Learning and Teaching Committee

Subject: Code of Practice on External Examining – Revised Procedures for handling External Examiners’ Reports

Origin: Programme Development and Quality Team

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A Faculty Secretaries and Departments

1. Copies of external examiners’ reports will be sent to the Head of the relevant Department and the Faculty Secretary.

2. The Faculty Secretary will produce a summary of issues for consideration and action, and pass the summary to the ADT with a copy to the HOD concerned; a copy of the actual external examiner’s report will be sent to the ADT only if major issues are identified.

3. Reports will be considered by the Departmental Teaching/Programme Committee, or a full departmental staff meeting if appropriate, and actions will be agreed for the future.

4. Staff/Student Committee(s) will be consulted where appropriate.

5. The HOD will send a formal reply to the external examiner detailing actions taken or planned and issues to be raised with (or already discussed with) ADTs; or, if the external examiner has raised no issues, formally acknowledging receipt of the report.

6. A copy of the reply will sent to the Examinations Office; if the reply is merely a formal acknowledgement of receipt of the report, the department need only inform the Examinations Office to this effect.

7. The report and reply will be tabled at the next departmental staff meeting for the record and for further action if necessary;

8. Copies will be retained in the department for inclusion in the next Annual and Periodic Programme Reviews.

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B ADTs and the PDQ Team

1. ADTs will receive summaries of issues for consideration and action produced by Faculty Secretaries and copies of the actual external examiners’ reports where major issues are identified;

2. ADTs will provide a review of external examiners’ reports for consideration by the PDQ Team, highlighting institutional issues for consideration and action; reports on UG programmes/modules and on PGT programmes/modules will normally be reviewed separately; the review meetings will as far as possible take place before APR, though issues may later need to be revisited in the light of APR discussions.

3. PDQ will recommend further action as necessary and feedback to HODs (who should in turn inform their external examiners as appropriate).

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C Examinations Office

1. The Examinations Office will keep records of reports received from external examiners and pursue outstanding reports;

2. The Examinations Office will also keep records of departments’ replies to external examiners’ reports and pursue outstanding replies except where these consist only of a formal acknowledgement of receipt of the report;

3. During the course of the year, the Examinations Office will provide ADTs with a list of external examiners, the programmes/modules for which they are responsible, and an indication which reports and replies have been received. UG and PGT programmes/modules will be listed separately. Lists will be provided at least twice a year, including normally one in early December and a second in early May.

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Current procedure incorporated in Code of Practice in AQPH

21. The following procedure will apply to reports made by External Examiners to the University Examinations Office:

• Copies will be sent to the Head of the relevant Department and the Faculty Secretary;
• The Faculty Secretary will identify reports containing issues for consideration and action, advise the HoD and pass them on to the Associate Dean (Teaching);
• The report will be considered by Departmental Teaching/Programme Committee, or a full departmental staff meeting if appropriate, and actions will be agreed for the future;
• Staff/Student Committee(s) will be consulted where appropriate;
• The AD(T) and HoD will discuss reports where issues have been identified by the Faculty Secretary and agree format of the written response;
• The AD(T) may take matters further if necessary (especially in the case of institutional issues). In such cases, and following discussion with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching), the AD(T) will prepare a summary for consideration and action by either the Faculty Board, the Learning and Teaching Committee, Senate or directly to the VC as appropriate. The AD(T) will report back to the HoD;
• The HoD will write a reply to the External Examiner, detailing actions taken or planned;
• In the case of reports previously discussed between the AD(T) and the HoD, the draft reply must be approved by the AD(T) before being sent to the External Examiner;
• The reply will be sent to the External Examiner, and a copy lodged in the Examinations Office;
• The report and reply will be tabled at the next departmental staff meeting for the record and for further action if necessary;
• Copies will be retained in Department for inclusion in the next Annual and Periodic Programme Reviews.