Intro

This area has been designed to provide external examiners with access to the latest information regarding University of West London (UWL) quality assurance procedures and practices. The area will be updated so your feedback on current content and suggestions for improvement would be appreciated. Please email any comments you may have to quality@uwl.ac.uk.

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News

  • The Academic Regulations and Emergency Academic Regulations 2023-24 have been published and are available to download. Please contact quality@uwl.ac.uk with any queries.

    A laptop, phone, cup of coffee and notepad and pen on top of a wooden table
  • The External Examiner online Induction course is now available on Blackboard. If you are a new External Examiner and have not yet attended an induction event or you are a current External Examiner and would like a refresher course, contact us to enrol on the next course.

    Blackboard virtual learning environment logo
  • A set of Emergency Regulations has been drafted to enable the academic processes of assessment, marking and moderation, and the confirmation of marks and awards to continue during any period of disruption. These changes apply to students registered in the current academic year, including any students undertaking resits or retakes this year. 

    Clinician typing on a laptop with bare arms and medical equipment next to her.
  • The Academic Regulations and Emergency Academic Regulations 2023-24 have been published and are available to download. Please contact quality@uwl.ac.uk with any queries.

    A laptop, phone, cup of coffee and notepad and pen on top of a wooden table
  • The External Examiner online Induction course is now available on Blackboard. If you are a new External Examiner and have not yet attended an induction event or you are a current External Examiner and would like a refresher course, contact us to enrol on the next course.

    Blackboard virtual learning environment logo
  • A set of Emergency Regulations has been drafted to enable the academic processes of assessment, marking and moderation, and the confirmation of marks and awards to continue during any period of disruption. These changes apply to students registered in the current academic year, including any students undertaking resits or retakes this year. 

    Clinician typing on a laptop with bare arms and medical equipment next to her.

Roles and responsibilities

student studying for examination on a wooden desk with a white cup in front

The role of External Examiners is to:

  • Be consulted on, and approve the form and content of proposed coursework and examinations and other assessments and reassessment that count towards the modules for which they are responsible.
  • Have access to all, or if agreed, a sample of summatively assessed work on the modules they are responsible for.
  • Moderate the marks awarded by internal examiners and consider all available information relating to modules they are responsible for, and to raise any issues at the Module Assessment Board.
Academic books and notepad with pen
  • Be consulted on and approve the recommendations for award and progression for all students on awards for which they are responsible. 
  • Participate as required in any review of decisions about individual students’ outcomes taken during their term of appointment at Award Boards or Joint Assessment Boards.
  • Occasionally, advise on proposed amendments to modules/courses.
  • Where appropriate, have the opportunity to meet with students

Key activities

Pencil and paper

Following your appointment as an External Examiner, an appointment letter (contract) and induction pack will be sent to you via email by the Academic Quality and Standards Office (AQSO). You must sign the back page of your contract and return it to quality@uwl.ac.uk. It is vital that this is returned in good time in order for your External Examiner profile to be created on the HR online system MyView. MyView allows you to claim for your fees and expenses, access your payslips and P60s and view and amend your personal details. You will also receive an Annual Agreement from the AQSO at the beginning of each academic year, by 31 October.

Pen with receipt and calculator

Although you are not required to sign and return your Annual Agreement, you should check that all the information is accurate and any queries should be directed to quality@uwl.ac.uk. Following you appointment, you will be invited to attend an induction day

You will receive your Annual Report template(s) via email directly from the AQSO in June of each academic year. A School/College representative, usually the Head of School/College, Head of Subject or Course Leader, will respond to the comments made in your Annual Report(s).

Your annual fee will subsequently be paid to you by the relevant UWL School/College on receipt of your annual report(s).

  • Annual Agreement

    The Annual Agreement contains:

    • Course/module information
    • UWL School/College contact details
    • Dates of assessments boards
    • Fee band
  • Additional duties

    Depending on the requirements of a particular subject or course, you may be called upon to undertake the observation of clinical practice, performance, practical examinations or viva voce as part of your agreed annual duties and fees as set out in your Annual Agreement.

    In addition, you may also be asked to review course amendments which is normally included in your annual fee or an additional fee may be negotiated with the School/College.

Induction

A group of students in a lecture room working.

As an External Examiner, you are required to attend an induction day following your appointment by the University. The AQSO organise several induction days throughout the year. If you are unable to attend any of the induction days, alternative arrangements can be made. This section covers most of the information that is included in the induction day.

The induction days cover the following areas:

  • Introduction to the University
  • Your role as an External Examiner
  • The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) - Blackboard
  • The operation of assessment boards and your participation in these
  • Claiming fees and expenses
Attendees speaking to University staff

The induction also allows the opportunity to network with other External Examiners and meet with your School/College academic contact over lunch. You will receive the following documentation during the induction day to assist you in your role:

To obtain further details and/or book yourself on to an induction day please contact quality@uwl.ac.uk.

