Examination boards - Academic Registry and Council Secretariat

Examination boards are the committees responsible for the management of assessment, progression and award decisions. Queen Mary has a two-tier examination board system; school, institute or discipline-based Subject Examination Boards (SEBs) set assessments, approve assessment results and progression outcomes, and make award recommendations to the award-based Degree Examination Boards (DEBs).

Subject Examination Boards are managed by staff in academic schools and institutes, while Degree Examination Boards are managed directly by the Academic Registry and Council Secretariat (ARCS). Subject Examination Boards are quality assured and attended by external examiners, while external members – Academic Registrars from other UK universities - fulfil the same role for the Degree Examination Boards.

These pages are designed for staff involved in the management of examination boards, and include key policy documents, document templates, details of current examination board chairs and officers, and examination board dates for the current academic year. For further information on examination boards, assessment processes or the Academic Regulations, please contact Simon Hayter.

Coronavirus: Assessment, Progression and Award Guidance

In 2019/20 Queen Mary agreed a “no detriment” policy for finalists and continuing students, this was followed by agreement that all 2020/21 examinations (with the exception of clinical examinations in SMD) will be conducted as online, open book assessments.

To mitigate the subsequent effects of the pandemic on all students in 2020/21 a set of Covid mitigation measures were agreed with the Students’ Union. ARCS has provided the following guidance to bring together the policy from 2019/20 and the Mitigation measure to aid SEBs in the consideration of student results at the 2020/21 Examination Boards.

Exam Board Briefing 2020-21 [PDF 400KB]

Staff are also reminded of the FAQs provided via the Advisor Hub and those FAQs provided to students through the MyQMUL pages.

Appointing SEB Chairs/Deputy Chairs

When appointing a new SEB Chair or Deputy Chair, please contact Alice de Havillan with a short emailed nomination from the Head of School or Institute. Please also let us know if the Secretary to the board has changed, or if there are any other new contacts to add to the mailing lists. For other changes to SEBs, please contact Simon Hayter for advice.

Policy documents

Useful information & Links

Document templates

SEBs must use these approved templates in all cases.