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Reporting process and claims

The purpose of the annual External Examiner's written report is to help St Mary's University to judge whether a programme of study is meeting its stated aims and learning outcomes and maintaining the standards of the award(s) to which it leads.

Annual written reports from External Examiners are an important feature of the University's quality assurance procedures. For all programmes, both undergraduate and postgraduate, the report is required after the meeting of the Programme Examination Board, held at the end of the second semester/academic year. Reports should be submitted within three weeks of the final meeting of the Programme Examination Board using one of the following templates.

External Examiner reports are scrutinised within the University and forms an key part of our approach to continous improvement and sharing of best practice. They are circulated to the Heads of Department/ Institute, Associate Deans Student Experience, Subject/Course leads, Quality and Standards Managers with a request for a response to the external (to be copied to the Quality and Standards team qsteam@stmarys.ac.uk) which should also feature within its programme review statements, particularly to address any specific issues outlined in the report.

Programme Boards are required to discuss the External Examiner report and it must form a standing item at the appropriate meeting each year. The report must be made available in full to all students (not just programme student representatives) by appropriate means such as MyModules. This can be done with redactions if necessary.

The comments of the External Examiners and the Subject/course lead responses are monitored by the Quality Assurance and Enhancement sub-Committee. Any points for action at University level are also noted and acted on as necessary. Where an External Examiner raises a serious concern requiring urgent attention, an immediate response will be made by the Head of Quality and Academic Partnerships, the Dean of Learning and Teaching and the Provost who will normally inform the External Examiner of any action or resolution of the issue.

The payment of annual fee and expenses is conditional on receipt of the Examiner's written annual report and the submission online of a payment claim via PeopleNet.

External Examiners' reports form part of revalidation of existing programmes and may be viewed by QAA reviewers and Ofsted inspectors.

*St Mary's University will reimburse standard-class rail fare or mileage for use of a private car; for journeys outside England and Wales economy-class air fare is allowable. Reasonable subsistence expenses will also be paid. Receipts should be provided for all items of expenditure. Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions are deducted at source. External Examiners are urged to book travel well in advance, on receipt of the relevant dates, in order to minimise costs as fares will usually rise significantly close to the date of travel.

For further support and guidance, please contact Harriet Deveey in the Quality and Standards team qateam@stmarys.ac.uk