UCL REGISTRY AND
ACADEMIC SERVICES
APPENDIX 37
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
GUIDELINES FOR CHAIRS OF BOARDS OF EXAMINERS
1.
Appointment of Examiners
1.1
Appointment of External Examiners for the New Academic Session
1.1.1 External Examiners are appointed for a four year term, subject to
annual confirmation of their continuation in appointment. External Examiners
may have their term extended for a further academic session, subject to the
approval of the Chair of the UCL Board of Examiners. It is the responsibility of
the Chair of the Board of Examiners to nominate new External Examiners and
confirm the continuation of External Examiners’ appointments for each new
academic session. Chairs should initially approach the External Examiner
and obtain their agreement in principle to act before a nomination is submitted
or a continuation in appointment is confirmed.
External Examiners Continuing in Appointment
1.1.2 Chairs of Boards of Examiners will confirm that External Examiners are
continuing in appointment annually. An examiner has the right not to seek
continuation in appointment at any time during the period that they are eligible
to serve and UCL has the right not to continue the appointment at any time
during the period that the examiner is eligible to serve.
1.1.3 From October 2009, Chairs of Boards of Examiners, or their nominees,
will confirm that an examiner is continuing in appointment by using an on-line
form. Upon confirming that an examiner is continuing, the examiner will
automatically receive an appointment letter and a number of attachments by
email including a link to the Regulations for Boards of Examiners for Taught
Programmes, an annual report template, the extract from the regulations
setting out the role and responsibilities of External Examiners and guidance
about the payment of fees and expenses. When an examiner is not confirmed
as continuing in appointment, for whatever reason, a new examiner should be
nominated.
1.1.4 Chairs of Boards of Examiners may request UCL approval for an
extension of the appointment of an External Examiner for one additional
academic session by contacting examiners@ucl.ac.uk. Chairs should note
that such a request will be forwarded to the Chair of the UCL Board of
Examiners for consideration on a case-by-case basis.
New External Examiners
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1.1.5 For the 2009-2010 academic session, Chairs of Boards of Examiners
will be sent nomination forms for new External Examiners in the first week of
October 2009. The nomination form should be completed in discussion with
the nominee and submitted to the Curricular Development and Examiners
Section, Registry and Academic Services.
When nominating new External Examiners, Chairs are requested to consider
the travelling distance involved from the nominee’s place of residence to UCL,
practicalities of travel and the likely costs to UCL in expenses, noting that from
the 2009-2010 academic session onwards, UCL Registry and Academic
Services will pay up to a maximum of £400 for External Examiner expenses
and any additional sums will be charged to the relevant department/ division.
The appointment of overseas examiners should be avoided if at all possible.
1.1.7 Nominations for new External Examiners are approved by the
appropriate Faculty Board of Examiners, by Chair’s Action. It is therefore
essential that the nomination form is signed by the Faculty Chair before the
form is submitted to the Registry and Academic Services.
The Registry and Academic Services makes the arrangements for the final
stage of the approval process by presenting the nominations to the Chair of
UCL Board of Examiners for approval by Chair’s Action.
It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Board of Examiners to ensure that the
relevant bodies responsible for making approvals are provided with enough
information on which to make an informed decision about the suitability of a
nominee. Failure to complete the form in full or the omission of a Career
Summary form may result in the nomination and appointment being delayed
until the appropriate paperwork is received. Particular care should be taken to
complete the nomination form in full. Chairs are encouraged to ensure that
their forms are completed to give the full information required by UCL for
Quality Assurance reasons.
1.2
Appointment of Internal Examiners
Full Board Members
Internal Examiners no longer need to be appointed via the Registry and
Academic Services. Internal Examiners must be nominated by the Chair of
the relevant Board(s) of Examiners. Chairs are requested to update lists of
Internal Examiners for the current session as appropriate, sign the list and
return it to their Faculty Office for the approval of the Faculty Board of
Examiners, by the end of the Autumn Term (i.e. mid December).
Internal Examiners do not receive a formal letter of appointment. Undertaking
the responsibilities of an Internal Examiner is considered by UCL to be a
normal part of the duties of members of academic staff, covered by the
contract of employment which exists between UCL and the member of staff.
Internal Examiners are not paid expenses in connection with their examining
duties.
