Academic Policy & Governance

External examiners are normally appointed for a period of four years.

In order to avoid conflicts of interest, the following appointments shall not normally be permitted:

• An external examiner from a department of another institution where a member of staff of this University is serving as an external examiner for programmes or courses provided by that department/subject area.
• The succession of an external examiner by a colleague from the examiner’s home institution.
• More than one external examiner from the same department of the same home institution.

On appointment, the School will ensure that external examiners are sent full information on the courses which they examine including: benchmark statements; course information documentation; copies of examination papers and other assessment instruments of previous years; details of the way in which the results of individual papers or other units of assessment are aggregated, averaged or profiled to produce an overall result; details of any exemption schemes; the dates of meetings of the Board(s) of Examiners; a statement of school assessment procedures; and the external examiner report(s) for the previous session together with any relevant correspondence and the retiring external examiner’s general report (where provided). This information is updated as necessary during the period of the appointment.

Academic Policy & Governance will send the following information:

• Note of Guidance for external examiners for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses.
• Registration Form.
• Links to Guide to the Code of Assessment - Grading Student Performance and Code of Assessment (including Schedules A and B).

In respect of the design of the assessment scheme:

a)   comment on the syllabus, learning objectives and assessment scheme of the course and its delivery mechanism in the light of experiences of candidates’ learning outcomes, comparable courses and awards elsewhere and developments within the discipline or field;

b)   be consulted regarding proposals for the introduction or modification of a course.

In respect of a given assessment diet:

a)   comment on, in advance, all summative assessment instruments (or, in cases involving a high volume of continuous assessment, a sample may be provided for advance comment);

b)   report on the overall standards achieved by candidates and in particular on the comparability of these standards with those of candidates on similar courses or programmes in other UK Higher Education institutions;

c)    report on the relationship between these overall standards, programme specifications (where available) and published national subject benchmark statements;

d)   assess the soundness and fairness of the implementation of the assessment process;

e)   adjudicate where necessary, subject to the authority of Senate, over the grade or class to be awarded to any particular candidate;

f)    certify contentment with the assessment outcomes prior to their publication;

g)   provide an annual written report to the Principal as required by the University.

External examiners are required to report annually by 31 July using the University’s on-line report system, following the main diet of examinations, or at the end of October for taught postgraduate courses, if more appropriate. It is essential that the University receives these reports in order to meet quality assurance and enhancement requirements.  The report follows the guidelines published by the QAA and includes questions on:

• the adequacy of information supplied on the course structure and content;
• whether the course structure and content meet the needs of the students;
• whether the stated aims and learning objectives for the course are appropriate to the subject matter, the level of the course, and the students;
• whether the examination together with any other assessment instruments used, adequately covered the content of the course and the learning objectives;
• the quality of teaching, together with any other forms of assessment used, as evidenced by the students' work;
• the appropriateness of learning and teaching methods;
• the method(s) of assessment;
• the assessment process;
• the administration of assessment;
• the marking standards applied by internal examiners;
• whether the standards set are appropriate to published national subject benchmarks, the national qualifications framework, institutional programme specifications and other relevant information, where available;
• the general quality of students’ work;
• the relationship of the quality of work to the various degree classifications and/or grades;
• the procedures followed at the Board of Examiners;
• consultation on proposed changes to courses or the introduction of new courses.

You consent to the University holding and processing, both electronically and manually, the data that it collects about you, in the course of your working relationship with the University, for the purposes of the administration and management of its staff and for compliance with applicable laws, procedures and regulations. There is further detail on this within the External Examiner Terms of Appointment.