External Examiners - Preparing External Examiners for their role

There is no formal mentoring system for new External Examiners but where an External has no previous experience of the role the department will have identified, at the nomination stage, how an inexperienced External will be supported in their role.
In order to prepare External Examiners for their role, on appointment, the Academic Standards and Partnerships Office will provide all new External Examiners with the following documentation:

· A copy of the last External Examiner report;
· A copy of the Roles and Responsibilities document;
· A copy of the University's Rules of Assessment;
· Details of the web resources available to Externals, for example, Assessment Guidelines

In addition, the department/school should ensure that new External Examiners are adequately prepared for their specific role and should discuss with their Externals what materials they need in order to fulfil their responsibilities. As a minimum the department should supply the following:

For All External Examiners      
·  A copy of the Student and Programme Handbook
·  A copy of the Marking and Classification criteria
·  A copy of the Learning and Teaching Strategy

Where appropriate a copy of guidance from sector bodies or subject communities. Also a copy of any information related to professional issues, for example fitness to practise, and any features that relate to specific disciplines.

For Award Externals
· Details regarding arrangements for Boards of Examiners, including the date of the meeting of the Board;
· A Programme Specification for each Award covered by the External;
· The relevant departmental handbook.
· A copy of the relevant University of Essex Rules of Assessment

For Module Externals
· Information about the specific modules for which the External is responsible, which should include module outlines, details of coursework assignments, criteria for internal markers including criteria for degree classes.

When sending an External a sample for moderation the department should ensure the following is included:
· Details of the assessment to which the sample relates;
· Marking criteria;
· Information about how the sample has been selected;
· Overall marks profile for the cohort;
· Examples from all markers to enable the external to determine that marking is consistent and equitable;
· The full range of assessed work (for example, examination scripts, coursework, projects, dissertations and oral work).

All assessed coursework and examinations scripts () must be available for viewing by External Examiners as necessary. An exception to the obligation to make all coursework available may be made in departments which operate with very high volumes of small assessed coursework assignments, but only with the written agreement of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Standards)

Level Four
External Examiners have the right to ask to see samples of work from level 4 (normally year one of a degree course) and you should discuss their requirements in this respect with the External at the time of their appointment.