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Assistant Examiners
1.2.3 Assistant Examiners can be nominated and appointed at the same time
as Full Board Members. However, it is recognised that the names of
Assistant Examiners may not be known by the end of the first week of
December. In these circumstances Assistant Examiners may be nominated at
any time up until the end of the Spring Term of the year of acting. As a
general rule, it is better to nominate persons who are likely to be needed as
Assistant Examiners rather than to wait for this to be confirmed later in the
year.
1.2.4 Assistant Examiners no longer need to be appointed via the Registry
and Academic Services. Their names should be sent to the Faculty Office for
appointment by the Faculty Board of Examiners (Chair’s Action).
1.3
Appointment Letters Sent to External Examiners
1.3.1 External Examiners will receive an annual letter of appointment from
the Director of Student Services and the following documents will be attached:
i. External Examiner’s Report Form
ii. Expenses Claim Form and accompanying Notes for Guidance
iii. Notes on Responsibilities of External Examiners and Entitlement
External Examiners will also be directed to the Regulations for Boards
of Examiners for Taught Programmes on the Registry and Academic Services
website at www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/examiners/.
1.3.2 The Department /Division or Board of Examiners is requested to send
its External Examiners the following:
i.
Name of Departmental/Divisional/Board contact (e.g. Examinations
Liaison Officer).
ii. Departmental/ Divisional booklet, such as Student Handbook and
syllabus information.
iii. Composition of the Board of Examiners (e.g. number of Internal
Examiners, any interdepartmental involvement).
iv. Number and subject area of other External Examiners appointed to the
Board.
v. Scheme for the award of Honours (if applicable) or scheme of
assessment used in determining other awards.
vi. Marking scheme for individual papers (when known).
vii. Date(s) of meetings of Board of Examiners to which the External
Examiner is invited (when known).
viii. Outline of procedures of Board of Examiners (e.g., point of contact for
External Examiner, time allowed for marking, procedures for setting
and scrutinising papers).
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1.3.3 All correspondence relating to External Examiners, their work and
appointment, should be treated as confidential; envelopes should be marked
as such by both Chairs and External Examiners.
2.
Chairs Of Boards Of Examiners
2.1
It is the responsibility of outgoing Chairs, in consultation with their Head
of Department and the proposed new Chair, to decide on their successors.
Both Chair and Deputy must be full members of the Board.
2.2
The normal period for which a member of UCL staff is expected to act
as Chair of the same Board of Examiners is a minimum of three academic
years. All changes of Chairs of Boards of Examiners should be notified to the
Registry and Academic Services on the ‘Notification of Change of Chair’ form
and on the list of Internal Examiners submitted to the Faculty. The Registry
and Academic Services will continue to send correspondence to the individual
previously acting as Chair until informed by submission of the form of the
name and Department/ Division of the successor. All changes have to be
endorsed by the Head of Department/ Division and approved by the Chair of
the UCL Board of Examiners (or nominee) for Quality Assurance purposes.
2.3
It is the responsibility of out-going Chairs to conclude all matters related
to the last academic year for which they were Chair of the Board, even if these
matters cannot be dealt with until the new academic year has started. This
includes the appointment of External Examiners for the coming year. The
incoming Chair may deal with the appointment of External Examiners in
consultation with the out-going Chair but it should not be merely assumed that
the successor will deal with this.
2.4
Chairs of Boards of Examiners do not receive a formal letter of
appointment. Undertaking the responsibilities of a Chair of a Board of
Examiners is considered by UCL to be a normal part of the duties of senior
members of academic staff, given by the Head of Department/ Division
concerned and is covered by the contract of employment which exists
between UCL and the member of staff.
3.
External Examiners’ Fees
From the 2008-2009 academic session, in most cases, all graduate and
undergraduate taught programme External Examiners will receive a fee
for
their professional services calculated by:
The number of students examined per module
X
The total number of ECTS1 per students examined @ £0.22 per ECTS
1
European Credit Transfer Scheme (established as part of ‘Bologna’ activities)
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+
The basic fee for attending Boards of Examiners meetings and any other
meetings as required
Appointment Procedures
3.2
Examiners will be sent a Letter of Appointment for their professional
services together with a template for their Annual Report and an expenses
claim form. The Annual Report template can also be obtained from:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/examiners/.
Payment and Inland Revenue
3.3
Examiners qualify for payment when they submit their report to UCL.
