GUIDE FOR STUDENTS ON TAUGHT COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
EXTERNAL EXAMINERS FOR TAUGHT COURSES
1. What is an external examiner?
The University of Sheffield employs external examiners to oversee every programme of
study undertaken by its students, in common with all other universities in the UK.
Every piece of assessed work that counts towards your degree or diploma will be marked by
an internal examiner and may be second-marked, depending upon the type of assessment.
Both the first and second markers are members of University staff. An external examiner is
usually employed at another university, but is also appointed by the University of Sheffield to
impartially oversee the assessment of a course or parts of one or more taught courses. This
allows the University to be sure that its assessment processes work well, that the
appropriate marks are awarded and that departments benefit from suggestions for
improvement from respected academics with expertise in the subject in other universities.
Occasionally, professionally oriented degrees also have external examiners from
professional practice/industry.
2. So what do external examiners do?
 They comment on the fairness and thoroughness of the assessment on your course or
part(s) of your course
 They may visit the University to discuss the course or part(s) of the course with Sheffield
staff, and may meet informally with students
 They look at and comment on draft assessment papers, including examination questions
 They look at samples of students’ assessed work in each course or part(s) of a course
they are appointed to oversee, together with a spread of marks awarded for all pieces of
the work
 They comment on the overall standards of work that they sample
 They offer advice and comments on the arrangements for overseeing assessments, how
appropriate the assessment tasks are, and what might be improved
 If they think that a group of assessments has been harshly or too leniently marked, they
may recommend that a whole group of students’ marks are reconsidered. This is why
marks are provisional until they have been agreed by an Examination Board.
 They attend and contribute to Examination Boards at which important decisions are
taken about student progression and the award of degrees
3. What don’t they do?
 They don’t mark your work
 They don’t see every piece of assessed work you do
 They don’t recommend changes to individual students’ marks
 They don’t take the final decision regarding marks awarded, although they may make
recommendations on the assessment of whole cohorts, which the Department is obliged
to consider carefully
4. What kinds of feedback do external examiners provide and what does the University
do with this feedback?
External examiners provide informal feedback to staff in departments throughout the year,
for example, by commenting on draft examination papers, visiting the University and
commenting on assessment procedures, as outlined above. They also provide feedback to
departments at the Examination Boards they attend. Informal feedback provided to
departments is shared and appropriate action is taken within departments.
In addition, each external examiner is expected to provide a written report on the courses or
part(s) of courses they are appointed to oversee. Departments are asked to comment on
written reports, and both the reports and the Department’s comments are shared with
Faculty Officers (academic staff responsible for quality in the whole faculty) who monitor
reports and make sure appropriate action is taken. Issues affecting the University as a
whole are reported to a University committee – the Quality and Scrutiny Sub-Committee.
5. Advice for Student-Staff Committees (SSCs) on the use of external examiners’ reports
Departments are expected to share reports of external examiners with Student-Staff
Committees (SSCs), so they are aware of any issues raised and good practice identified,
and can ask departments to take appropriate action where necessary. Student
representatives can share the issues raised in reports with their student group.
Occasionally, external examiners may raise issues confidentially that will not be shared with
SSCs. However, they should not identify either individual students or staff in their reports
(unless they wish to provide feedback on particularly good service from staff).
Reports from external examiners can be used to inform the Annual Reflection, where
departments reflect on learning and teaching strengths and challenges each year with the
support of their Faculty. They are also used as evidence for the Periodic Review, where a
department is visited every six years by a panel of independent academic staff and students.
Student-Staff Committees should make sure that they have seen external examiners’ reports
and ask the Department for feedback on any action taken, where appropriate.
6. Why does the Department publish names of external examiners?
Your Department is expected to publish the names of external examiners for your course to
show that course assessment is overseen by respected academics from other universities.
This is an expectation set out by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), which has a
responsibility for ensuring the quality of all taught courses in the UK. External examiners
help to ensure that assessments are fair and that your degree is of a high standard.
PLEASE NOTE: You should NOT contact the external examiner directly; they cannot
comment on your individual marks or decisions taken regarding your progression or degree
classification. If you do have any queries regarding either your marks, decisions taken
regarding your progression to the next year or your degree award, these should be
discussed with the appropriate staff in the Department, in the way set out in your Student
Handbook or on the departmental website.
Note on terms used:
For the purposes of this guidance:
Department = Department or School
Course = programme of study leading to an award
Marks = grades awarded for assessments contributing to an award
Award= taught degree, diploma or certificate