This course will involve undertaking preparatory activities available from 25th March 2024.  When you sign up for this course you are committing to completion of these pre-course activities and attendance at the full day in person workshop on Tuesday 9th April 2024.

The course has been developed as part of the national Degree Standards project, which is led by Advance HE and managed by the Office for Students on behalf of England and the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Wales.

You will take part in a short course, involving individual online preparatory work (typically about 3 hours) and participation at the full day in person workshop. The preparatory work needs to be completed during the two weeks prior to the workshop. The design of the course reflects an active learning approach, with an emphasis on valuing participants' experiences and prior knowledge. As such, it is equally relevant for aspiring, new or experienced examiners.

Course participants will:

- gain an understanding of the role of the external examiner as articulated in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education

- consolidate their understanding of the nature of academic standards and professional judgement, and explore the implications for external examining

- develop their ability in using evidence-informed approaches to contribute to impartial, transparent judgements on academic standards and enhancing student learning.

Full completion of the course leads to a formal Certificate of Completion (awarded by Advance HE), and provides evidence of an ongoing commitment to professional development against the Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education (PSF 2023).

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain and discuss the nature and purpose of the external examiner role, its function for quality assessment in higher education, including the importance within it of their contribution to safeguarding academic standards
2. Explain the nature of standards in the higher education context
3. Draw on practical and scholarly knowledge of assessment as appropriate to the role, including: professional judgement; assessment reliability; assessment validity; purposes of assessment; principles of assessment; programme coherence in assessment.
4. Recognise the varied provenance and uniqueness of individuals’ standards and the challenge this brings to examiners representing the standards of their subject, discipline and/or professional community.
5. Explain the importance and use of key reference points for academic standards in the relevant subject, discipline and/or professional area.
6. Explain the purpose and value of ongoing calibration activities in supporting the use of common ‘discipline community’ standards.
7. Recognise the importance of their continuing professional development in assessment and external examining.

The Professional Standards Framework

The Professional Standards Framework (PSF) 2023 is a comprehensive set of professional standards and guidelines for everyone involved in teaching and supporting learning in higher education. Participants for this course are likely to be involved in external examining or may be leading external examining policies across a faculty, programme or team. If you are considering preparing an application for Advance HE Reognition, you should look at how your external examining experience relates to the dimensions of the PSF 2023. There are follow-up activities in the Participant Handbook for the course, as well as guidance on aligning your external examining experience to the PSF 2023. 

Prior to booking, please ensure that you will have sufficient time to complete the online preparatory work during the two weeks before the date of the course. Non-completion of the online activities will mean that you cannot progress to the workshop on Tuesday 9th April 2024.