Submitted reports will be acknowledged by UCL and accompanied by a
Notification of Payment that sets out the fee they will be paid for their
professional services. The information noted on the Notification of Payment
will be processed as an invoice. Invoices will be settled by UCL Finance
Division by cheque. Examiners should note that they receive a gross sum
paid by cheque and that they are responsible for the payment of any sum
owed to the Inland Revenue.
4.
External Examiners’ Expenses
4.1
An Expenses Claim Form and accompanying Notes for Guidance,
which detail current expenses rates and allowances, are sent to all External
Examiners with their letter of appointment. Further copies of the form can be
downloaded from: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/examiners/.
4.2
External Examiners should submit their expenses claims, with the
receipts requested in the guidelines, directly to the Registry and Academic
Services. Payment will be authorised as soon as the claim is checked, and
the payment dispatched. To avoid delay in payment, External Examiners
should not submit their expenses claims to the Department/ Division
concerned unless specifically requested to do so, nor should Departments/
Division pay External Examiners from their own funds, unless this has been
agreed beforehand for particular reasons and with the approval of the Chair of
the UCL Board of Examiners. Departments/ Divisions may be asked to
contribute to the costs of an External Examiner’s expenses if those expenses
exceed the limits set out in UCL’s policies and rules (see below).
4.3
In accordance with UCL’s Financial Regulations, claims may not be
processed without full receipts. The Finance Division has informed the
Registry and Academic Services that the Inland Revenue does not allow
expenses to be reimbursed free of tax where the only evidence of the incurred
expense is a credit card transaction counterfoil. Chairs should ensure that
External Examiners are aware of this Financial Regulation.
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4.4
The Registry and Academic Services may only authorise expenses
incurred in accordance with the approved UCL policy and rubric. Expenses
incurred in excess of the amounts stated will be referred to the Department/
Division concerned which may be asked to pay the excess balance.
4.5
External Examiners expenses for the MBBS will be reimbursed by the
Royal Free and University College Medical School Administration, in
accordance with the general UCL policy.
4.6
Expenses claims are not subject to Income Tax as expenses are not
‘earned income’ for Income Tax purposes. It is therefore important that all
claims are supported by receipts.
4.7
Cheques will be dispatched by the Accounts Department, Finance
Division, usually within two weeks of the form being received at the Registry
and Academic Services.
5.
External Examiners’ Reports
5.1
All External Examiners are required to complete and submit an annual
report on the External Examiner’s Report Form within one month of the final
Examination Board. External Examiners should ensure that the completed
annual report forms are returned to the Director of Student Services, Registry
and Academic Services, and not to Department/ Division or Chairs of Boards
of Examiners. External Examiners should be asked to complete both sections
of the report, submitting both their comments on programme content and the
examination process (section 1), and completing the tick boxes on
Examination Arrangements (section 2).
5.2
External Examiners will only be sent their fee when their report is
received in the Registry and Academic Services. The Registry and Academic
Services will copy the report to both the Chair of the Examination Board
concerned and the Chair of the appropriate Faculty. Note will be made of any
issues requiring comment in the Faculty Chair’s Annual Report on the
examination process. Where an External Examiner makes comments which
have implications for UCL as a whole, the report will also be copied to the
Chair of the UCL Board of Examiners. The Registry will handle the initial
scrutiny of reports and decide if they should be copied to the Chair of the UCL
Board of Examiners. Feedback from the UCL Board of Examiners on External
Examiners’ comments will be sent to the Faculty Board of Examiners for
onward transmission with any of its own comments to the Department/
Division. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Examination Board to pass
on the feedback to the External Examiner.
5.3
External Examiner’s fees are not authorised for payment until the final
report is received by the Registry and Academic Services.
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5.4
External Examiners should be aware that, under the terms of the 1998
Data Protection and Human Rights Act, any ‘data subject’, whether a student
or staff member, referred to in an External Examiner’s report has a right to see
the relevant excerpt from that report provided that (i) information relating to
other ‘data subjects’ is not disclosed and (ii) the author of the report gives
permission. Refusal of permission could be contested by the data subject. Any
queries should be made to the Data Protection Officer.
5.5
It is essential that UCL has a full set of External Examiner’s reports for
each programme for Quality Assurance purposes. The following procedure
will be followed to ‘chase’ reports which are not received within one month of
the final Board of Examiners:
(i) A standard letter from the Examiners Policy Manager will be sent no
earlier than six weeks after the end of the undergraduate
examination period and no earlier than six weeks after the final
Boards of Examiners for Taught Master’s programmes.
