Check List and Agenda

STANDARD BOARD OF EXAMINERS CHECK LIST AND AGENDA

Two check lists are provided below for tasks in preparation of the Board of Examiners and tasks relating to External Examiners. The check lists are not infallible but should serve to remind Chairs of essential information which needs to be imparted to members of their Board of Examiners.

A standard Agenda for Boards of Examiners is also provided with information that is useful for preparing a Chairs Agenda as well as a standard Agenda for members of the Board of Examiners.

CHECK LIST (in preparation for the Board)

Prior to the meeting:  In a timely manner, arrange a pre-meeting between Faculty Extenuating Circumstances Panel / Departmental Extenuating Circumstances Panel and Board Chair and/or Administrator in order to report outcomes of all cases of extenuating circumstance submissions (if a meeting is not practicable, agree in advance the method for disseminating outcome of FECP to Board Chair and Administrator).  Circulate the Agenda along with the minutes of the last BoE meeting  Circulate Board membership list (especially to Faculty colleagues)  Circulate last year’s External Examiners’ Report(s) and Departmental response(s)  If applicable, circulate minutes of Scrutiny Meeting  Circulate Classification Scheme(s)

Table at the meeting:  Mark sheets (Board Reports)  Marks ‘profile’ of candidates to be classified  Statistical data

CHECK LIST (tasks relating to External Examiners) (carried out prior to the Board on the day of the Board) 1. Eligibility to work in UK documentation: Check all the External Examiners’ original documentation and save a local copy, which will be required later for payment purposes. Note on the copy: ‘Originally seen [date] by [full name, signature and Board Role i.e. Board Chair, Board Administrator] and scanned copy received [date]’. Please note: unfortunately, Academic Services will be unable to process payments to External Examiners until their eligibility to work in the UK has been confirmed. This applies to all External Examiners, regardless of their nationality. We require this documentation for existing External Examiners as well as new appointments. 2. External Examiners’ formal online annual report: The Chair must remind External Examiners to submit their online formal annual report via Portico within 4 weeks of the Board. Please highlight to them the process: the Departments will respond to the report, and this will be made available to the External Examiners after a few months. An email will be sent to the External Examiner with an updated version of their original report, which will now include the Departmental responses. 3. Fee payment and expenses claim form: Take copies of the updated Fee payment and Expenses claim form (Chapter 6 Annexes of the Academic Manual) External Examiners who do not wish to claim expenses are still required to complete the payment details section at the Board in order to receive payment. The Board Administrator should collect this Fee payment and Expenses claim form on the day of the Board and send this to Academic Services ([email protected]). External Examiners who wish to claim expenses should complete all relevant sections and submit the form along with the original hard copy receipts. Unfortunately, Academic Services will be unable to process expenses sent electronically or without the original hard copy receipts. AGENDA

The agenda for the final Board of Examiners meeting should be prepared well in advance of the meeting itself when pressures on Chairs and Administrators are not so extreme. Text in italics can be useful points to include in the Chair’s Agenda and can be omitted from the standard Agenda that is circulated to members of the Board of Examiners.

BOARD OF EXAMINERS MEETING AGENDA

, at ,

1. Introductory Announcements

 Welcome External Examiner(s) and Faculty Representative, and, as appropriate, ensure that in doing so all members of the Board know who everyone else present is.

 Confirmation that the Meeting is Quorate

 Remind members of confidentiality restraints pertaining to business of Board and results

 Request declarations of interest (e.g. a relationship to a student) from Members of the Board

 Brief report on the session’s examining procedures

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

3. Matters Arising from the Minutes

4. Confirmation of Minutes of the Board’s Scrutiny Meeting (where applicable. Current session and matters arising, including Examination Irregularities)

5. Conduct of Examinations

 Chair to report any untoward events, e.g. interruptions, unacceptable noise leaves in rooms adjacent or external to examination halls, etc., as reported by invigilators to Examinations and, any mitigation measures.

6. Notification of Scheme of Award

7. Examination Results

 Chair to report on corrections / amendments to marks, where applicable

 Formal approval of marks (including review of statistical data)1

1 Statistical Data can easily be obtained by running the A32 report in Portico, or may be compiled separately. If using A32, a quick overview can be obtained by using the ‘Excel-friendly’ version of the report and applying conditional formatting to highlight outliers. 8. Progression and Award Decisions

9. Comments from the External Examiner and provisional response from Chair (noting that the formal EE report will need to be filled in via Portico within one month of the meeting).

10. Comments from the Faculty Representative

11. Nominations for prizes (if relevant)

12. Examination dates for and procedures for ensuing year

13. Confirmation of External Examiner(s) for ensuing year (to record a list of the External Examiners who will be continuing. To record and acknowledge those External Examiners finishing their term at the current Board, and to provide an update on arrangements for their replacement (where necessary)).

14. Any Other Business and thanks.