Guidance for Completing the Annual Report

When you log into QMEP, in addition to the ‘My Tasks’ button you will now also see a ‘Create EE Annual Report’ button.  Please use this option to start the report process.  Please see the guidance External Examiners Annual Report in QMEP Guidance which provides step by step information about the process.   

All External Examiners are required to submit an annual report to the University as part of their appointed duties.  This will usually be after all moderation has been completed and/or attendance at the main Assessment Board.  For example, College Level External Examiners or Programme External Examiners will have been invited (if applicable) to a College Assessment Board by the relevant College Registry Operations team.

Please see key dates for External Examiners.

This would be identified via Section 3 ‘Overall Confidence Statements Assuring Academic Standards’ within the Annual Report template on QMEP. This section asks you to confirm whether several statements are true, a negative response to any of these statements would be considered a major concern by the University and indicate that standards are at risk.

The statements are:

• The University ensures that the academic standards for its qualifications are consistent with the relevant national qualifications frameworks e.g. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ), QAA subject benchmarks, OfS sector-recognised standards, and where relevant standards set by Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs).

• The academic standards and the outcomes achieved by students are comparable with those achieved by students in other UK degree-awarding bodies of which you have experience

• The assessment processes and arrangements for degree classification are reliable, fair, transparent and effectively delivered in line with the University’s policies and regulations

• 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, Chief External Examiner if you have one, the External Examiner team externalexaminers@derby.ac.uk 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 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.

All External Examiners are required to submit an annual report to the University as part of their appointed duties.  This will usually be after all moderation has been completed and/or attendance at the main Assessment Board.  For example, College Level External Examiners or Programme External Examiners will have been invited (if applicable) to a College Assessment Board by the relevant College Registry Operations team.

As per our standard process where External Examiners have both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes as part of their duties they will be expected to submit separate reports for each level of study.

This will ensure that report submissions are aligned to timelines that are linked more greatly with the final assessment boards for each level of study and will allow External Examiners to submit reports at the most appropriate point, closest to when work has been undertaken.  Programme Leaders are then able to consider comments and identify actions in response to the report in a timelier manner.

Chief External Examiners don't need to submit a seperate report relating to their Chief role; feedback related to being a Chief External Examiner will be incorporated within their Programme report(s).

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.