5.2 Selection, qualifications, appointment and period of service
- 5.2.1 Appointment
- 5.2.2 Qualifications / expertise
- 5.2.3 Conflicts of interest
- 5.2.4 Terms of office
- 5.2.5 Other considerations
- 5.2.6 Notification of appointment
- 5.2.7 Termination of appointment
- 5.2.8 Information required on appointment
5.2.1 Appointment
The appointment of External Examiners is the responsibility of Heads of Schools.
In October, Registry will notify Schools of any External Examiner appointments that will need to be renewed or replaced in the year ahead. Schools submit nominations to Registry having ascertained that the External Examiner is willing to accept the appointment and is satisfied with the proposed fee level.
Nomination forms along with a one page CV must be submitted to the Registry at least one month before the appointment is due to start. The information contained in the nomination form allows Registry to ascertain whether the External Examiner has met the requirements set out in relation to qualifications/expertise, conflicts of interest and terms of office.
External Examiners should normally be resident in the United Kingdom. If the External Examiner is resident abroad, the School should explicitly state, as part of the nomination process, that it is willing to pay the cost of travel to St Andrews or should indicate what other arrangements have been made for consultation with the External Examiner, for example, videoconferencing or contact by email/phone.
Under the UKBA requirements, the University is legally required to ensure that employees are eligible to work in the UK and retain proof of eligibility on record. Prior to the issuing an appointment (or re-appointment) letter, Schools are responsible for ensuring that all External Examiners provide proof of eligibility to work in the UK regardless of their nationality. Further information about the UKBA requirements and verification of documentation is available from Human Resources.
5.2.2 Qualifications / expertise
Only persons of sufficient standing and experience in the relevant subject area and who are able to command authority and the respect of academic peers should be nominated. The following criteria should therefore be taken into consideration by those responsible for nominating a candidate to act as an External Examiner:-
- Knowledge and understanding of the UK sector; agreed reference points for the maintenance of academic standards and assurance and enhancement of quality (including the UK Quality Code, subject benchmarks and the national qualifications framework).
- Relevant academic and/or professional qualifications to at least the level of the qualification being externally examined, and/or extensive practitioner experience where appropriate.
- Competence and experience relating to designing and operating a variety of assessment tasks appropriate to the subject, and operating assessment procedures.
- Awareness of current developments in the design and delivery of relevant curricula.
- Familiarity with the standard to be expected of students to achieve the award that is to be assessed.
- Fluency in English and where programmes are delivered and assessed in languages other than English, fluency in the relevant language(s).
- Competence and experience relating to the enhancement of the student learning experience.
- Fulfilment of applicable criteria as set by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies.
In exceptional circumstances an External Examiner may be appointed who does not meet the criteria with respect to standing and/or experience, (e.g. Externals drawn from business, industry or the professions). In these instances, the appointee should not be the sole External Examiner but have his or her expertise complemented by other External Examiners who do satisfy the criteria.
5.2.3 Conflicts of interest
The University will not appoint as External Examiners anyone in the following categories or circumstances:-
- Members of the University Court, University employees or employees of collaborative partners.
- Anyone with a close professional, contractual or personal relationship with a member of staff or student involved in the programme of study.
- Anyone required to assess colleagues who are recruited as students to the programme of study.
- Anyone who is, or knows they will be, in a position to influence significantly the future of students on the programme of study.
- Anyone significantly involved in recent or current substantive collaboration research activities with a member of staff closely involved in the development, management or assessment of the programme or modules in question.
- Former staff (including honorary staff) or students of the institution unless a period of five years has elapsed.
- Anyone from a University with which there is a reciprocal arrangement involving cognate programmes.
- Where the succession of the External Examiner would be a colleague from the Examiner’s home School/Department and institution.
- Where the appointment of more than one External Examiner would be from the same School/Department of the same institution.
5.2.4 Terms of office
The duration of an External Examiner’s appointment will normally be for four years with an exceptional extension of one year to ensure continuity.
No External Examiner may act for longer than five years, and normally an External Examiner cannot be re-appointed until at least five years has elapsed after any previous appointment.
External Examiners should not hold more than two undergraduate/taught postgraduate Examinerships at any one time.
If a taught postgraduate programme is not offered in a particular session then that year will be discounted from the External Examiner’s period of appointment.
