Nomination for the appointment of an External Examiner
for a Taught Programme of Study
Please complete as fully as possible to ensure there are no delays to the
nomination process. Appointments normally 4 years in duration
Academic Year 2016-2017
A. DETAILS OF RECOMMENDED EXTERNAL EXAMINER
Title
Surname
Forenames
Nominee’s Current
Job title
Higher Education Institution
(or detailed information as to
nominee’s place of work)
Relevant
qualifications held
by nominee
Current Post held by nominee (if
retired details of last post)
Email Address of nominee
Telephone Number
Full work address (including
postcode)
B. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE OF NOMINATED EXTERNAL EXAMINER OVER THE PAST FIVE
YEARS AS:
Please complete as fully as possible to ensure there are no delays in the appointment process.
An External Examiner?
An Internal Examiner in your named institution?
Any Other relevant experience/expertise?
Other current External Examiner appointments
held (nb: QAA guidelines recommend holding no more
than 2 appointments - (first degree programme only)
Details of any members of staff from the
Department at the University of Sheffield serving
as External Examiners in the Department of the
nominee. (nb: A central database of known TUOS
staff holding External Examiner appointments is
held in LETS.
Previous/current associations with this
University’s staff, students, programmes of study
B1. CURRICULUM VITAE
Please attach a CV or additional information if the proposed Examiner is either :
B.1
below the level of Senior Lecturer
B.2
from outside the British Higher Education sector
B.3 Additional information for nominees who do not satisfy the criteria for appointments to provide detailed
reasoning as to the suitability of the appointment.
C. PROPOSED APPOINTMENT
Title of programme of study (eg: BA in
Social Policy)
Current Session: 2016-2017
Other:
Programme Code(s):
nb: list all codes as these are
used to calculate relevant fee
Is the Programme
Collaborative or
have a
collaborative
element? If so with
whom?
Yes/No
With whom?
Subject Area to be examined (eg:
Anatomy)
Department (s) involved
Is the new Examiner replacing an existing External Examiner?
Yes/No
If Yes, who is the outgoing External?
Is the new Examiner to be appointed as the Programme External Examiner
Yes/No
If Yes, is there a Subject External Examiner appointed for the same Programme? And if so
who is the Subject Examiner appointed? (There may be more than one)
D. ELIGIBILITY TO WORK IN THE UK
In line with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 the University is required to verify the right to work in the UK of any
person undertaking work at the University of Sheffield. In April 2015 new immigration rules were introduced regarding the Visitor
routes with visitors needing permission to enter the UK with a visitor visa for permitted paid engagements. Please note: External
Examiners will not be paid fees or expenses until their eligibility to work in the UK has been confirmed.
For guidance on Eligibility to Work checks visit: http://www.shef.ac.uk/hr/recruitment/guidance/eligibility/index or your HR Team
Please answer YES to the following. If you are unable to answer yes please contact the External Examiners Team
The nominee has provided satisfactory evidence of eligibility to work in the UK. Letters of
appointment will out be sent contingent on the checks having been carried out.
Yes
A copy of the documentation has been retained securely within the department.
Yes
If applicable, the required Visitor Visa for persons coming to the UK for a temporary
purpose for permitted paid engagements has been applied for?
Yes
All nominations should meet the University’s appointment criteria as set out in the Code of Practice and should
be signed off by the Head of School/Department and will be forwarded to Faculty.
Name
Date
Position held in the School/Department
E. RETURN THE COMPLETED FORM TO:
External Examiners Team, Learning and Teaching Services, Ground Floor, New Spring House, 231 Glossop Road,
Sheffield or electronically examiners@sheffield.ac.uk
Any queries please contact Rebecca Swift or Eve Grant on 0114 2221364 or 0114 2220416
The form will now be sent onto your Faculty Director of Learning and Teaching for approval. You will be contacted by the External
Examiners team in due course once a decision has been made.
F. APPROVAL FROM FACULTY
1. I confirm the nomination has been scrutinised and meets the University criteria, set out in the Code of Practice (in section G),
for the appointment of External Examiners for Taught Programmes
OR
2. The Faculty supports the nomination for the appointment based on the additional explanation provided (B3).
Name
Date
Position held in the Faculty

RETURN THE COMPLETED FORM TO:
External Examiners Team, Learning and Teaching Services, Ground Floor, New Spring House, 231 Glossop Road, Sheffield or
electronically examiners@sheffield.ac.uk
Any queries please contact Rebecca Swift or Eve Grant on 0114 2221364 or 0114 2220416.
The form will now be sent back to the Department for information and an Appointment letter will be issued.
G. APPOINTMENT CRITERIA FOR EXTERNAL EXAMINERS FOR TAUGHT PROGRAMMES OF STUDY
The University of Sheffield uses the criteria for nomination set out in Chapter B7 of the QAA Quality Code (and replicated from
Section 2 of the Code of Practice).
The University of Sheffield will appoint external examiners for taught programmes of study who have:
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knowledge and understanding of UK sector agreed reference points for the maintenance of academic standards
and assurance and enhancement of quality;
competence and experience in the fields covered by the programme of study, or parts thereof;
relevant academic and/or professional qualifications to at least the level of the qualification being externally
examined, and/or extensive practitioner experience where appropriate;
competence and experience relating to designing and operating a variety of assessment tasks appropriate to the
subject and operating assessment procedures;
sufficient standing, credibility and breadth of experience within the discipline to be able to command the respect
of academic peers and, where appropriate, professional peers
familiarity with the standard to be expected of students to achieve the award that is to be assessed;
fluency in English, and where programmes are delivered and assessed in languages other than English, fluency
in the relevant language(s) (unless other secure arrangements are in place to ensure that external examiners are
provided with the information to make their judgements);
meeting applicable criteria set by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies;
awareness of current developments in the design and delivery of relevant curricula;
competence and experience relating to the enhancement of the student learning experience.
Nominations for suitable but inexperienced examiners for the role of subject external examiner can be considered with appropriate
supporting documentation.
External examiners from outside the British Higher Education system, for example from the professions and industry, or from
Universities outside the UK, are appropriate in certain circumstances. Particular attention should be paid to the relevance of the
expertise and experience of those appointed in these circumstances.
External examiners are usually appointed for a maximum of four years. There is provision to extend this for one year, on an
exceptional basis, if a request by the Department is approved by the Faculty with an explanation as to why this is necessary.
Requests should be sent to the External Examiners’ Team in LeTS in the first instance. Circumstances which may lead to the
extension of an external examiner’s period of service can include:
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where significant programme changes are being put in place and it would be useful to have the input of an external
examiner experienced in the particular provision being revised
where there is insufficient overlap in the appointment period of a group of examiners and someone is needed for an
extra year to ensure collective knowledge is not lost
A reappointment (in exceptional circumstances), only after a period of five years or more has elapsed since his/her
last appointment.
Programme external examiners may be appointed for more than the maximum number of years to part-time
programmes or programmes of more than four years duration where this would provide an overview of the
development of a programme. This would ensure continuity and consistency of standards and allow for the
mentoring of inexperienced external examiners.
Where the discipline area is particularly small across the UK and no other suitable external examiners can be
nominated
External examiners are not normally expected to hold more than two external examiner appointments for taught programmes at any
point in time at ANY UK institution. An appointment can include a range of programmes in a particular discipline in one institution.