Briefing note on UUK - SCOP - QAA jointly sponsored

'Round Table 2' discussion meetings
External Examining

Introduction

The Code of practice: External Examining (the Code) was published in January 2000, with an expectation that institutions would be making progress with implementing the guidance it contains by 2001. Now that almost two years have passed since the latter date, it is timely to review the extent to which the Code is proving useful to institutions and how readily it is being implemented.

An expert group has been convened to consider the Code. The group has met twice, on 25 March 2003 and 5 June 2003. To obtain feedback from a wider constituency, a Round Table meeting was held in London on 8 April 2003 and was attended by representatives from a range of institutions.

This briefing note summarises the feedback obtained on this section of the Code from the participants in the Round Table meeting, indicating where some clarification and/or amendments might be helpful.

Summary of discussions

1 General issues

1.1 There is general agreement that the Code is, on the whole, appropriate and that the guidance it contains is helpful to higher education institutions. As a result, it is suggested that major revisions are not required.

1.2 There is a consensus that this part of the Code should continue to be based on existing UK-wide agreements and expectations, while acknowledging that institutions use different structures of examination boards and systems.

1.3 Several related developments have occurred recently that have a bearing on the Code. Among the most relevant are HEFCE proposals for the publication of information provided by and to external examiners, including their reports, and for their formal training/induction.

1.4 It is not yet clear how these proposals will be implemented. There may be legal implications arising from the publication of information requirements, but the main points relate to the impact on recruitment of the need for formal training and professional development for external examiners. Any additional demands on their time are likely to limit the range of external examining duties they can be expected to undertake.

1.5 More detailed analysis of the existing roles and powers of external examiners would be helpful. This would provide clear information on the range of roles they are currently asked to undertake and would help to share good practice. It might also encourage institutions to think more broadly about how their external examiners can best support them in maintaining academic standards.

1.6 Although it is outside the Agency's remit to provide advice about how much external examiners should be paid (Code, page 5, paragraph 12), there is concern about fees issues. Some institutions report increasing difficulty in recruiting suitable external examiners. Reasons include:

greater expectations of the duties external examiners should undertake, 'professionalisation' of the role and general workload requirements; and
inconsistent, and in many cases inadequate, levels of payment, especially in disciplines that need to attract external examiners from professional bodies. A lack of resources can also inhibit the use of external examiners based overseas.

2 Issues for further clarification/guidance

As mentioned above, there was agreement by the expert group and participants in the Round Table meeting that changes to this section of the Code were likely to be minor. The following points arose in discussing how the Code might be updated to provide clearer guidance in some areas.

2.1 Nomination, appointment and termination

Equal opportunities

It is important that equal opportunities should be observed in all three of these activities, taking account of the new Acts:
- Data Protection Act 1998
- Freedom of Information Act 2000
- Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000
- Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

Nomination and appointment

External examiners are normally appointed by the institution, on the advice of the faculty, school or department.
A variety of practice exists across institutions in nominating and appointing external examiners. Different criteria are used to assess their suitability, including providing references, curricula vitae, etc. Ensuring that external examiners are up to date with professional standards and academic reference points should be part of the selection process. There are differing views about whether letters of appointment or formal contracts should be used.

Termination

Little information is available about the frequency of and criteria for termination of external examiners' contracts, eg failure to provide a report.

2.2 Induction and training

Preparatory material

There is variation in the amount and range of information sent to external examiners to prepare them for their role. The institution usually provides generic guidance for external examiners and subject staff supply all information relating to the programme/module that is being examined. The latter normally includes:
- a description of how examining processes work at departmental/school level;
- marking schemes and criteria; and
- details of how marks contribute to the programme/module assessment.

