Summary of replies concerning ‘auditors’: their existence and the fees charged to them

Summary of replies concerning ‘auditors’: their existence and the fees charged to them

Justine Shepard

These replies were in response to a query posted by Justine Shepard, Registry Officer in the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford in the scotcat-cats and continuing-education in email lists managed by Mailbase, whose web address is The query was:

I am writing to enquire whether any other members permit 'auditors', ie students who attend a module (pg or ug) on a non-assessed basis.

If you do, could you let me have information about the amount that such students would pay as a fee? Are they required to pay the full module fee or a reduced amount

Name Of Institution / Contact Name / Are Auditors Accepted? / Name given to such students / What Fee Is Charged? / Other Comments
University of Cambridge / Linda Fisher, CE / Y / Non-assessed / Standard module fee
Cheltenham & Gloucester CHE / Gillian Brooks / Y / Associate students / Standard module fee / No official arrangements for students to be non-assessed.
Coventry University / Sarah Williams / Y / Associate students
Listeners / 80% of standard module fee
£1 per lecture / If students opt later to be assessed, they then pay the admin fee of a further 20%. Associates can only be assessed for two modules in any one year.
‘Listener’ students are allowed to attend up to half the lectures attached to any one module. Fees are refunded if the student subsequently enrols on the full module. More than one module can be taken at once.
University of Essex / Joanne Tallentire, Asst Registrar / Y / Occasional students / Slight fee differential / Recently approved in principle
University of Glasgow / Phillippa Freegard, CE / Y / Non-assessed / Standard module fee / Offer a type of course called ‘opt-in assessment’ where only a minority are assessed
Name Of Institution / Contact Name / Are Auditors Accepted? / Name given to such students / What Fee Is Charged? / Other Comments
Glasgow Caledonian University / Frank Brown / Y / Assocate students / £185 (20-pt module), £225 (‘lab-intensive’ modules) / Maximum of 80 credits allowed under this arrangement
University of Hull / Andrew Holmes, CE
Ric Halliwell, Snr Asst Regr / N (in CE)/Y (in mainstream) / Occasional students / 5% of standard f-t fee / Fewer than 5 per year take this up - mainly in Theology(!)
Institute of Education / Michael McGarvie, CPD / Y / Special Course students / Standard module fee minus examination fee / Must meet normal postgraduate entry requirements
University of Kent / Amanda Riley / Y / Occasional students / Initial admin fee plus an amount based on no of classes attended (higher than standard module fee) / Student must obtain written agreement of course convenor
Kingston University / Anita Walsh / Y / Associate students / Standard module fee
University of Leeds / Diane Jacks, CE
Rebecca O’Rourke, CE / N / N/A / N/A / If this was permitted the student would bear a proportion of the full cost of the curse (ie without the HEFCE funding)
University of Liverpool / Grahame Settle / Y / General students / Standard module fee (though negot.) / Not permitted to students on award-bearing courses
University of Luton / Jan Howlett / Y / No special name given / Reduced module fee / Have also developed special ‘taster’ modules
University of Manchester / David Riley / Y / Auditors / Reduced module fee
University of Oxford / Justine Shepard, CE / Y / Auditors/non-assessed students / Standard module fee / Policy applies only in Department for Continuing Education and is under review.
Name Of Institution / Contact Name / Are Auditors Accepted? / Name given to such students / What Fee Is Charged? / Other Comments
University of Paisley / Bill Steele / Y / No special name given / Standard module fee
Southampton Institute / Zita Eckett, Registry / Y / No special name given / Standard module fee / Have also developed special ‘taster’ modules
University of Southampton / Maureen Barraclough, CE / Y / No special name given / Standard module fee
University of Stirling / Mike Osborne, Head of Educational Policy & Devt / Y / No special name given / Free (!) / Found that applying a charge was uneconomic given no’s involved.
University of Surrey / Faith Butt, CE / Y / No special name given / Standard module fee / Considering higher fee
University of Sussex / Sara Hinchliffe / N / N/A / N/A
University of Wolverhampton / Harvey Woolf / Y / Associate students / Standard module fee

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