This Information Is Intended As a Quick List to Supplement the Full Details of the Criteria

This information is intended as a ‘quick list’ to supplement the full details of the criteria an External Examiner must fit. The Rights and Responsibilities of an External Examiner can be found in the document Regulations for the Appointment and the Responsibilities of External Examiners which is an Appendix to the current Assessment Regulations and is downloadable from the GCU website here.

The GCU policy relating to External Examiners which can be found in Section 9 of the Quality Enhancement and Assurance Handbook,is downloadable from the GCU website here.

The Quality Enhancement Webpageson the GCU website,has specific pages relating to External Examinersincluding the External Examiner Handbook, and the EXT forms.

Timescales

-Recruitment for a new External Examiner should start one year in advance of the commencement of their appointment. E.g. If you wish your External Examiner to start in Sept 2017, then you should identify a suitable candidate during September 2016.

-An EXT1 form proposing the appointment of an External Examiner should be submitted to Academic Quality (AQ) 2 trimesters in advance of the commencement of the appointment. E.g. If you wish your External Examiner to start in Sept 2017, then you should forward the EXT1 form to AQ by the end of Week 1 in Trimester B of 2017 (end January).

-AQ will hold an External Examiner Approval Panel once per Trimester, circa Week 4. All EXT forms to be considered by the Panel should be submitted to AQ no later than Week 1 of that Trimester. Decisions of the Panel will be communicated to the Schools circa Week 5 (within 7 days of the Panel meeting).

-Induction and Briefing Events for newly appointed External Examiners will be held during Trimester A of each Academic Year, circa Week 6. Programme Leaders will be asked to attend part of this one day event where they have a newly appointed External Examiner in attendance.

Paperwork

-Proposals for the appointment of a new External Examiner should be made using the EXT1 form. As long as the form is fully completed, there is no need to submit a CV with this form. This form can be downloaded from the GCU websitehere.

-Proposals for a change to the tenure or duties of an existing External Examiner should be made using the EXT2 form. This form can be downloaded from the GCU websitehere.

-All EXT applications submitted to AQ should have completed the internal scrutiny processes by the relevant Programme Board and LTQ Committee and be endorsed with the approval of the School ADLTQ or their representative. This information should be noted on the form itself and be further evidenced with an extract of minute of meeting if required.

Criteria for the Appointment of External Examiners

Full details of the criteria an External Examiner should meet are detailed in the Regulations for the Appointment and the Responsibilities of External Examiners. Below is a quick-list, but this list is not exhaustive. Programme Leaders are advised to refer to the Regulations in full to ensure that the proposed Examiner meets the full criteria.

The Proposed External Examiner:

-External Examiners should have academic/professional qualifications to at least the level of the module/programme to be assessed, and appropriate to the discipline.

-External Examiners should have suitable standing, expertise and experience to maintain comparability of standards.

-External Examiners should have recent External Examining or comparable related experience. If there is no recent or comparable experience, mentoring may be required.

-External Examiners should not have previous close involvement with the institution (within 5 years). They should be impartial.

-External Examiners should not come from an institution where a member of the Programme/Module Team is an External Examiner.

-External Examiners should not come from the institution of the External Examiner they are replacing, or from the same institution as a previous External Examiner (within 5 years).

-Where required by PSRB’s, the External Examiner will have appropriate PSRB registration.

Within the External Examining Team:

-There should be a balance and range of expertise, both professional and academic, amongst the External Examiners appointed.

-External Examiner appointments should be phased to ensure continuity.

-There should not be more than one External Examiner from the same institution within the team.

-In larger External Examining Teams, a Chief Examiner may be required to take an overview of the subject/programme area ensuring that a consistent standard is maintained.

Any Other Queries

If you have any other queries, please contact your School LTQ Representative, or Academic Quality and Development.

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