The normal period of office for External Examiners will normally be 1 October to 30 September of the relevant years. This allows outgoing undergraduate External Examiners to participate in the decision making process for the reassessment examination diet and new External Examiners to approve draft examination papers for the coming session. These dates also allow the taught postgraduate External Examiners to participate in the decision making process following the submission of dissertations and projects at the end of August.
5.2.5 Other considerations
In cases where a single integrated programme is taught across two or more Schools agreement on all nominations must be obtained from the lead School or equivalent prior to submission to Registry.
Where modules are shared across more than one School (eg inter-disciplinary Dissertation modules), Heads of Schools must ensure that there is clarity on which External Examiner(s) is responsible for the module.
Heads of Schools must ensure that any potential intellectual property difficulties, such as might arise from the need for commercial confidentiality, are resolved prior to appointment.
Schools wishing to make exceptions to the appointment criteria are required to make a case for approval in writing to the relevant Dean. In the case of the Head of School of Medicine, the case should be made to the Dean of Science.
5.2.6 Notification of appointment
Once a nomination has been approved, Registry issues a letter of appointment confirming the period of appointment, the approximate fee level and methodology for the fee calculation and the requirement for an annual report to be submitted before fees are released. The letter will state the modules and/or programmes to which the External Examiner is being appointed.
5.2.7 Termination of appointment
The University can terminate an External Examiner’s contract prematurely if the External Examiner has failed to fulfil his/her obligations and/or if there is a conflict of interest. An appointment can also be terminated if the External Examiner is found to have behaved inappropriately towards staff or students, in a way that would infringe the University’s guidelines for its own staff.
The Head of School is responsible for monitoring the External Examiner’s compliance with his/her contract and to notify the relevant Dean of non-compliance. If the situation cannot be resolved through discussion, then the Dean will write to the External Examiner to terminate the appointment. If an External Examiner seeks early termination of his/her contract, the reasons for the request should be submitted in writing to the Head of School and then submitted to the Dean. The Vice-Principal (Proctor) and Registry must also be notified of any early terminations to contracts.
If the circumstances of the External Examiner change, for example, the External Examiner moves to another University, then the External Examiner must notify the Head of School who in turn should notify Registry. Registry will review the position to ensure that there is no new conflict of interest.
5.2.8 Information required on appointment
All External Examiners will be provided with sufficient information and support to enable them to carry out their duties effectively. External Examiners must become familiar with the programme structure, learning and teaching methods and assessment techniques in his/her assigned programmes and modules, provide advice and comment on such matters and recommended change where appropriate.
Registry will direct all new External Examiners to this policy and the undernoted documents, the majority of which will be available online:-
- Academic and Quality Enhancement Strategies;
- Teaching, Learning & Assessment Handbook;
- Assessment, Policies and Procedures;
- Assessment: Marking and Standard Setting;
- Honours Degree Classification;
- Common Reporting Scale;
- S Code and Special Circumstances;
- Feedback to Students on Assessed Work;
- Academic Alerts;
- Senate Regulations [including Termination of Studies];
- Policy on Student Academic Appeals and Complaints;
- Policy for Supervisors and Students in Taught Postgraduate Programmes;
- Retiring External Examiner’s Final Report and University response to any issues raised;
- Annual Report Form;
- Details of the payment of fees and expenses.
Registry and Schools can arrange electronic access to online materials through the Module Management System (MMS) and/or the University’s VLE, Moodle.
It is the Head of School’s responsibility to ensure that an External Examiner receives information about the various roles, powers and responsibilities assigned to them including the extent of their authority at Module and Degree Classification Boards and specific attendance requirements for each. Schools should also send the External Examiner the following information:-
- School, programme or module handbooks containing details of programme structures and specifications, programme and module aims and requirements; intended learning outcomes;
- Details of assessment methods, marking criteria, marking scales and specific marking practices, for example, the use of blind double marking;
- Dates of meetings for Boards of Examiners;
- Access to copies of examination papers from the previous two years;
- Where appropriate, copies of relevant professional policies eg Fitness to Practice Medicine;
- Timetable for the vetting and approval of examination papers;
- Names and contact details of key personnel involved in the teaching, assessment and administration of the module/programme.
In addition to providing the External Examiner with the information detailed above, the Head of School will have responsibility for arranging an appropriate briefing in advance of the External Examiner’s attendance at the first Board of Examiners and clarifying the role of the External Examiner in assessment and examination procedures. The Head of School will also be responsible for ensuring that External Examiners are reminded about their duties when sending out assessments for moderation and just prior to attendance at Module and Classification Boards.