External Examiner Criteria and Forms
How to find a new external examiner?
The majority of external examiner nominations arise through connections generated through academic networks, and programme and module teams may be able to suggest a number of potential external examiners to approach, subject to them meeting the criteria listed below. Occasionally, it can be difficult to find an appropriate candidate through these usual methods and the School may consider advertising your vacancy through the UK sector-wide JISC mail list for past and current external examiners and those interested in becoming examiners.
How do I appoint a new external examiner?
External examiners have an important role in offering an independent evaluation on the standards and quality of the provision offered at Edinburgh Napier University. In accordance with the QAA's Quality Code, in January 2012, criteria for the appointment of external examiners was approved. The criteria can be found below. Once you and your School Quality SAL are satisfied that the potential external examiner meets the criteria and once they have agreed to be nominated, you should complete the External Examiner Application Form and send it to Quality & Standards, quality@napier.ac.uk . Once Quality & Standards are satisfied that the candidate meets the criteria they will confirm this to you which then allows the School to start the HR and University appointment process via SITS and HR Connect. Schools should also note that they will need to raise a SAF for any new appointment.
EE1 Application 2015.docx
Criteria for the appointment of new external examiners
Principles
1. The standing, expertise and experience of examiners should be adequate to maintain academic standards in the context of higher education as a whole.
2. Academic/ professional qualifications of examiners should be appropriate to the programme of study/ module to be examined, with both the level and the subject(s) of those qualifications generally matching what is to be examined.
Overarching Criteria
1. External Examiners should be drawn from a wide variety of institutional/professional contexts and traditions in order that the programme of study benefits from wide-ranging external scrutiny. There should not be:
- more than one External Examiner from the same institution in the team of external examiners
- reciprocal external examining between staff in a subject area at Napier and another institution
- replacement of an External Examiner by an individual from the same institution or from an institution which has been the source of examiners for the subject area in the past five years.
2. External Examiners should not normally hold more than two substantial external examining appointments including Napier.
3. External Examiners must be impartial in making their judgements and should have no previous close involvement with the University which might compromise their objectivity. In particular an External Examiner should not have been, during the past five years:
- A member of staff, a court member, a student, or a near relative of a member of staff involved with the programme of study
- An examiner on a cognate programme of study in the University
- A consultant to a programme of study team on programme of study design
4. A proposed External Examiner must not be or have been, during the last five years:
- Personally associated with the sponsorship of students
- Required to assess colleagues who are recruited as students to the programme of study
- In a position to influence significantly the future of students on the programme of study
5. There should not be any other proposal in progress within Napier University that would affect the External Examiner's eligibility for the proposed period of appointment, e.g. a visiting or honorary appointment.
Appointment Criteria
Appointment criteria are in three categories. External Examiners must meet at least one of the stated requirements in each of Categories A, B and C. However, since all applications need to be considered 'in the round', some nominees' experience might be composed of a combination of the criteria within each category.
Eligibility to work in the UK
In addition to the criteria above, as the external examiner will receive a contract of employment from the University for undertaking their role, they must be eligible to work within the UK (evidence to confirm this will be required from the external examiner as part of the formal appointment process).
How many programmes and/or modules can we ask an external examiner to be responsible for?
Module External Examiners should not be considered for duties of less than three modules (unless this is unavoidable in view of the specialist nature of a specific module). Equally External Examiners' workloads should be reasonable in terms of the volume of work and the timescales and deadlines associated with their duties.
How long are external examiners appointed for?
External Examiners normal term of office should be for 4 academic sessions. In exceptional cases, this can be extended by 12 months to make the maximum period of appointment 5 years.
What is the criteria for mentoring an external examiner?
If an external examiner is exceptionally appointed, for example they have no recent experience in external examining, then they must be supported by a mentor for the first 12 months of their appointment. The following criteria should be used to appoint a mentor:
a) a mentor must be an experienced external examiner;
b) a member of School staff with relevant experience in external examining would be the preferred first choice;
c) any experienced external examiner appointed within the School may act as a mentor as long as they are willing to do so, and that it does not detract from the main task of external examining;
d) a mentor may look after any number of inexperienced colleagues (subject to point c) above) but should be aware that there is no additional payment allotted to the mentoring role.