External examiner FAQs

You should familiarise yourself with the information provided on this web page including guidance for external examiners (PDF- 575KB) and relevant Codes of Practice and legislation. You should also familiarise yourself with the programme(s) and/or modules that you examine, including the programme aims, learning outcomes, curriculum and teaching and assessment strategies. This information can be found in the information that is provided by the School. You should also familiarise yourself with external reference points, such as QAA Subject Benchmark Statements and OfS sector-recognised standards, as well as the requirements of any Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies.

You may also find it useful to familiarise yourself with the University principles for Generative Artificial Intelligence and its Role within Teaching, Learning and Assessment. On this webpage, under 'Useful Resources and Links', you will also find a copy of the University's Degree Classification Descriptors. These are to be used by Schools to support marking and moderation processes and Board of Examiner meetings. Further information is available from the School.

The relevant legislation section of this external examiners web page contains links to the University’s legislation pages, assessment regulations and relevant Codes of Practice, including the Code of Practice on External Examining (Taught Provision) and the Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment and Feedback.

The University's procedures for external examining are to be found in the Code of Practice on External Examining (Taught Provision). The relevant legislation section of this external examiners web page contains links to the University’s legislation pages, assessment regulations and relevant Codes of Practice, including the current Code of Practice on External Examining (Taught Provision).

The University’s policy on marking and moderation of assessment is contained within the University’s Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment and Feedback. The relevant legislation section of this external examiners web page contains links to the University’s legislation pages, assessment regulations and relevant Codes of Practice, including the current Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment and Feedback.

The expectations for feedback on assessments are outlined in the University’s Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment and Feedback. The relevant legislation section of this external examiners web page contains links to the University’s legislation pages, assessment regulations and relevant Codes of Practice, including the current Code of Practice on Taught Programme and Module Assessment and Feedback.

One of the main roles of the external examiner is to scrutinise the marking and moderation procedures of the University. We do not ask external examiners to determine marks for individual students, but to consider, and provide feedback on, the consistency and accuracy of marking across a cohort by reviewing the marking within each module, and between modules of the same level.

External examiners should be provided with all draft examination papers and other major pieces of assessment that contribute to the final award for comment and approval, together with model answers, where appropriate. Where you have provided suggestions for amendment, Schools should reply to you to confirm how your advice has been acted upon. The School will inform you of your role with respect to work samples, but as a general rule, the following list gives an idea of what you should be looking at:

• The work sample should be from across the full mark range;
• There should be a clear indication of how a mark has been arrived at;
• There should be evidence of the moderation process (e.g. markers’ comments);
• Markers’ comments should map on to the relevant marking criteria and reflect the mark awarded

This web page provides information for external examiners about submitting a report and how we respond.

External examiners are considered full members of the Board of Examiners. Dates for the Boards of Examiners meetings should be communicated to you by the School well in advance. External examiners attend Board of Examiners meetings to scrutinise and endorse the outcomes of the assessment process to which they have been appointed, confirming a set of results at module-level and/or the decisions taken (e.g. awards, withdrawals) at programme level, as appropriate (where a team of external examiners is appointed, a representative may be identified to endorse programme-level decisions). Decisions made outside of the Board of Examiners (e.g., via Chair Action) are to be endorsed by the external examiner.

Yes - the University encourages external examiners to meet with representative groups of students in order to discuss their experiences of the programme of study, so you can provide useful feedback to the School. Please see the 'Opportunity to meet with students' section of the induction page for further details.

This web page provides information about the payment of external examiner fees and expenses.

This web page provides information about the payment of external examiner fees and expenses.

Under no circumstances should students attempt to contact an External Examiner and External Examiners are not permitted to respond to contacts made by third parties including students or their representatives. If any such contacts are attempted, you should report the details immediately to the University, through the Head of School. If a student is found to have contacted an External Examiner they may be subject to University disciplinary procedures as set out in Regulation 8: Conduct.

Please notify us immediately if you move to another institution during your period of appointment.  You can inform the administrative team in the School, or inform Registry via externalexaminers@contacts.bham.ac.uk. The University will carry out any necessary checks to ensure that your change in circumstances does not result in a conflict of interest being created.

During your 4-year tenure there may come a point where you feel that, because of a change in your own circumstances, you are unable to continue your duties as external examiner. If this should occur the University would be grateful if you would notify us in writing, giving a three-month notice period. Letters of resignation should be sent to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) and the Head of School via externalexaminers@contacts.bham.ac.uk.