External examiners
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Roles and responsibilities
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.
- 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
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.
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).
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Annual Agreement
The Annual Agreement contains:
- Course/module information
- UWL School/College contact details
- Dates of assessments boards
- Fee band
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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
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
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.
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Proof of right to work in the UK
In order to comply with the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2006, all external examiners must supply original documentation to the University proving that they have a right to work in the United Kingdom.
This documentation will be sent to HR for their records. For further information please contact hrservices@uwl.ac.uk.
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Advance HE Professional Development Course
Unfortunately, the University of West London is no longer delivering the Advance HE Professional Development Course for External Examiners. Please access the Advance HE website to identify an alternative delivery location.
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I cannot attend the External Examiners induction day, what should I do?
An online induction course is also available via Blackboard if you are unable to attend an induction day.
Please inform the Academic Quality and Standards Office on quality@uwl.ac.uk if you are unable to attend an induction day so that alternative arrangements can be made.
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:
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for undergraduate courses end of October 2021.
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for postgraduate courses end of November 2021.
If you have not received a response within this timeframe please notify quality@uwl.ac.uk.
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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.
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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.
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
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.
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
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.
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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.
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What is my annual fee?
Your fee band is stated on your Annual Agreement which is sent to you annually by the Academic Quality and Standards Office.
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When do I claim my annual fee?
You will be required to claim your fee following submission of your annual report.
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How do I claim my fees and expenses?
All fee claims and expenses must be made online through MyView.
You are required to complete a claim for fees annually. You can claim for expenses as and when incurred.
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I have submitted by fees and/or expense claim through MyView but have not been paid, what do I do?
Please direct all queries regarding payment of fees and expenses to your School/College contact, as listed in the contact us section.
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Where can I find guidance on travel and other expenses?
The full expenses policy and financial regulations are available from the Finance section of the UWL website.
FAQs
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I have changed my place of work/correspondence address, who should I notify?
Please email quality@uwl.ac.uk and your School/College contact to notify UWL of any change to your email and/or your correspondence address.
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Will I have a mentor?
Appointment of a mentor will be considered when the proposed External Examiner:
- has no previous experience of external examining, and
- has no other equivalent external experience (eg auditing), and
- will not be working as part of a team (with other more experienced External Examiners).
In such an event, in additional to the External Examiners induction you will be assigned an experienced mentor for the first academic year of your appointment, to offer you support and advice within the relevant School/College.
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What course am I responsible for? Which modules do I examine?
Details of the course(s)/subject area are contained initially in your contract and updated annually in your Annual Agreement.
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Who sees my report?
The Academic Quality and Standards Office will receive your report in the first instance. The report will also be sent to the relevant School/College and/or Academic Partner (if applicable). Your report will also be made available to students.
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I have forgotten my MyView login and password, what should I do?
Please contact HR-Selfservice@uwl.ac.uk.
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Will I have to attend all assessment board meetings?
You should attend relevant assessment board meetings, a minimum of two per academic year. The relevant School/College Administrative Officer can provide you with details regarding assessment boards. Additionally, provisional dates for assessment boards should be in your Annual Agreement.
If you are unable to attend, you should still be involved in the process, either by phone or Microsoft Teams.
Please contact the relevant School/College Administrative Officer as soon as possible if you are unable to attend an assessment board.
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When will I receive work to examine?
You will receive work from the relevant School/College, normally via the University's VLE Blackboard.
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Where can I find information on Blackboard?
Please refer to the Blackboard pages.
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I am an External Examiner for an Academic Partner, do I need to complete a separate report?
No, a separate report is no longer required, however if you do examine course/modules delivered by an academic partner, you will need to explicitly make reference to this in your annual report.
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Where can I find further information on external examining?
Advance HE provides a handbook on external examining which provides a useful introduction and case studies for new External Examiners.
The Quality Assurance Agency has a theme within the UK Quality Code for Higher Education on External Expertise
These can be accessed from the handbooks guides and templates section.
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.
