Regulation XXII

Taught Programme Internal and External Examiners and Review and Programme Boards

(Version effective from 1 August 2018)

1. The Senate will designate which School will have responsibility for and have jurisdiction over each module and programme. In this Regulation the expression "appropriate School” means the School which has been so designated. For the purpose of this Regulation the Senate shall have the power to nominate any other body as being equivalent to a School and any post as being equivalent to that of Dean of School.

Internal Examiners

2. Internal examiners shall be designated by Senate or by the Associate Dean (Education and Student Experience) for the School acting on its behalf as being responsible for the assessment of specific taught modules. One of the Internal Examiners shall be designated the Module Leader for the module and shall be responsible overall for the assessment of that module. Internal Examiners shall be either:

2.1 Members of the Academic Staff of the University;

2.2 Other persons who may be appointed by the Senate from time to time on the recommendation of the Associate Dean (Education and Student Experience) for the School.

3. Any person appointed by Senate as an Internal Examiner shall be appointed for one year from the date of appointment and shall be eligible for re-appointment.

Internal Verifiers

4. Internal Verifiers shall be appointed for Introductory Studies units only and shall be full-time members of the academic staff of the University, trained and accredited to national Training and Development Lead Body standards.

Last modified: 16 Feb 2016

External Examiners

5. External Examiners shall be appointed by Senate or by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience) or their nominee and shall take responsibility for specific modules.

6. A person holding an appointment as an External Examiner may be appointed as an External Programme Assessor by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience) or their nominee. External Programme Assessors shall take responsibility for specific programmes.

7. Each External Examiner shall be appointed for not more than three years in the first instance but such appointment may be extended to a total duration of not more than four years. They may not serve as an External Examiner in the same School during the period of four years next following the termination of such an appointment.

8. Each External Examiner shall submit an annual report in writing to the Vice-Chancellor on the matters for which they have been responsible. The Vice-Chancellor, having considered the report, shall draw to the attention of Senate and the Dean of the appropriate School those matters which appear to require their attention.

External Verifiers

9. External Verifiers shall be appointed by the external validating bodies for Introductory Studies programmes only. External Verifiers’ reports on the matters for which they have been responsible shall be submitted to the Vice-Chancellor, who, having considered their reports, shall draw to the attention of Senate and the Dean of the appropriate School those matters which appear to require their attention.

Last modified: 31 Jul 2015

Programme Boards

10. Programme Boards shall have powers delegated by Senate in accordance with paragraph 32 of Regulation XXVIII for Pre-Sessional Study; paragraph 23 of Regulation XX for Undergraduate awards and paragraph 21 of Regulation XXI for Postgraduate awards.

11. Programme Boards shall be appointed by the relevant Dean of School and their membership shall be as follows:

11.1 The Dean of School who shall act as Chair.

11.2 At least three other Internal Examiners, one of whom shall act as Deputy Chair and, in the case of joint degree programmes, at least one of whom shall be a member of the partner School/Department.

11.3 The External Programme Assessor for the programme where Parts B, C or D are under consideration or the programme is postgraduate level..

12. In order for a Programme Board meeting to be quorate, the following minimum attendance requirement must be met:

12.1 The Chair or the designated Deputy Chair;

12.2 At least two other Internal Examiners, one of whom shall be a member of the partner School/Department in the case of joint degree programmes;

12.3 The External Programme Assessor for all postgraduate programmes and for the final Part of undergraduate programmes.

13. The requirement for the External Programme Assessor to be present at a Programme Board meeting may be dispensed with under the following circumstances only:

13.1 By the relevant Dean of School providing all the following conditions are met:

13.1.1 That the External Programme Assessor receives copies of all documentation before and after the board and signs the pass list and other Programme Board paperwork;

13.1.2 That the External Programme Assessor agrees to the non-attendance proposal;

13.1.3 That there are no students under consideration who would be affected by the lowering of a degree classification or merit or distinction threshold;

13.1.4 That there are no students under consideration for whom condonement is a possibility.

13.2 In the case of Special Assessment Programme Boards only, where the conditions outlined in 13.1.1 and 13.1.2 hereof are met and the External Programme Assessor participates in the Programme Board via telephone or video conferencing.

13.3 Exceptionally, by the Academic Registrar, in cases where all of the conditions outlined in paragraph 13.1 hereof have not been met.

14. Special Assessment Period Programme Board membership should, where possible, be identical to that of the main Programme Board immediately preceding it. Where for good cause it is not possible to retain the same membership, the revised membership shall be approved by the Academic Registrar prior to the relevant meeting and shall be composed as in paragraph 11 hereof.

Last modified: 31 Jul 2015

Review Boards

15. Review Boards shall be appointed for postgraduate taught programmes only and shall have powers delegated by Senate in accordance with paragraph 22 of Regulation XXI.

16. Review Boards shall be appointed by the relevant Dean of School and their membership shall be as follows:

16.1 The Dean of School who shall act as Chair.

16.2 At least three other internal examiners, one of whom shall act as Deputy Chair.

16.3 The External Examiners responsible for the modules under consideration.

17. In order for a Review Board meeting to be quorate, the following minimum attendance requirement must be met:

17.1 The Chair or the designated Deputy Chair.

17.2 At least one other Internal Examiner.