AQH-G8 External Examiners – A Guide For Students
Version 1.0 May 2014
External examiners are experienced academic staff from other universities (sometimes supported by professional experts also acting as examiners), who are appointed by the University. Some external examiners are responsible for oversight of modules, some for oversight of programmes, and some cover both. Every award of the University which is a nationally recognised award must have an external examiner. Their duties are to:
- advise the University on the comparability of academic standards of the award with those in other universities;
- ensure that the assessment process is fair, and is operated in a fair and equitable way.
New external examiners are appointed by the University’s Quality Management Sub-Committee, which considers nominations for new examiners against a set of nationally-agreed criteria. Each year, examiners write reports on their area of responsibility, and send those to the University. These reports contain comment on academic standards and student performance, and whether the standards of student performance are comparable with similar provision in other universities, the fairness of the assessment process, and the approach to assessment.
The University takes the views of external examiners very seriously, and responds to examiners on issues raised. Reports are used, amongst other things, to inform module and programme development and discussion at Boards of Studies, and in the University’s annual and periodic review of its programmes.
The University’s External Examiner Policy can be found here:
Lists of the University’s external examiners are published:
The reports that examiners write, and the responses that the University makes to them, can also be found on the Academic Services website:
Please note that the examiners are identified for information only; as indicated in the Quality Assurance Agency's Quality Code on External Examining, it is not appropriate for any student to attempt to contact one of the University's External Examiners directly. Examiners have been briefed to not respond to any such attempt, but to notify the University that it has taken place.
If you have issues of concern, these should be raised through the normal processes of feedback , discussion with staff or student representatives, Student-Staff Liaison Committee, or if necessary the Student Complaints Procedure or Academic Appeals Procedure.
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