Annual reporting

The submission deadlines for the External Examiner Annual Report 2020-21 have now passed. If you have any queries about your submission please email quality@uwl.ac.uk

All External Examiners will receive a response to their annual report, from the School/College and Academic Partner (where applicable), via quality@uwl.ac.uk. The final deadline set for returning responses to you are: 

  • for undergraduate courses end of October 2021. 

  • for postgraduate courses end of November 2021. 

If you have not received a response within this timeframe please notify quality@uwl.ac.uk

  • Will I receive a written response to my report?

    Yes, this will be sent to you following consideration of your report by the School/College.

  • More information

    In your report, you should express any concerns about standards and performance, particularly if it is considered that assessments are being conducted in a way that jeopardises either the fair treatment of individual students or the standards of the University awards. If you have cause to complain about this or any other fundamental issues, you should write directly to the Academic Quality and Standards Office or to the Vice-Chancellor. 

     External Examiners are also entitled to raise any issues that could have an adverse effect on the quality of staff or student experience, but which do not fall directly within the report (e.g. academic/administrative/management relationships within the University). These should be notified directly to quality@uwl.ac.uk. â€Ż 

    Following the submission of your annual report we will write to you to acknowledge receipt and where we deem your report to be satisfactory, we will instruct you to claim for your annual fee via MyView.  

    You can find instructions for how to submit your fee claim on the Fees and Expenses section. If you face any difficulties in logging in to MyView please contact the UWL IT Services on 0300 111 4895 (for UWL username and password) and HR at HR-Selfservice@uwl.ac.uk (for staff number and MyView password). 

Assessment

A student wearing a yellow jumper sitting at a table by a window using a laptop

As an External Examiner, you will be present for detailed reviews of the standards achieved by students in the modules in your specialist field. You will be asked to review assessment briefs and examination papers prior to the assessment being administered to students.

You are a full member of the appropriate Module Assessment Board (MAB) and will exercise your authority in agreeing with the final list of module marks to be forwarded to the relevant Award Board/Student Progress Board (SPB).

Appropriate External Examiners are present at Assessment Boards and sign off the relevant matrix for each cohort of each course to ratify the decisions of the board.

A student and a tutor a looking at the laptop in the library during their academic workshop session

Although recommendations of External Examiners should be given due weight, External Examiners do not have the authority to unilaterally change marks.

You are asked, however, to be especially vigilant in ensuring that judgements made by assessors and boards about the academic standards of students are acceptable, and to ask that any concerns they have be minuted at the board in question.

Assessment Board dates are set annually by the individual Schools/Colleges and should be included in your Annual Agreement.

For any queries relating to Assessment Board dates, please contact the main administrative School contact as listed in the contact us section. See the Academic Regulations for regulations governing assessment.

Resignation or termination

Two people looking at sheet of paper with calculator

An appointment may be terminated by either party, normally subject to three months notice. If you find that you are no longer able to continue with your appointment, please inform the Head of School/College and quality@uwl.ac.uk at the University in writing as soon as possible. 

The University’s decision to terminate a contract early will be made by the Academic Board on the advice of the Director of Quality Assurance and informed by the views of the Head of School/College.

  • Determining factors

    The decision to terminate may be based on one or more of a number of factors, including:

    • changes to the curriculum/deletion of courses
    • failure to carry out duties in accordance with the contract and Annual Agreement
    • conflict of interest through changed circumstances
    • evidence that your application / CV are inaccurate
    • evidence that you do not have the right to work in the UK
    • evidence that your judgement / reporting is insufficiently thorough, critical or objective.

Handbook guides and templates

The Academic Quality and Standards Handbook has 10 sections. The most relevant section for you as an external examiner is Section 7: External Examining.

For all other forms relating to External Examiners such as application forms, guidance and response templates, please contact quality@uwl.ac.uk

Other useful publications include:

Fees and expenses

Your fee is agreed annually and is detailed in your Annual Letter. If you are asked to undertake additional duties for which an additional fee is agreed in advance these should be claimed online as and when incurred.

You are required to complete a claim for fees annually and expenses as and when incurred. Claims for expenses must be made promptly; where expenditure is claimed that was incurred more than three months before the claim was submitted, payment will not be made. All fee claims and expenses must be made online through MyView. You should have received details regarding the MyView system and how to gain access from our HR department.

Via MyView, you will also be able to view and amend your personal details including contact information and bank details. You will be able to see the status of your claims and receive emails when your claims have been authorised.

Fees are paid monthly directly into your Bank or Building Society account on the 25th of each month or the nearest working day before. In order to guarantee payment in the current month, all claims must be authorised by the 10th of the month.

If you have any difficulties in accessing MyView please email HR-Selfservice@uwl.ac.uk and you should receive a response within 24 hours.

FAQs

Contact us

Academic queries should be directed, in the first instance, to the Course Leader whose contact details are provided in your Annual Agreement. For any other queries, please contact quality@uwl.ac.uk.