External Examiner nomination
Heads of Department are responsible for nominating External Examiners. This should be during the Summer Term. Executive Deans, a nominee of the appropriate Faculty or Academic Partnerships, are responsible for the approval of the appointment.
We ask that informal approaches by departments to potential External Examiners are made as early as possible to reduce the risk of delay to new appointments.
Departments should seek to distribute the workload of their Externals evenly and in line with the principles which govern the University's External Examiner policy.
New appointments
External Examiners are appointed for four consecutive years, in exceptional circumstances, a fifth year may be considered with the permission of the relevant Executive Dean or nominee, in order to provide continuity, or where a programme is ending. Examiners may not be re-appointed as an external examiner for a taught award of the University for another five years.
Once nominations have been approved, the Quality and Academic Development office send a formal letter of invitation to the External Examiner, specifying the awards and modules to which they have been appointed and asking the examiner to confirm the appointment is accepted and that they are prepared to operate in line with the University's expectations, as described in the roles and responsibilities.
Criteria for nomination
Departments need to check that the proposed external meets the criteria before submitting a nomination.
There may be some instances when an external does not meet all of the criteria, for example, where the field to be covered is highly specialised and the pool of possible externals is very limited. In this instance, the department should provide a written rationale which addresses those criteria the proposed external does not meet, alongside the nomination form.
How to nominate
University of Essex departments
University of Essex departments use the External Examiner Nomination Portal
Restricted to University of Essex staff, the External Examiner Nomination Portal is used by departmental staff for nominating a new, or replacement, External Examiner, and for making changes to existing appointments. The system is an enhancement of the University's existing personnel management system iTrent, and will record details of External Examiner nominations, course/module allocations and stages in the nomination approval process.
Nomination Portal: guidance for University of Essex staff
- Departmental User Nomination Guide (Taught Programmes) (.pdf)
- Head of Departmental Nomination Guide (Taught Programmes) (.pdf)
- Deputy Dean (Education) Nomination Guide (Taught Programmes) (.pdf)
Partner institutions
Partner institutions use the External Examiner nomination form (.docx)
Currently, nominations for External Examiners for partner institutions should be made using a nomination form sent to external.examiners@essex.ac.uk.
What to include
All nominations will need to include:
- An up to date CV
- Copy of a document confirming Right to Work (usually a UK/EEA passport) in line with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (Prevention of Illegal Working regulations)
- which has been verified by their home institution or employer
- dated by the home institution
- Stamped with departmental or institutional stamp
Please note, if this is not available, a document from List A or List B of the Home Office Right to Work checklist is acceptable. If the External Examiner is a non-UK/EEA national and cannot supply any of the required documentation, please seek advice from us via external.examiners@essex.ac.uk.
It will not be possible to accept or process any new recommendations without this information.
