Key External Examining updates for 24-25 AY

Faculty Education Teams (FET) and Board Teams to note three key updates to the External Examining (EE) activity for 24-25 AY

1. EE Queries now directed via the Faculty Education Teams

• Academic Policy, Quality and Standards team (APQS), recently underwent a restructure and we’ve now moved to a Faculty Liaison Team model. As part of this change, how we review queries relating to External Examining activity has changed.
• In the first instance, Boards teams should contact your own Faculty for advice. Faculty Education Teams are directly in touch with us and can collate queries to bring to us through the Faculty Liaison model.
• The AcadServ.Examiners <externalexaminers@ucl.ac.uk> mailbox [renamed], may be used for urgent Portico link queries or any issues unresolved at the Faculty level can be progressed to Central team.

2. Nominations, Appointments and Extensions for 24-25 AY and onwards – Faculty approval and/or rationale required

• All nominations and extensions require Faculty approval prior to submitting the MS Forms. Board and Faculty Teams must first discuss their nomination or extension request with the Faculty who must provide a rationale for the request. This rationale should be included in the request form.
• For the straightforward nominations, we ask that Faculty are cognisant of and have agreed to the nomination. A brief rationale is required for nominations that conflict with the criteria for appointment or where a new EE position is being requested (other than for new programmes of study).
• The forms have been updated and new requests submitted will require a Faculty rationale and confirmation from the Faculty colleague
• Please refer to Chapter 9, Section 4 of the Academic Manual for (Section 4.1) criteria for appointment and further guidance on the (Section 4.4.1) nomination and appointment process. There is also an useful checklist on the EE webpage on Nomination and Appointment.
• For External Examiners starting in 24-25 AY, please submit nomination details through ‘External Examiner Details for Nomination Form’ as soon as possible.
• NB: For 24-25 External Examiner Criteria of Appointment (Chap 9 Section 4.1): the previous stipulation that external examiners must not have collaborated with staff or students on a programme in the last five years has been replaced with a stipulation that Exam Board Chairs must assure themselves that potential conflicts of interest are appropriately identified and resolved. 

3. Programme and Module Level Sampling Change

• There has been an update to the External Examining regulations to clarify that External Examiners are asked to provide assurance at the programme level from the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Samples sent to external examiners no longer need to be from every module, but should instead provide a sufficient breadth of material to enable a fair judgment about student performance, and staff assessment and marking practice, across the programme. 
• It is the responsibility of the Board of Examiners to determine the programme level sampling method in consultation with the programme lead.
• Where an External Examiner needs to be assigned to a particular module/s rather than to a programme, they should be sent a sample from the module/s they are assigned to. 

Further guidance will be provided to Faculty Education Teams for wider dissemination.

Contact email for further information: 

• Own Faculty Education Teams in the first instance
• APQS team: Apqs@ucl.ac.uk