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  1. Directorate of Governance and Legal Services (DGLS)
  2. Quality and Standards
  3. External examiners
  4. External examiners - info for staff

External examiners: information for staff

This page provides information and guidance to staff about the external examiner System at Queen Mary. External examiners and external members have their own page from which to view and download guidance, regulations and templates, which can be accessed here.

External examiners form an integral part of the quality assurance and enhancement processes at Queen Mary.  The purpose of the external examiner system is:

  • to ensure that Queen Mary’s degrees are comparable in standard to those awarded by other UK universities;
  • to ensure fairness and consistency in assessment procedures and student classification;
  • to scrutinise the effectiveness and appropriateness of the assessment system; and
  • to assure the wider community of the standard of Queen Mary's degrees, and of the fairness of its assessment procedures

Overview of the external examiner system at Queen Mary

The Appointment, Briefing and Role of External Examiners and Members [PDF 458KB]

Procedures for the appointment of external examiners and external members

SEB Chairs should consult with colleagues on potential nominees for the role of external examiner.  Nominees must meet the following criteria:

External Examiner Criteria for Appointment [PDF 294KB] (from the UK Quality Code for HE, Chapter B7 )

The deadline for nominations is 30 June for appointments to start the following September, and completed forms should be sent to Alice de Havillan with a CV, of no more than two pages.  External examiners appointments run from 1st September to 31st December 4 years later.

External Examiner Nomination form [DOC 50KB]

External examiners are normally appointed for four years.  In exceptional circumstances a further fifth year extension may be possible.  The extension request form below, requires SEBs to provide justification for these exceptional cases.  The form must be completed by the SEB and returned to Alice de Havillan

External examiner extension request form [DOC 39KB] (Word document)

External examiner fee payment forms for Schools

Please email the completed fee form to Alice de Havillan, Academic Quality and Standards Officer. The Directorate of Governance and Legal Services (DGLS) will then add in necessary details such as the personal details form, make records of the payment, and pass the completed papers to Human Resources for payment.

Fee calculation charts:

Right to work Checks - SEBs are required to carry out right to work checks for all new external examiners.  This is usually carried out when externals first visit Queen Mary for the Exam Board and the verified documentation sent to DGLS with the payment instruction.  This check only needs to be carried out in the first year of appointment. This is an HR requirement for fee payment and guidance can be found on the HR webpages: http://hr.qmul.ac.uk/workqm/righttowork/.

Should you require any further information or advice with regards to any matter relating to External Examiners, please contact Alice de Havillan, Academic Quality and Standards Officer.

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