UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Guidelines for writing reports
External examiners’ reports are equally acceptable in letter or report format. It is most helpful to
the University if you head your report with clear details about the examination(s)/ assessments
on which you are reporting, and the dates of these examination(s)/assessments, especially if the
paper(s) on which you are reporting appear in several schools or programmes.
Reports are usually considered by academic committees in the term following the
examination or assessment. Delay in submission may inhibit the University’s ability to deal
promptly with matters identified by the external scrutiny, and their incorporation as necessary in
planning for the next round of examinations. For this reason the University asks that you submit
your report within four weeks of the Examination Board meeting, to The Vice-Chancellor c/o
Mrs Sally Powell, copied to the relevant division(s) as indicated in the table below. This enables
payment to be authorised. Naturally circumstances arise where submission of a report may be
unavoidably delayed. In such cases the University would be grateful if external examiners would
keep us informed as necessary. The text now appearing in the University’s Examination
Regulations is intended to stress the importance which the University attaches to receiving a
report, but to recognise there may be circumstances which explain its non-return: ‘An external
examiner who fails to submit the annual report required by the University may continue in office
only with the permission of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) and the Proctors.’
The Education Committee’s Examination Panel has asked that external examiners are respectfully
requested not to discuss the contents of their report within the faculty or department prior to its
submission to the University.
The following is intended simply as a guide for areas that may be useful to consider in the
compilation of your report. It is not intended as a prescriptive list of contents or headings and
examiners should feel at liberty to structure their report as they wish.1
Suggested headings for external examiners’ reports:2
(i)
whether the academic standards set for its awards, or part thereof, are appropriate;
(ii)
the extent to which its assessment processes are rigorous, ensure equity of treatment for
students and have been fairly conducted within institutional regulations and guidance;
(iii)
the standards of student performance in the programmes or parts of programmes which
they have been appointed to examine (those examining in joint schools are particularly
asked to comment on their subject in relation to the whole award);
(iv)
where appropriate, the comparability of the standards and student achievements with
those in some other higher education institutions;
(v)
issues which should be brought to the attention of supervising committees in the
faculty/department, division or wider University:
(vi)
good practice that should be noted and disseminated more widely as appropriate.
1
A report template is provided by the Medical School for examiners for Year 3 of the 2nd BM
2
Based on the QAA code of practice on external examining.
MT 2011
The University would particularly welcome examiners’ comments under (v) and (vi) as it seeks to
develop its quality enhancement strategy.
Additional comments on other matters may also be made where appropriate. External examiners
may be particularly aware of the difficulty in commenting on matters that fall outside the scope of
the examiner’s duties at the University of Oxford. It is understood that, in some cases, it will not
be possible for full comment to be made on all of the areas referred to in the above list.
You may wish to refer directly to the QAA Code of Practice for External examining via the
following weblink: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/Code-ofpractice-Section-4.aspx
As indicated on the accompanying letter of invitation to report, please submit your report,
addressed
to
The
Vice-Chancellor
c/o
Mrs
Sally
Powell,
through
Sajda.Arabi@admin.ox.ac.uk, and copy your report to the appropriate divisional officer(s) as
follows:
Division
Covering subject disciplines:
Send copy reports to:
Humanities
(HUMS)
Classics, English, Fine Art,
History, Linguistics, Medieval And
Modern Languages, Music,
Oriental Studies, Philosophy,
Theology
examiners.humanities@admin.ox.ac
.uk
Mathematical,
Physical and Life
Sciences (MPLS)
Biological Sciences, Chemistry,
Computing, Earth Sciences,
Engineering, Materials,
Mathematics, Physics, Plant
Sciences, Statistics, Zoology
Mrs Louise Sumner
louise.sumner@mpls.ox.ac.uk
Medical Sciences
(MS)
Molecular and Cellular
Mrs Shelley Mann
Biochemistry, Experimental
shelley.mann@medsci.ox.ac.uk
Psychology, Laboratory and
Clinical Medicine (and Specialties),
Physiology, Pharmacology
Social Sciences
(SS)
Anthropology, Archaeology, Area
Studies, Economics, Educational
Studies, Environment, Geography,
Human Science, Law,
Management, Politics, Social
Policy, Sociology
Ms Jane Dale
jane.dale@admin.ox.ac.uk
and
Mr Daniel Meacoe
daniel.meacoe@socsci.ox.ac.uk
Department for
Part-Time and Open/Distributed
Mr James Baker
Continuing
Learning Provision
james.baker@conted.ox.ac.uk
Education
(OUDCE)
If you do not wish to use electronic mail (preferred by the University), then please send your
report by post to The Vice-Chancellor c/o Mrs. Sally Powell, Assistant Registrar, University
Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD, who will circulate it to the divisions as necessary.
In case of any query, please do not hesitate to contact the University via Mrs. Powell
sally.powell@admin.ox.ac.uk, who will be pleased to advice as required.
MT 2011