Induction and training

Since in most cases external examiners are appointed by the institution, it is appropriate to provide central induction and training, combined with supplementary briefings from the department, school or faculty they are working with. Some institutions rely on the information given to external examiners, together with attendance at examination boards, to provide sufficient induction and do not offer special training.
Some institutions have well-developed probationary and continuing professional development programmes for staff which include training in the assessment of students, both as an internal and external examiner. Nevertheless, the expectation is that the recruiting institution should provide some supplementary guidance on what it expects from its external examiners.
External examiners drawn from industrial/professional/business communities should receive similar induction and training as examiners drawn from academic backgrounds, particularly because they need to familiarise themselves with the higher education environment. Some institutions report difficulties in persuading such external examiners to participate in the induction process.
There is little support for a formal, national training programme for external examiners that would be a pre-requisite of appointment. Much more appropriate is exposure to the work of examiners in practice, through gaining experience in assessment processes at the individual's home institution, including attendance at examination boards. Acquiring this experience might include working alongside an experienced external examiner, for example acting as a second external examiner in a viva voce examination.

2.3 Range of roles of external examiners

Coverage

There is agreement that the external examining process should cover three main areas:
- maintaining academic standards;
- commenting on student performance;
- ensuring that fair and robust procedures are in place for assessing students.
In some cases, for example in a tiered examination structure, it cannot be expected that a single external examiner should cover all three roles. External examiners are asked to participate in a wide range of additional activities, some of which may be more appropriately carried out by other external advisors.

Student progress

Practice varies with respect to involving external examiners in decisions about student progress. In some institutions, external examiners are not involved in any assessment at level 1 or below. Others involve external examiners in decisions concerning conferment of awards but not in progress decisions. Some institutions invite external examiners to attend progress boards as part of their widening participation policy so that intermediate qualifications can be verified at previously defined exit points.

Endorsement and 'signing off' of assessment decisions

The extent to which external examiners are involved in endorsing the assessment decisions of internal examiners varies between institutions. Some are asked to 'sign off' decisions of examination boards they attend, for example by signing a document recording the final decisions of the board. Other institutions do not require external examiners to give formal approval of assessment decisions. It follows that the authority of the external examiner to influence assessment decisions varies between institutions.

2.4 Roles of external examiners within different assessment structures

Tiered examination boards and modular structures

The remit of external examiners who fulfil different roles within differing examination structures and at different levels, including examining modular, inter- and multi-disciplinary programmes needs to be made clearer. For example, the role of an external examiner of a single module often differs from the role of a programme level examiner within a tiered examination board/modular system.
Differentiation between the subject specialist/process specialist external examiner is not seen to be helpful by some academic staff, although professional bodies think that separation of the roles is helpful in defining roles and maintaining academic standards.

2.5 Links between the roles of external examiners and other external roles in establishing and maintaining academic standards and the quality of education

Different external advisory roles

Clarification is needed on the remit and roles of different external advisors, including external examiners. The different groups include:
- academic external examiners;
- academic external reviewers (eg those involved in five or six yearly reviews);
- academic referees who are asked to give advice on new programmes/awards;
- external examiners and reviewers from professional bodies, with and without an academic background;
- other specialist examiners (eg medical practitioners).

Questions raised in discussion of this topic include:

Are practitioners from industry appropriate external examiners or should their role be separate?
Should they be required to have an academic background?
How can institutions recognise the professional competence of practitioners while ensuring that they are competent in the higher education examining process?

2.6 Reporting

HEFCE Teaching Quality Information

It is generally thought that the Code should not refer to the specific requirements for publication of external examining information arising from the HEFCE Teaching Quality Information initiative.
When considering the TQI requirements, the following concerns/issues were raised:
- the need to check that generic reporting principles cover all forms used by institutions for external examiners' reports;
- the impact of these requirements on the induction and training of examiners;
- the additional administrative burdens they might cause; and
- data protection requirements in respect of authorship and individual privacy.
The implications for the nature of reports that external examiners provide, with potentially a less effective contribution to institutional quality assurance processes.
The general view is that external examiners should continue to write privately for the institution. Most institutions use a standard form and ask external examiners to provide a formal report annually, although they may be consulted on additional matters, for example the content and structure of exam papers, or dissertation topics.