External Examiner QA Internal Processes

Appointing an External Examiner

Once a new programme is approved you should seek appointment of a suitable new External Examiner, or one from the current appointments, who will oversee the programme.

A Quality Officer from the University Quality Team will remind your School when there is an External Examiner vacancy via the Faculty Student Success Committee (FSSC).

A nomination form for new External Examiners, extensions to tenure or changes of duty need to be sent to Quality Officers for review before they are taken to FSSC for approval, followed by the University Learning Quality & Regulations Committee (LQRC) for endorsement. Once approved at FSSC, the nomination form should then be sent to the University Quality Team (quality@gre.ac.uk) to start the onboarding process.

As part of the onboarding process, the Quality Administration Team will invite the External Examiner Nominee to a Right to Work check which must be completed prior to the commencement of any work. As long as the Right to Work is completed, and compliant with Home Office requirements, the Quality Administration Team will then send the External Examiner Nominee a welcome email, contract of engagement and payroll information.

Once the contract of engagement has been signed and returned, the Quality Administration Team will complete the Nomination form with the relevant dates and share with the faculty/school ARMS Approver, the External Examiner Liaison (where relevant), Quality Officer, Head of School, and Payroll. Once this email has been sent, the External Examiner can be considered employed by the University and can be contacted about work by the Faculty.

Here you will find the workflow for the External Examiner nomination, onboarding and induction process. This process flow has undergone refinements and been streamlined by the Quality Administration Team benefitting from the input of consultations with each faculty. Please refer to this flow as the official guidance for External Examiner nomination and onboarding, and if any clarification is needed regarding actions or responsible parties at any stage of the process. Click on the image to view the workflow.

We have also provided a training video below that walks through the External Examiner nomination and onboarding process. It is an aid to the above flowchart to provide greater clarification to the process. Please direct any queries regarding this training or the nomination and onboarding process to the Quality Team at quality@gre.ac.uk.You can find the EE Nomination workflow presentation below:

You Can find out more guidance on our External Examiner Information Page, Including:

• External Examiner welcome document
• Expense claim form
• A general guide to induction for new External Examiners

Timescales and deadlines

To be updated soon

Useful documents & Forms

• External Examiners core regulations
• External Examiner nomination form. You should include the current CV of the nominee.

Extending or modifying an External Examiner

To extend or modify External Examiner's duties you must submit a 'change of status' request to the Head of School and relevant Quality Officer.

The normal duration of an appointment is just over four years, commencing notionally on 1 September and finishing on 31 December of the fourth year. Exceptionally, a contract may be extended for one year.

To extend the appointment or change the External Examiner's duties you must - having first obtained the External Examiner's agreement - submit a request for approval to the Head of School and the relevant Quality Officer. The extension or change requires endorsement by your Faculty Student Success Committee (FSSC). Extensions are also reported to the university's LQRC. The Quality Administration Team will notify the External Examiner of the change or extension to their contract.

Useful documents & Forms

• External Examiner change of status form

Discontinuing an External Examiner

In accordance with the External Examiner's contract of employment, both the External Examiner and the University have the right to terminate this contract at any time by giving the other party at least one academic term's notice.

Notice may be given by the External Examiner if a serious conflict of interest arises or if they are unable to undertake their duties because of illness or for any other reason. Equally, notice may be given by the university if the programme for which the external is responsible ceases to run.

During their term of office, if an External Examiner fails to carry out their duties (including submission of an annual report) without good reason, the Head of School or their nominee should contact the External Examiner to ascertain whether they still wish to continue in the role.

If the examiner does not wish to continue, the Head of School should ensure that a procedure is put in place so that the duties involved are completed satisfactorily, or to ensure they can be discharged successfully in the future. If this proves not to be possible, the Head of School should ask the Quality Assurance team to terminate the appointment.

Any resignations should be sent to the Quality Administration Team (quality@gre.ac.uk) and the Quality Officer as soon as possible so that Recognition of Resignation Letter can be issued, ending the employment contract, and the replacement process can begin.

Useful documents & Forms

• A general guide to ending an external examiner arrangement

Responding to an External Examiner report

Schools must respond formally in writing to issues raised in the External Examiner's annual report each academic session. This response must be endorsed by the faculty and copied  to the relevant Quality Officer.

Points and comments raised by an External Examiner can be addressed informally at any time during the academic session but the School must also respond formally in writing.

Useful documents & Forms

• Response to External Examiner Report
• A general guide to responding to an External Examiner report