Learning and Teaching Committee
EXTERNAL EXAMINING FOR TAUGHT
UNDERGRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES – REVISED CODE OF PRACTICE
PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS
1. The purposes of the external examiner
system are to ensure that: (a) the standards set for taught undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes, awarded in similar subjects, are appropriate for the
awards, or award elements, by reference to published national subject
benchmarks, the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, institutional
programme specifications and other relevant information; (b) are comparable in
standard in all Universities in the UK; and (c) the assessment system is fair
and is fairly operated in the classification of students.
2. In order to achieve these purposes
external examiners need to be able to participate in assessment processes for
the award of degrees, diplomas and certificates; to arbitrate or adjudicate on
problem cases; and to comment and give advice on programme content, academic
standards, balance and structure, on degree schemes and on assessment
processes.
ORGANISATIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS
External examiners and
external programme assessors
3. The
University makes a distinction between the roles of External Examiner and
External Programme Assessor.
4. An external examiner must be appointed
for each module that contributes to a degree or other award. In practice therefore several different
external examiners are normally involved in the assessment process for each
programme, each one of them having responsibility for a number of modules. Normally, one of the external examiners will
be invited – usually at the time of initial appointment - to act in the
role of External Programme Assessor, who has responsibility for taking an
overview of the programme as a whole: this will typically be the external
examiner covering the widest range of modules.
If there is only one external examiner associated with a programme, that
person will also take the role of External Programme Assessor.
5. The
External Examiner approves the results for the individual modules for which
he/she is responsible; the External Programme Assessor approves decisions made
collectively by the Programme Board which meets at the end of the programme or
programme part, including decisions on awards to graduating students.
Membership of Programme Boards, Postgraduate Review
Boards and attendance
6. External
Programme Assessors are regarded as full members of any Programme Board
concerned with the assessment of a programme or programme part for which they
are responsible. The External Programme
Assessor for an undergraduate programme must attend the final year Programme
Board. The External Programme Assessor for
a postgraduate programme must attend the Programme Board for that
programme.
7. In the
case of postgraduate taught programmes, Review Boards are in operation in
addition to Programme Boards. External Examiners
and External Programme Assessors are full members of the Review Boards
concerned with the assessment of the modules for which they are responsible,
but are not bound by quoracy rules to be present.
Extent of external examiner involvement at
undergraduate level
8. External
Examiners and External Programme Assessors are not involved in the assessment
of undergraduate modules taken by students in Part A (first year) or expected
to attend Programme Boards for Part A, but the External Programme Assessor must
nevertheless approve any Programme Board decision to award a CertHE on the
basis of a student’s performance in Part A.
In
other sections of this document ‘external examiner’ refers to
External Programme Assessors and External Examiners alike, unless otherwise
indicated.
APPOINTMENTS
9. Individuals
proposed for appointment as external examiners must have an appropriate level
of experience and expertise in relation to the subject area. A minimum of five years experience would
normally be expected.
10. Individuals
must normally hold a senior academic post at another UK HEI (in pre-92
institutions, SL and above, or in post-92 institutions, principal lecturer or
equivalent and above) and be research-active.
11. Although
they may not meet the criteria in paragraph 10, suitably experienced
individuals from industry or commerce or from Professional, Statutory or
Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) may also be appointed to bring particular
professional expertise to the external examining process. Those who do not currently hold an academic
post or have extensive links with UK HE through their professional practice
will not be expected to take sole responsibility as external examiner for any
programme or module.
12. The following criteria must also be met to avoid potential
conflicts of interest.
The appointee
·
Must not normally
hold more than one other appointment as an external examiner in HE
·
Must not have
been a member of staff or a student of LU, or a partner organisation, within
the past three years
·
Must not have
held a previous appointment as an external examiner in the inviting department
at LU within the past four years
·
Must not be
employed in an HEI department elsewhere which has a member of the inviting
department at LU serving as an external examiner
·
Must not be
employed in the same HEI department as the previous external examiner for the
same programme(s)/module(s)
·
Must have no
personal conflicts of interest (for example, a son or daughter or other
relation or be connected with a person who is a student or member of staff in
the inviting department at LU)
13. Nominations
must be submitted by departments to the AD(T)s for approval on behalf of the
relevant Faculty Board. The AD(T) must
be able to check from documentation submitted by the department in support of
the nomination that the criteria in paragraphs 9 - 11 are met. The documentation should in all cases include
a brief cv of the person concerned,
covering their experience in teaching and research. Departments will be asked to complete a
simple check-list to cover the criteria in paragraph 12. The AD(T) will expect a case to be made in
support of any appointment that is outside the normal criteria.
