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ACADEMIC QUALITY ASSURANCE
Appendix 4
INFORMATION ON THE EXTERNAL EXAMINER SYSTEM
Last updated June 2017
Academic Quality & Compliance
Contents
SECTION A : INFORMATION FOR INTERNAL USE 1
1. Introduction 1
2. Criteria for the Appointment of External Examiners 2
Person Specification 2
Conflicts of Interest 3
Term of Office 3
External Examiners Appointed to Collaborative Awards 4
3. Process for Selection and Appointment of External Examiners 4
Introduction 4
Responsibilities of the University School 5
Responsibilities of the Partner Institution 6
4. The Selection of Potential External Examiners by Schools 7
5. The Appointment of External Examiners Who Do Not Meet the Criteria for Appointment 9
6. Eligibility to Work Checks for External Examiners 10
List A 11
List B group 1 12
List B group 2 12
7. Guidelines on Completion of the External Examiner Nomination Form 13
General Information 13
Section A - Details of Course/Subject 13
Section B – Details of proposed examiner 15
Section C - Approval of Nomination by the Head of School 18
8. Induction Documentation and Information for New External Examiners 18
9. Responsibilities of the University 19
10. Responsibilities of External Examiners 20
11. Criteria for the Termination of External Examiner Appointments 21
12. Procedure for the Termination of External Examiner Appointments 22
The Termination of an External Examiner’s Appointment 22
Example for Reports due from June Assessment Boards 22
The Resignation of an External Examiner 23
13. Responding to External Examiner Reports 23
The Process for Considering and Responding to External Examiners’ Reports 23
SECTION B : INFORMATION FOR EXTERNAL EXAMINERS 25
1. Introduction 25
2. Eligibility to Work Checks for External Examiners 26
List A 26
List B group 1 27
List B group 2 28
3. Role and Duties of the External Examiner 28
3.1 The Role of the External Examiner 28
3.2 The Duties of and External Examiner 29
3.3 Proposed Period of Tenure 32
3.4 Resignation 32
3.5 Termination of Contract 32
3.6 What are the responsibilities of the University? 32
4. Payment for duties 34
5. Guidelines for the Production of the External Examiner’s Annual Report 34
6. University of Central Lancashire External Examiner Fees 35
7. Travelling to the University 36
8. Map of the University Campus 38
SECTION A : INFORMATION FOR INTERNAL USE
SECTION A : INFORMATION FOR INTERNAL USE
1. Introduction
This booklet has been produced by Academic Quality and Compliance to assist University Schools and Partner Institutions in the selection of nominations for external examiners and to clarify the role and responsibilities of external examiners and related procedures. Section B of the booklet is intended to assist newly appointed external examiners in the execution of their duties. Any comments and suggestions for improvement should be made to Academic Quality and Compliance (Tel: 01772 892154).
External examiners play a fundamental role in assuring academic standards by providing an external perspective on student performance and on the conduct of the assessment process.
Further assistance on the procedures and requirements of external examiners and of the University can be obtained from Academic Quality and Compliance on the above number.
Other useful sources of information provided by the University are given below:
On appointment, Academic Quality and Compliance provides each external examiner with a copy of Part B of this booklet together with:
· A copy of the Academic Regulations. This is also available on the Academic Quality and Compliance web pages under: http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/sas/quality/regulations/aca_regs.php
· Scale of fees and expenses for external examiners
https://intranet.uclan.ac.uk/ou/sass/Pages/Useful-Information-for-Schools.aspx
· Academic Calendar
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/students/study/key_dates.php
· The current Student Handbook, which contains the course structure, aims, learning outcomes, course regulations etc.
The University School will provide detailed information on the modules for which each external examiner is responsible; details of provision of courses at Partner Institutions and other UCLan Campuses and any further information which is required.
Please note that in line with QAA requirements, Course Teams will publish the name of the respective external examiner(s), their position and home institution within the student handbook together with a statement advising students that it is inappropriate for them to make direct contact with the external examiner. External examiners are asked to advise any student who does contact them directly, to contact Academic Quality and Compliance at UCLan where they can obtain advice on the appropriate channels for taking forward their query.
Prior to the assessment period, Academic Quality and Compliance will provide a proforma for the annual report, and other relevant information on claiming fee and expenses. Our preferred method of submission of the report, within six weeks of the final Assessment Board, is via e-mail in the first instance to . The report proforma can be downloaded from Academic Quality and Compliance website:
https://intranet.uclan.ac.uk/ou/sass/Pages/Annual-Reporting-Procedures.aspx
A compulsory induction event will be held each year for all newly appointed external examiners. Details are available from Academic Quality and Compliance (Tel: 01772 892154).
2. Criteria for the Appointment of External Examiners
The following criteria (numbered 2.1 to 2.9) are applied by the University during consideration of proposed external examiners; the notes beneath each criterion provide a checklist of issues that should be considered.
Person Specification
2.1. An external examiner's academic/professional qualifications are expected to be appropriate (or equivalent) to the course examined. Both the level and the subject of the examiner's qualifications must generally match what is to be examined in the course. External examiners are also expected to have a high level of English language proficiency.
2.2 An external examiner is expected to have appropriate standing, expertise and experience to maintain comparability of standards. Standing, expertise and breadth of experience may be indicated by:
· the present post and place of work;
· the range and scope of experience across Higher Education/professions;
· current and recent active involvement in research/scholarly/professional activities in the field of study concerned.
2.3 An external examiner is expected to have enough recent external examining or comparable related experience to indicate competence in assessing students in the subject area. If the proposed examiner has no previous external examiner experience at the appropriate level, the application must be supported by either:
· other external examining experience; extensive internal examining experience;
· other relevant and recent experience likely to support the examiner’s role.
