External Examiners
What is an External Examiner?
The University of Sheffield employs external examiners to oversee every programme of study undertaken by its students, in common with all other universities in the UK.
Every piece of assessed work that counts towards your degree or diploma will be marked and moderated by internal examiners who are members of University staff. An external examiner is usually employed at another university, but is also appointed by the University of Sheffield to impartially oversee the assessment of a course or parts of one or more taught courses. This allows the University to be sure that its assessment processes work well, that the appropriate marks are awarded and that departments benefit from suggestions for improvement from respected academics with expertise in the subject in other universities.
What do External Examiners do?
They comment on the fairness and thoroughness of the assessment on your course or part(s) of your course
They may visit the University to discuss the course or part(s) of the course with Sheffield staff, and may meet informally with students
They look at and comment on draft assessment papers, including examination questions
They look at samples of students’ assessed work in each course or part(s) of a course they are appointed to oversee, together with a spread of marks awarded for all pieces of the work
They comment on the overall standards of work that they sample
They offer advice and comments on the arrangements for overseeing assessments, how appropriate the assessment tasks are, and what might be improved
If they think that a group of assessments has been harshly or too leniently marked, they may recommend that a whole group of students’ marks are reconsidered. This is why marks are provisional until they have been agreed by an Examination Board.
They attend and contribute to Examination Boards at which important decisions are taken about student progression and the award of degrees
What don't they do?
They don’t mark your work
They don’t see every piece of assessed work you do
They don’t recommend changes to individual students’ marks
They don’t take the final decision regarding marks awarded, although they may make recommendations on the assessment of whole cohorts, which the Department is obliged to consider carefully
What kinds of feedback do External Examiners provide and what does the University do with this feedback?
External examiners provide informal feedback to staff in departments throughout the year, for example, by commenting on draft examination papers, visiting the University and commenting on assessment procedures, as outlined above. They also provide feedback to departments at the Examination Boards they attend. Informal feedback provided to departments is shared and appropriate action is taken within departments.
In addition, each external examiner is expected to provide a written report on the courses or part(s) of courses they are appointed to oversee. Departments are asked to comment on written reports, and both the reports and the Department’s comments are shared with Faculty Officers (academic staff responsible for quality in the whole faculty) who monitor reports and make sure appropriate action is taken.