of staff or student involved with the programme of study.
  • Anyone required to assess colleagues who are recruited as students to programme of study.
  • Anyone who is, or knows they be, in a position to influence significantly the future of students on the programme of study.
  • Anyone significantly involved in recent or current substantive collaborative research activities with a member of staff closely involved in the delivery, management or assessment of the programme (s) or modules in question.
  • Former staff* or students of the institution unless a period of five years has elapsed and all student taught by or with the external examiner have completed their programme (s).
  • A reciprocal arrangement involving cognate programmes at another institution.
  • The succession of an external examiner by a colleague from the examiner’s home department and institution.
  • The appointment of more than one external examiner from the same department of the same institution.

Additional Points

  • An external examiner cannot be succeeded by another from the same institution until five years have elapsed.
  • Once appointed, it is possible for an external examiner’s circumstances to change; for example, a change of post or institution. Such changes of circumstance may give rise to potential conflicts of interest. It is important that the school notifies the External Examiner Committee of such changes, so that any potential conflict of interest may be addressed. Schools should complete a Change of Circumstancesform which can be downloaded from the Secretariat Blog:

Nomination Process

  • Staff seeking to propose a new external examiner will need to complete the External Examiners New Nominations Form which can be downloaded from the following page:
  • The University has a three-stage approval process:
  • Approval from the Head of School
  • Consideration and approval by the College Academic Affairs Committee
  • Consideration and approval by the External Examiners Committee
  • Please note that the External Examiners Committee will not consider any nomination that has not been approved by the Head of School and the relevant College Academic Affairs Committee.

For more information about College Academic Affairs Committee processes and dates please contact:

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College of ArtsAnna Martin (, 01522 835229)

College of ScienceSarah Williams (, 01522 837925)

College of Social ScienceMaureen Young (, 01522 837419)

For more information about the External Examiners Committee processes and dates please contact:

External Examiners CommitteeMarina Fox (, 01522 886690)

Duration of Appointment

  • External examiners are normally appointed for a period of four years.
  • Occasionally, it may be necessary to extend an appointment for a particular reason. This is exceptional and will only be permitted for up to one year (please see the next section for more information about extensions).
  • An examiner may request to temporarily interrupt their tenure (for example due to ill health). The contract will be suspended to allow the examiner to serve a full tenure of four years. The proposed interruption should not be for more than two years.
  • Where a programme is suspended by the University, the examiner’s tenure will also be suspended for the same period so that the total tenure served remains at four years.
  • The University reserves the right to end an external examiner’s contract if a programme is deleted from the portfolio.
  • An external examiner who wishes to resign before the expiry of their normal period of office should write to the Head of Academic Quality, giving sufficient notice for the appointment of a replacement.

Extension of Appointment

  • Exceptionally, the External Examiners Committee may approve an extension of an examiner’s appointment for an additional year.
  • Circumstances in which such proposals may be approved include:
  • The extension of an external examiner’s tenure will enable continuity where all the other members of a subject external examiner team are newly appointed.
  • At short notice a member of examining team has to resign from or suspend external examiner duties.
  • Where a course is to be deleted within a year.
  • Staff wishing to proposed an extension to an examiner’s contract must complete the Extension/Change of Duties form which can be downloaded from the following page:

Termination of Contract

  • An external examiner’s contract may be terminated at the discretion of the External Examiner’s Committee.
  • Potential grounds for termination may include a failure to provide an annual report or where a conflict of interest arises which cannot be satisfactorily resolved - please contact the Officer of the External Examiners Committee, Marina Fox () for more information and advice.

Partner Colleges

  • Colleges/Schools should liaise closely with Partner institutions throughout the appointments process.
  • Appointments may be suggested by the partner institution but any proposals put forward from the College/School must be approved by the Head of School and the College Academic Affairs Committee prior to submission to the External Examiners Committee.
  • External examiners for Higher National programmes and foundation degrees are appointed and remunerated in accordance with standard University processes.
  • When nominating examiners for appointment to foundation degrees, Schools should source candidates with experience of work-based learning, as this will be helpful to the examiners in carrying out their duties.
  • Samples of work being sent to externals examiners must include a selection of work from Partner institution students and should be clearly labelled with the delivery location to allow the examiner to comment on the comparability of standards.

Fees

  • Fees are paid centrally in line with an agreed schedule approved by the External Examiners Committee.
  • If a School wishes to pay an examiner a higher fee, this can be done provided that the additional amount is met from that School’s budget.

Roles and Responsibilities Following Appointment

Secretariat

  • In addition to providing an officering service to the External Examiners Committee, Secretariat has responsibility for the following elements of the external examining process:
  • The issuing of contracts to external examiners.
  • Mapping external examiners to modules on APMS.
  • Creating each external examiner’s annual reporting template on APMS.
  • Receiving and processing external examiner reports.
  • Processing the annual fee claims.
  • Processing expenses claims.
  • External Examiners’ Induction session.
  • Following each meeting on the External Examiners Committee, the officer will notify relevant academic and administrative staff of the outcome of proposals.
  • Contracts will be prepared for the successful nominees.
  • Secretariat will provide newly appointed external examiners with a range of documentation which includes, inter alia, the following:
  • Copies of the relevant University Regulations
  • A copy of the External Examiners’ Handbook
  • Student as Producer Guide
  • Online reporting guidance document
  • External examiners will be asked to return a signed copy of their contract and provide Secretariat with evidence of their eligibility to work in the UK.
  • Secretariat will notify the external examiner when his or her reporting template is available for completion.
  • Once a report is received, Secretariat will forward the report to the relevant Quality Officer for their comments and approval.
  • Secretariat will circulate the approved report to the relevant Head of School, academic and administrative colleagues. Additionally, a copy of the report will be forwarded to the relevant DVC for their overview.
  • Secretariat will invite new external examiners to attend one of the two induction sections held annually – members of the programme team will be invited to meet with their external for lunch held after the session.

Schools

  • Once approved, Schools should contact their external examiner to provide them with all the necessary information to allow them to undertake their role. This will include, but is not limited to, the following information:
  • The timescales for their duties (i.e. expected turnaround times for examination papers review and Board dates).
  • Student and programme handbooks
  • Marking and classification criteria
  • Learning and teaching assessment strategies
  • Professional issues such as fitness to practise
  • Schools must ensure that draft examination and assessment papers are sent to the external examiner in a timely fashion to allow the external to make comments and to allow for sufficient time for those comments to be considered and acted upon.
  • Schools should acknowledge and respond to comments and suggestions made by their external examiner, including those made in the annual report.
  • Schools are responsible for inviting their external examiner (including partner institution external examiners) to attend the relevant Board of Examiners.
  • Where an external examiner has partner institution oversight, Schools must provide the external with an opportunity to review student work from both the University and partner institution students – the work should be clearly labelled with the delivery location.

Responsibilities in the Management of External Examiner Reports

Please refer to Section 7 of the Quality Assurance Manuel for a description of processes across the University to manage and respond to the information provided by External Examiners:

Other Useful Documents

External Examiners’ Handbook:

Chapter B7 of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education:

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