Guidance on the appointment of external examiners

Nominations

External Examiners are appointed after due consideration through the institution's committee structure. Initially course teams should submit nominations to their School Quality Standards and Enhancement Committee (QSEC) for consideration using the External Examiner nomination form which should be accompanied by the nominee's current CV.

Once approved at School level, the nomination is signed by the Chair of the QSEC and forwarded to Vivien Houghton (Quality Officer, Student Voice and Externality) for consideration at the AQSC. Nominations are considered against the criteria for the appointment of external examiners, which are in line with the QAA Code of Practice on External Examining.

A Panel of AQSC members will review each new nomination against the criteria and may:

• recommend approval on the basis of the evidence provided; 
• request further discussion at a meeting of the Committee;  
• or, where it is considered that the nominee does not meet the criteria,  reject the nomination and ask the School to seek another candidate.    

Successful nominations will normally be confirmed and appointed within 2-3 weeks of receipt by the AQSC panel.

All External Examiner appointments commence from 1 October and Schools should ensure that replacements for outgoing examiners and examiners for new provision are recruited in good time and ahead of the final meeting of AQSC: for 2011-12, this will be 13 June 2012.

Appointments

Appointments are for four academic years.

Once an appointment has been confirmed by AQSC on behalf of Senate, a letter of appointment is issued, along with details of the modules allocated, external examiner's fee and expenses  and other supporting documentation including the External Examiner handbook. Appointed examiners are asked to confirm their acceptance of the role within one month.

The extension of an appointment for a fifth and final year may be considered in exceptional circumstances. To request an extension, please complete the request to extend the period of office of an external examiner for a fifth and final year form, which should be forwarded to Vivien Houghton (Quality Officer, Student Voice and Externality) for consideration by AQSC.

As a result of changing curricula, it might become necessary to change or add to an examiner's remit. In this case, a request to extend the remit of an existing external examiner should be completed and forwarded to Vivien Houghton (Quality Officer, Student Voice and Externality) for consideration by AQSC.