14. Departments
should ensure that individuals being nominated for appointment as external
examiners have the necessary qualities to perform the range of responsibilities
required of them. Such qualities are
likely to include, for example:
·
Appropriate
experience in the design, structure and marking of student assessments
·
Ability to make
competent judgements relating to agreed reference points, including subject
benchmark statements, the QAA code of practice, the Framework for Higher
Education Qualifications, and individual programme specifications
·
Ability to
evaluate standards set by the institution and their comparability with those of
other HEIs
·
Ability to
evaluate standards of student achievement
·
Ability to
evaluate the soundness and fairness of assessment policies and procedures
·
Ability to
command the respect of colleagues, including other external examiners as well
as internal examiners and exercise appropriate authority in all aspects of the
role
·
Experience and
expertise where appropriate in the assessment of work-based learning
·
Knowledge where
applicable of PSRB standards and expectations.
Bullet
points 2 and 3 above may be interpreted flexibly in the case of external
examiners from outside the HE sector being appointed for their professional
expertise, who are not taking sole responsibility for any programme or module.
15. The
range of modules to be covered by each external examiner will be agreed with
the department concerned on appointment and subsequently as appropriate.
INFORMATION AND INDUCTION
16. Upon
appointment, external examiners will be provided with an appropriate induction
programme to ensure that they understand and can fulfil their
responsibilities. They will receive a
written briefing on the institution’s policies for assessment and
external examining in general, with details of relevant University regulations
and codes of practice, and a schedule of fees, and they may be invited to
attend a University-based induction event.
Departments are expected to provide external examiners with a
departmental profile, an explanation of the department’s student assessment
practice, and how and when the external examiner can expect to be involved in
the assessment process in the course of the academic year. Previous external examiners’ reports, a
set of previous question papers, and a description of prizes to be awarded
should also be made available. In
addition, departments are expected to provide programme specific information
including: programme and module specifications and syllabuses; programme
regulations; and information about admissions policy such as any
essential/preferred A-level/first degree subjects, any direct admissions to
year two and prevalence of non-traditional entry qualifications. It is the responsibility of the department to
keep its external examiners informed of any significant changes occurring in
the course of their period of office.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Core role
17. The
core role of external examiners is to help the University to assure the quality
of student assessment processes and maintain the academic standards of its
awards.
Approval of written examination papers
18. External
examiners must be asked to approve all draft examination papers (having regard
to the level, range, design and structure of questions set) together with model
answers and marking schemes where appropriate.
Sampling of student work
19. External
examiners are entitled to see any examination scripts, dissertations, project
reports, assessed coursework (including work submitted for the award of the
Diploma in Industrial Studies, etc) in order to reach judgements on standards
and consistency of internal marking.
20. They
will normally be provided with a sample of student work across a range of
results. They should agree with the
department concerned a basis (method and extent) for sampling student work, to
ensure they have sufficient evidence.
They must always see a sample of work where a module is assessed by
coursework (ie means other than written examination) alone.
Approval and adjustment of marks
21. External
examiners must approve marks for all modules before they are considered by
Programme Boards or Review Boards (in the case of postgraduate taught
programmes). Provisional module marks
may be published before being approved by the relevant external examiner
(typically for semester one modules), but our procedures require that approved
module marks are presented to the Boards for confirmation and that no changes
are made at that stage, except in the light of a claim of impaired performance
or a viva voce examination. External
examiners should therefore receive the proposed marks from the internal
examiners in sufficient time to allow them the opportunity to suggest any mark
adjustments before the formal Board meeting, thus giving time for debate and
the introduction of any revised marks as agreed.
22. Any
mark adjustments suggested by an external examiner from seeing a sample of
scripts or other assessed work must be reflected in similar adjustments to
scripts or other assessed work not included in the sample.
Impaired performance claims
23. Procedures
for dealing with claims of impaired performance require students to submit
claims for consideration by an ‘impaired performance panel’ within
the department, which meets in time to make recommendations to the relevant
Programme Board or Review Board (postgraduate taught programmes only): external
examiners are not normally involved in the panel but are encouraged to
scrutinise a sample of the panel documentation.
Difficult cases
24. External
examiners may from time to time be asked to help resolve a case where first and
second internal markers have found it difficult to arrive at an agreed mark.
Condonement of marginal failure
25. Regulations
for undergraduate awards permit Programme Boards to condone marginal failure in
certain very specific circumstances. One
condition is that an appropriate external examiner must approve the condonement
having regard to national standards in the discipline.
Signing off the pass list
26. The External
Programme Assessor must sign the pass list emanating from any Programme Board
at which they are present (along with the Chair and the independent board
member).
Meeting students
27. External
examiners may ask to meet students to assist with their understanding of a
programme and the way in which it operates, but this is not part of the student
assessment process. (They are asked to
bear in mind also that Programme Boards are normally held outside term time.)
Viva voce examinations
28. Viva voce
examinations may be called ‘at the instigation of the Chair of the
Programme Board’ or designated deputy prior to the relevant Programme
Board. The Chair will normally consult with the External Programme Assessor. The External Programme Assessor will be a
member of the viva voce panel if the Programme Board will be making awards, except
where prior permission of the Academic Registrar has been obtained to replace
the External Programme Assessor with another external examiner; any external examiner may be
co-opted to membership.