(ii) If that letter is unsuccessful in producing a response, the Chair of the
UCL Board of Examiners will write to the External Examiner to ask
for the Report, and that letter will be copied to the Chair of the
Faculty Board of Examiners concerned and the Chair of the Board
of Examiners at programme level.
If the second letter is unsuccessful in eliciting the Report, the Chair of the UCL
Board of Examiners will contact the Chair of the Faculty Board of Examiners
and the Chair of the Board of Examiners at programme level and may
recommend that continuation of the External Examiner’s appointment is not
confirmed for the next academic year.
6.
Chair’s Annual Report on the Examination Process
6.1
All Chairs of Boards of Examiners are required to submit a report on
the examination process annually to the Faculty Board of Examiners. This
should address positive as well as negative issues and should be copied to
the Registry and Academic Services and, where applicable, the UCL Board of
Examiners.
6.2
All Chairs have to submit an Annual Report to the Chair of their Faculty
Board of Examiners, copied to the Registry and Academic Services. This
should take the form of a typed commentary drawing attention to the following
points:
The dates and numbers of members of the Board present at each meeting
throughout the year, including confirmation that the approved Chair or Deputy
Chair conducted the meeting, together with mention of any other persons
present and their relationship to the Board
Comments on the examination process during the year
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A response to each External Examiner’s comments, both positive as well as
negative, a response to the comments of the Faculty Representative present
at the meeting and details of any departmental/ divisional responses
implemented and/or planned
Comments on any cases of examination irregularity and plagiarism
Comments and any critical reflection on administrative matters and
procedures
It is the responsibility of Faculty Chairs to ensure that Departmental/
Divisional Boards within their remit provide feedback to their External
Examiners. The UCL Board of Examiners has provided written guidance on
the sort of information required to assist with monitoring. This information is
set out at the end of this Appendix.
Reports on undergraduate programmes should be submitted by the end of
September in the session following the session examined. Reports on
graduate programmes should be submitted by the end of the second week in
January. Chairs should observe the deadlines even where External
Examiners’ reports are outstanding.
7.
Faculty Chair’s Annual Report on the Examination Process
7.1
The Chair of each Faculty Board of Examiners is required to make an
annual report to the UCL Board of Examiners. The reports should detail
actions taken in response to issues raised by External Examiners in their
reports as well as the conduct of the examination process in the Faculty. It is
recommended that the reports are completed in spread sheet format. A report
on undergraduate programmes should be submitted to the Examiners Policy
Manager in time for the meeting of UCLBE in the middle of the first term and a
report on postgraduate programmes for the meeting of UCLBE in the middle
of the second term.
7.2
The Chair of Faculty Board of Examiners reports will take the form of a
commentary drawing attention to the following points:
Issues of particular relevance from the report of Chair of the Board of
Examiners at programme level. The Chair of the Faculty Board of Examiners
will also confirm that the report has been received and contains the
information required, as detailed in the above guidelines for the report of the
Chair of the Board (at programme level).
The response of the Department/ Division and/or Faculty to the comments
received from External Examiners in their reports
Any relevant remarks on the response of the Chair of the Board of Examiners
at programme level to each External Examiner’s comments and any response
to the comments of the Faculty Representative present at the meeting of the
Board of Examiners
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Minutes of the Faculty Board of Examiners may be referred to as appropriate,
but should not be attached to the report, as these are supplied separately to
the UCL Board of Examiners.
FACULTY MONITORING OF EXTERNAL EXAMINERS
To be completed by the Department/ Division and included in or with reports
sent to the Faculty.
Has a response been sent to the external examiners on issues raised on the
Report Forms?
Possible answers:
Yes/No
If No, why not?
Have external examiners been provided with the Chair’s Report?
Possible answers:
Yes/No
If No, why not?
Have the minutes of the last Board meeting been sent to the external
examiners?
Possible answers:
Yes/No
If No, why not?
Have any Report Forms not yet been received?
Please indicate which are outstanding.
Have comments made by the Faculty in the previous session been conveyed
back to the relevant external examiners?
Possible answers:
Yes/No/No comments to relay
If No, why not?
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Have comments made by the UCL Board of Examiners in the previous
session been conveyed back to the relevant external examiners?
Possible answers:
Yes/No/No comments to relay
If No, why not?
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