Proposed examiners without experience as externals are expected where possible, to join an experienced team of externals or, where there is only one external, work initially alongside an experienced currently appointed external, perhaps on a related course. This initial period must include involvement in the final stages of assessment for the award. Normally this should be for at least two student outputs.
2.4 There must be an appropriate balance and expertise in the team of external examiners:
· The proposed examiner is expected to complement the external examining team in terms of expertise and examining experience;
· There should be an appropriate balance between academic and professional practitioners;
· The range of academic perspectives necessary to the course is expected to be represented in the external examining team;
· If the course is associated with or may lead to a professional award at least one practitioner with appropriate experience is required to be in the team;
· The external examining experience in the team as a whole must be sufficient and wide ranging;
· If the team of examiners is large, this may indicate a need for a chief external examiner;
· Where the School has identified a chief examiner, he or she should have sufficient external examining experience to take an overview of the course and ensure that a consistent standard is maintained across subjects;
· The phasing of appointments to the team should be structured to ensure continuity.
Conflicts of Interest
2.5 External examiners should be drawn from a wide variety of institutional/professional contexts and traditions in order that the course benefits from the wide-ranging external scrutiny. There must not be:
· more than one examiner from the same institution in the team of external examiners for a subject area;
· except in a complex course, involving a very large number of discrete subject areas;
reciprocal external examining between courses or subject areas in two institutions. It is recognised that reciprocity is sometimes unavoidable in the case of subjects taught in a very small number of institutions;
· replacement of an external examiner by an individual from the same institution;
· an external examiner from an institution which has been the source of examiners for that course in the recent past (normally five years).
2.6 External examiners should be impartial in judgement and should not have previous close involvement with the institution, which might compromise objectivity. Over the last five years, the proposed examiner should not have been a member of staff, a governor, a student, or a near relative of a member of staff in relation to the course; or an examiner on a cognate course in the institution.
The proposed examiner should not be:
· personally associated with the sponsorship of students;
· required to assess colleagues who are recruited as students to the course;
· in a position to influence significantly the future employment of students on the course;
· likely to be involved with students placements or training in the examiner's organisation;
· 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.
Term of Office
2.7 Examiners should not be over-extended by their external examining duties. The examiner should not currently hold more than the equivalent of two substantial undergraduate external examiner appointments.
If the examiner appears to exceed this norm, the institution must provide supporting arguments, for example that the phasing of examinations alleviates the workload during an academic session.
2.8 The duration of an external examiner’s appointment will normally be for four years, with an exceptional extension of one year to ensure continuity.
2.9 An external examiner may be reappointed in exceptional circumstances but only after a period of five years or more has elapsed since their last appointment.
External Examiners Appointed to Collaborative Awards
2.10 An external examiner appointed to a course (or a cognate group of courses) is responsible for it at all sites of delivery. For some overseas links, a School may decide to appoint a local (in-country) external examiner, based upon the needs of the course and to advise on local context. The local external is supplementary to the UK based external and provides support by attending progression boards and looking at students’ work in-country. The UK external is nevertheless, provided with samples of work from the overseas location to look alongside the UK work to ensure consistency. The exams set are the same and are verified by the UK external. Where in-country variations to questions need to be approved, these are approved by the UK external after consideration with the in-country external.
2.11 Chief External Examiners The appointment of a chief external examiner from within a team of approved external examiners is a matter for the School concerned. The approval of the appointment of an external examiner who is to act in this capacity will be subject to the normal criteria as set out above and the person will be expected to have subject responsibilities within the team.
2.12 Institutional External Examiner Academic Quality and Compliance will appoint for the term of 4 years an Institutional External Examiner who will:
· comment on the University’s annual overview report on themes and issues arising from external examiners’ reports;
· advise the institution on issues pertaining to the operation of the external examiner system at the University;
· advise the University in relation to issues involving and arising from applicability of its Academic Regulations (including Section K Extraordinary Circumstances Governing the Assessment Process);
· submit a written report annually on duties undertaken during the year, including issues, concerns and good practice.
2.13 The School must promptly advise Academic Quality and Compliance if there will be no current students on a particular course so that this can be noted on the central database.
3. Process for Selection and Appointment of External Examiners
Introduction
The procedures for the appointment of external examiners are set out in this booklet and are reviewed on a regular basis.
At the end of August each year, Academic Quality and Compliance notify Deans/Heads of School of those external examiner appointments (for all stages of a course) that are due to end and require a replacement to take up appointment in the October of the following year or the following January. Additionally when new courses are approved to operate, potential external examiners are identified as part of the course development process. This ensures that appointments are made promptly following successful course approval so that external examiners are in place from the commencement of the course.
All nominations must be submitted on the University’s proforma (EX1/EX2), signed by the Head of School or Dean’s/Head’s nominee and forwarded to Sue Ballantyne in Academic Quality and Compliance by 31 March to ensure appointments have been made for October or the following January start. (). Proformas are available from Academic Quality and Compliance (Tel: 01772 892154) and on the Academic Quality and Compliance web pages under:
https://intranet.uclan.ac.uk/ou/sass/Pages/The-Nomination-Process.aspx
The School checks the nominations against the University’s criteria for appointment of external examiners prior to approval by the Head of School on behalf of the Academic Standards and Quality Assurance Committee. Any proposals that do not meet the University’s criteria and have the support of the Head of School are forwarded to two Executive Deans [NB: the appropriate Executive Deans will be Executive Deans who are not responsible for the School for which the external examiner is required.] who then recommend approval/non-approval to the Chair of Academic Standards and Quality Assurance Committee, who has the final decision. Once a nomination has been approved, Academic Quality and Compliance confirm the appointment in writing to the external examiner.