Guidance for Completing the Annual Report

You can find the template for your Annual Report here.

Please see key dates for External Examiners.

Your report should be submitted electronically to the External Examiner Team within the Centre for Quality Assurance (CQA) who will register its receipt, check that it conforms to University requirements, and forward to relevant colleagues.

Part 1 of the Annual Report Template asks you to confirm whether several statements are true, a negative response to any of these statements would indicate that you have a major concern. 

The statements are:

• The University ensures that the threshold standards for its qualifications are consistent with the relevant national qualifications frameworks eg Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ), QAA subject benchmarks, OFS Regulatory framework for higher Education in England, and where relevant Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs).
• The University ensures that students who are awarded qualifications have the opportunity to achieve standards beyond the threshold level that are reasonably comparable with those achieved in other UK providers, and that standards set appropriately reflect any applicable sector-recognised standards.
• The assessment processes and classification are reliable, fair, transparent and effectively delivered in line with the University’s regulations.
• Where the University works in partnership with other organisations, it has in place effective arrangements to ensure that the standards of its awards are credible and secure irrespective of where or how courses are delivered or who delivers them.
• The Higher/Degree Apprenticeship meets relevant Apprenticeship Standards representative of current thinking and practices (only applicable for External Examiners reviewing Apprenticeship programmes).

• You feel that standards at the University of Derby are not consistent with either the level of FHEQ or other HEIs
• The assessment board is not following University procedures as outlined in our academic regulations
• Work at an Academic Partner is not at the same level as that of the home programme and/or student support/facilities are not sufficient to enable students to achieve the stated learning outcomes (as evidenced during a visit by the External Examiner)

If you need further advice please talk to your mentor, or Chief External Examiner if you have one, and please refer to the revised quality code and the associated guidance on External Expertise. 

• Procedural errors: e.g. you have not seen an assessment brief before it was given to students but did see it when you moderated the student work.
• It appears that some Academic Partners are over marking but this is not systemic, it only happens in isolated modules and the University of Derby team pick up the issue and take appropriate actions, or take appropriate actions when this is raised as a concern by the external. Wholesale over marking and lack of appropriate action would be a major issue.
• A programme leader tells you that they have inadequate resources to deliver a
  module/programme but the evidence presented does not suggest this is the case. If quality and standards have been affected this should be apparent in student work and if persists over a number of periods would be a major issue.
• You have not received a schedule of when you expect work to arrive – this is poor
  administration but is not putting the quality or standards of student education at risk. 

• It should be on the latest/correct template
• It should be clear to what programmes/modules the report refers
• It should be clear as to what cohorts/locations/Academic Partners/Online provision the report refers
• The report should include adequate references to Apprenticeship requirements (where relevant)
• The report should cover all modes and locations of delivery
• If there are issues, it should be made clear what location/delivery mode they relate to
• All relevant boxes should be completed
• The report should provide full responses, going beyond a basic yes/no and provide suggestions for enhancement

The University of Derby Academic Board requires that External Examiner reports are responded to in full and in a timely fashion, normally within six working weeks.

Please see information on claiming your annual fee.

TBC

Chief External Examiners only need to complete one annual report.

The report will be forwarded to the Programme Leader and other relevant colleagues for careful consideration and action. Students will also be able to access the report.