Nomination and Appointment

Nomination and Appointment

External examiners are appointed by the University Court specifically to ensure that standards are maintained on a comparable level with universities throughout the UK and that the system of assessment is seen to be transparent and fair to all students. This is in accordance with the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) ‘UK Quality Code for Higher Education’, the standards for external examining being in ‘Part B, Chapter B7: External Examining’.

(1) Schools wishing to appoint an external examiner should first contact individuals informally to confirm that they would be willing to take on the role.

The University has criteria for the appointment of external examiners, in line with those of the national criteria, and Schools may wish to consult these before contacting a potential examiner.

(2) Schools should then complete an External Examiner Nomination Form and submit it to Academic Services at extexam@abdn.ac.uk.

Note that for examiners required for the start of an academic year (ie September), Nominations should be submitted to Academic Services in January.

(3) Should the nomination be approved by the Vice-Principal (Learning and Teaching), Academic Services will contact the nominee for details of their right to be employed in the UK (a UKBA regulation).

(4) When details regarding right to be employed in the UK are received, Academic Services send an appointment letter to the external examiner, together with information on the role (see For Examiners).

(5) Schools may wish to consult For Examiners, as this includes an outline of the information Schools should provide to their external examiners on appointment and at the start of each academic year.