ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY
Guidance on Workloads for Tier 1 External Examiners
[APPROVED BY THE ACADEMIC STANDARDS, QUALITY & REGULATIONS COMMITTEE – 11th MARCH 2008 AND
FEES REVISED FOR 2010/11]
1.
Introduction
1.1
In addition to the submission of an annual written report, the main work of a tier 1
- Departmental Assessment Panel (DAP) - external examiner is the moderation
of assessed student work. In order to determine an external examiner’s
workload, it is necessary to calculate the amount of moderation that is required to
be undertaken by an external examiner.
1.2
The following factors influence the amount of moderation required:



2.
Credit rating of the module
The typical number of students enrolled for a module in any one cohort
The number of times (occurrences) per academic year in which a module is
delivered
Module Moderation Equivalences
The easiest way to express the workload of the tier 1 external examiner is by the
use of module moderation equivalences where the above factors are used to
reach a number for each module which is based on the lowest common
denominator at Anglia Ruskin; a 15 credit module, delivered once a year to 80
students or fewer (80 is selected because this is the point at which a higher
number of students results in an increase in the size of the sample of assessed
work that requires external moderation, in accordance with the Senate Codes of
Practice on the Assessment of Students and External Examiners for Taught
Pathways).
To this end a module moderation equivalence calculator has been developed to
determine the moderation equivalence for every module and is attached to this
paper.
The Head of Department is responsible for determining his/her Department’s
module moderation equivalence. Once this has been calculated for all its
modules (a separate number for each individual module), the sum for all modules
expresses the total amount of assessed student work that needs to be
moderated as an equivalent of 15 credit modules, delivered once a year to 80
students or fewer.
Consultation with other higher education institutions which operate a similar
modular scheme to the University’s, suggests that an Anglia Ruskin module
moderation equivalence of 20 is the norm for an external examiner’s annual
workload. Consequently, in order for a Department to determine exactly how
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External Examiners’ Workloads
many external examiners it should appoint to its DAP, the total of module
moderation equivalences is simply divided by 20.
3.
Examples
[Please refer to diagram, attached to this paper, for assistance]
A 15 credit module with an average cohort size of 60 students delivered only
once in an academic year has a module moderation equivalence of 1.
Calculation: 1
1
1
x 1 (as module size is 15 credits)
x 1 (as cohort size is less than 80)
x 1 (as delivered only once in an academic year)
=1
=1
=1
A 30 credit module with an average cohort size of 30 delivered twice in an
academic year has a module moderation equivalence of 4.
Calculation: 1
2
2
x 2 (as module size is 30 credits)
x 1 (as cohort size is less than 80)
x 2 (as delivered twice in an academic year)
=2
=2
=4
A 45 credit module with an average cohort size of 120 (this includes students at
all locations of delivery) delivered twice in an academic year has a module
moderation equivalence of 12.
Calculation: 1
3
6
x 3 (as module size is 45 credits)
x 2 (as cohort size is between 81 and 160)
x 2 (as delivered twice in an academic year)
=3
=6
= 12
A 60 credit module with an average cohort size of 40 delivered once in an
academic year (albeit over two semesters) has a module moderation equivalence
of 4.
Calculation: 1
4
4
x 4 (as module size is 60 credits)
x 1 (as cohort size is less than 80)
x 1 (as delivered once in an academic year)
=4
=4
=4
In the above examples, these four modules have produced a module moderation
equivalence of 21 (1 + 4 + 12 + 4). Using the figure of 20 as a standard annual
workload for a tier 1 external examiner, detailed in paragraph 2.7 above, the
above four modules would be deemed as a normal workload for one external
examiner.
Therefore, it follows that a department with a module moderation equivalence of
90 would expect to appoint 5 external examiners (90 divided by 20 = 4.5) to its
DAP; A department with a module moderation equivalence of 27 would expect to
appoint 2 external examiners (27 divided by 20 = 1.35) to its DAP.
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External Examiners’ Workloads
4.
Conclusions and Further Guidance
This system is designed to be used as guidance by faculties when appointing
external examiners and determining annual external examiner workloads and is
based on the minimum standard fee of £475 for a Departmental Assessment
Panel (DAP) duty and £400 for an Institutional Awards Board (IAB).
Faculties are permitted to propose a higher fee at the nomination stage and this
may require (by agreement) such external examiners to undertake more work
than the standard norm articulated in this guidance paper.
It is important to note that there may be local factors, known to an individual
Head of Department (and other senior colleagues involved in curriculum
management roles), which would impact on the above stated module moderation
equivalences and, therefore, such factors need to be taken into account by the
Head of Department.
For further guidance, please contact Olivia Sjollema, Institutional Quality
Assurance Officer (olivia.sjollema@anglia.ac.uk) or Caroline Watts, Head of the
Quality Assurance Unit (caroline.watts@anglia.ac.uk).
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External Examiners’ Workloads
Calculating a Module’s Moderation Equivalence
Moderation Equivalence Rating: For all
modules, there is a starting value of 1
Module Size Calculator
If a 15 credit
module,
multiply by 1
If a 30 credit
module,
multiply by 2
If a 45 credit
module,
multiply by 3
If a 60 credit
module,
multiply by 4
Moderation Equivalence
Rating: running total of ?
Cohort Size Calculator1
If cohort size
<= 80,
multiply by 1
If cohort size
is 81-160,
multiply by 2
If cohort size
is 161-240,
multiply by 3
If cohort size
>240,
multiply by 4
Moderation Equivalence
Rating: running total of ?
Module Delivery
(occurrence) Calculator2
If delivered once
in academic year,
multiply by 1
If delivered twice
in academic year,
multiply by 2
If delivered three
times in academic
year, multiply by 3
Final Moderation Equivalence
Rating: ?
1
2
includes all students enrolled for module at collaborative partner institutions
number of times (semesters/trimesters/whole year) per academic year in which the module is delivered