External Examining

The external examiner system has been in operation in the UK for many years, with the aim of:

• ensuring academic standards are set and maintained and work is properly judged against them
• ensuring student achievement is measured appropriately, is fair, rigorous and in-line with institutional guidelines
• making sure institutions are able to compare standards of awards
  (QAA guidelines for external examiners)

Higher Education has changed dramatically over recent years and there are now issues in external examining which need to be addressed, for example;

• greater student numbers
• more diverse students
• changes in pre-Higher Education curriculum
• new forms of learning and assessment
• professionalisation of teaching
• complex regulation

The TQEC (Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee) has called for a redefinition of the role for external examiners including appropriate training and standardisation of their function, detailed in the TQEC Report (2003).

A collaborative project involving Universities UK, SCoP, AoC, the Higher Education Academy and HEFCE was established as a result of the TQEC report and the subsequent recommendations about the Higher Education Academy role are published in the report Enhancing Support for External Examiners. The recommendations include creating a programme of activities and providing information to institutions wanting to develop their own induction programmes for external examiners and potentially setting up a brokerage service in the form of databases of external examiners.

The QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) has produced a Code of Practice for external examiners and also jointly organised a series of round-table meetings on external examining, a summary of issues raised is available online, summary of QAA meetings.

Directory of Expertise

Instigated by the Centre the Directory of Expertise is designed to assist in the process of matching the needs of university departments with the expertise of academics who are willing to act as external examiners*. If you are a programme leader, the site provides a list of potential external examiners who may be suitable for your course. There is an opportunity for you to plan ahead and arrange for the appointment of a new external examiners well before your existing contracts expire. It will also help you to match the academic expertise with your needs.

If you are an external examiner (or someone who is looking to become an external examiner) the site enables you to make your name available to universities, this will help them to plan. Providing brief information assists in the matching of skills and experience, and is likely to facilitate the appointment process.

Issues Pertinent to External Examining in the Biosciences

In the Bioscience area there are several specific issues in external examining;

• a range of Bioscience degrees with many common modules
• the rapid expansion of knowledge in Bioscience - can any one external examiner keep up with all the areas in which they may be asked to examine?
• students taking a year out (e.g. in industry or overseas). How can the work they complete in this year be graded and credited?
• to what extent can the department exert proper quality assurance over supervision and marking of people outside the department if students take a year out?
• oral (viva) examinations are being terminated in many departments because they are regarded (by some) as unfair

What is being done to enhance External Examining?

A wide variety of advice and resources are available for both external examiners and institutions to enhance the external examining process.

The Higher Education Academy is conducting a research programme aimed at improving the external examining experience. Further details of the Higher Education Academy programme

The National Disability Team (NDT) has produced a checklist for External Examiners to "help develop inclusive provision for disabled students". Download the checklist in pdf or rtf format.

External Examining Audit Tools

The UK Centre for Bioscience offers two Undergraduate External Examining Audit Tools. One for examiners and one for institutions, these are designed to help examiners and institutions improve various aspects of the external examining process.

Further information and the audit tools

Discussion summaries

The Higher Education Academy runs an external examiners' discussion forum. Once a topic seemed to have been dealt with to the satisfaction of members, one of the previous list facilitators, Professor John Cowan, produced a series of discussion summaries relating to various external examining topics. These summaries are intended to represent the general thinking of a thoughtful and thinking selection of external examiners and it is hoped that they will be useful to anyone who is interested in the issues they address. Summaries include:

• What do we get from being an external examiner?
• Considering student work in advance
• Should external examiners meet students?
• Moderation?
• Reporting - to whom, and how?
• The function of an external examiner revisited
• Compensation for disability
• Payment

Further details of the Higher Education Academy programme relating to External Examining