Discussion on marking and the assessment process
29. External
examiners are encouraged to comment upon the assessment process including
diversity issues and may wish to do so at the conclusion of the formal business
of the Programme Board. Advice about
classification schemes and the marking process can be of particular benefit to
the less experienced internal examiners.
Involvement in matters outside the assessment process
30. External
examiners are not required to participate in the University’s
Programme Review process. External examiners
should be aware however that their annual report will be included in the
documentation considered during the Annual Programme Review along with the
department’s response. Reports
from each of the last three years are considered during Periodic Programme
Review.
31. External
examiners may be asked from time to time to comment on new programme
developments. The University’s
approval procedure requires departments to obtain an external view which may be
from within the HE sector or from an industry/employer perspective.
REPORTING PROCEDURE
32. All external examiners are responsible to
and will report annually to the University Examinations Officer, acting on
behalf of the Vice-Chancellor. The submission of an annual report within four
weeks of the main meeting of the Programme Board is a condition of appointment
and fee payments will depend on the receipt of a report.
33. The report will be in two parts: an internal University report, for which
a standard pro forma is provided, and a ‘summary of findings’ using
the national Teaching Quality Information (TQI) template.
34. Each
External Programme Assessor will subsequently be asked to endorse a composite
‘summary of findings’ for publication on the TQI web-site, compiled
by the department from the TQI summaries submitted by all the external
examiners contributing to the programme(s) concerned, including those appointed
by other departments.
35. Reports are normally made available for
wide discussion but any external examiner may send the Vice-Chancellor a
separate confidential report if that is felt to be appropriate. In view of the
importance of external examiners’ reports in the process of assuring
quality, the University will review the appointment of an external examiner who
fails to fulfil the terms of the contract.
36. The
following procedures will apply in handling reports submitted by external
examiners to the University Examinations Office.
A Faculty
Secretaries and Departments
·
Copies of external examiners’ reports will be
sent to the Head of the relevant Department and the Faculty Secretary.
·
The Faculty
Secretary will produce a summary of issues for consideration and action, and
pass the summary to the AD(T) with a copy to the HOD concerned; a copy of the
actual external examiner’s report will be sent to the AD(T) only if major
issues are identified.
·
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.
·
Staff/Student
Committee(s) will be consulted where appropriate.
·
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) AD(T)s; or, if the
external examiner has raised no issues, formally acknowledging receipt of the
report.
·
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.
·
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 the department for inclusion in the next Annual and Periodic
Programme Reviews.
B AD(T)s and the PDQ Team
·
AD(T)s 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;
·
AD(T)s 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.
·
PDQ will
recommend further action as necessary and feedback to HODs (who should in turn
inform their external examiners as appropriate).
C Examinations Office
·
The Examinations
Office will keep records of reports received from external examiners and pursue
outstanding reports;
·
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;
·
During the course
of the year, the Examinations Office will provide AD(T)s 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.
COLLABORATIVE PROVISION
37. In the case of collaborative provision
leading to awards of the University, external examiners are appointed by the
University and partner organisations are required to follow external examining
procedures which are the same as, or demonstrably equivalent to, those in
operation for provision which is entirely the University’s
responsibility.
38. To help ensure equivalence of standards,
individual external examiners already appointed for programmes or modules
provided by the University itself may be invited to act in respect of
programmes or modules in cognate subject areas at partner institutions.
39. Partner organisations are required to
adopt procedures analogous to those which apply within the University in
considering and responding to reports made by external examiners. These
procedures will be subject to approval by the AD(T) of the relevant Faculty.
40. Partner organisations are expected to
provide external examiners with information equivalent to that provided by
University departments in respect to University-based provision. The list of
information may be augmented by arrangement between the partner organisation
and the Associate Dean (Teaching) of the Faculty with academic oversight of the
collaboration.
DATA PROTECTION AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
41. The letter of appointment shall advise
each external examiner of what information the University holds on them and for
what purpose and that:
·
the University will use their personal
data for communication about and payment of fees and expenses and for any other
necessary communications and that their data may be shared, if necessary, with
other departments of the University.
·
the University policy is that members
of staff must not disclose external examiners' contact details or any other
personal details to third parties (ie outside the University) without the
consent of external examiners.
·
any comments, marks or opinions
expressed about individual students (during any stage of the assessment
process) may be disclosed to the student upon receipt of a Subject Access
Request and that opinions expressed in a professional capacity will be
disclosed to students if requested.
·
external examiners' reports are made
available to University Staff as detailed in the annual reporting procedure.
·
external examiner's reports may be
published as part of internal or external quality procedures and that the
University will make all reasonable efforts to comply with any external examiner's
request for reports to be anonymised.
·
Under Freedom of Information legislation,
the University shall provide copies of external examiners' reports to any third
party who makes a lawful request for them. These reports will normally include
identification of the external examiner's name, but the University will
consider reasonable requests from the external examiner to anonymise the
report.
42. External examiners are entitled to make
Subject Access Requests under the Data Protection Act. As such they are
entitled to request copies of all emails and memoranda relating to their appointment
and views of staff about them.
October 2005