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Support for examiners

Information for external and intercollegiate examiners.

The appointment of examiners takes place on an annual basis and is supported by a formal contract for services, which includes a Register of Interests declaration.

Information for all examiners

Statutory requirements

Examiners are required to have the right to work in the UK by law. Before any work can be undertaken, or any payment made, examiners must have provided the University's Quality, Standards and Governance Directorate (QSG) with satisfactory evidence of the right to work and reside in the UK. For a complete list of approved right to work documents please see UK Visas and Immigration Documents [PDF].

Specific arrangements for examiners’ payment were introduced in April 2014 by HMRC. The University’s payroll provider, FMP Global, requires specific information to set you up on the payroll and to enable payments to be processed by our Fees Office. Fees will be paid directly to your bank account via the FMP Global payroll bureau. Payments of fees due are made when a confirmed acceptance and Register of Interests form, satisfactory evidence of your right to work in the UK and payroll details (including NI number) have been received.

Categories of Examiners

All examiners will receive formal notification by email, that on the recommendation of an independent academic institution of the University of London they are invited to act as an Examiner under one of the following categories:

  • Chair
  • Deputy Chair
  • External / Intercollegiate Examiner
  • Chief Examiner
  • Deputy Chief Examiner
  • Examiner
  • Associate Examiner
  • Assessor
  • Assistant Examiner.

The roles and responsibilities of all categories of examiner are defined in Section 2 of the Guidelines for Examinations 2019-2020.

Acceptance of Appointment

To formalise their contract with the University and to ensure that conflicts of interest do not arise, all examiners must complete an online Register of Interests declaration as part of the acceptance of their contract. See the next section further down this page.

University of London examiners who have relationships with third party teaching institutions (e.g. through teaching, revision classes, staff training, consultancy or inspection) for which payments or other benefits have been received should treat this as an interest to be declared. Relationships with agents and/or other third parties in the same field (e.g. publishers) should also be declared.

For a more detailed explanation please refer to the Code of Practice for Examiners when teaching students under private arrangements [PDF]. You can refer to our Guidance Notes [PDF] for further clarification.

Information for external and intercollegiate examiners

Formal report

External and Intercollegiate Examiners are required to submit a formal report to the University within four weeks of the final meeting of the Board of Examiners.

Submit your report by completing the online form: External and Intercollegiate Examiner Report 2021-2022 (note the form cannot be saved, please complete it in one session).

You can download the PDF to see expected questions before completing the online session:

Information provided may be disclosed, subject to certain exemptions, under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you are an External or Intercollegiate Examiner and you have queries concerning the External Examiners' process please email us at external.examiner.report@london.ac.uk

Enclosures

Examiners are sent links to some of the following information as appropriate within the contract:

Examiners are required to complete and submit an Acceptance of Appointment and Register of Interests form.

Acceptance of Appointment - Online Submission

Welcome to the electronic acceptance of examiner appointment and register of interests form.

This online submission form allows you to accept an invitation to act as an examiner for one of the University of London Worldwide Programmes, as laid out in your contract, issued by email. The information contained in the covering email and in the contract will assist you in completing the online form.

Further assistance

Should you require further assistance, or experience any difficulties when completing or submitting the form, please email examiner.contract@london.ac.uk or call 020 7862 8552.

Do you have any interests to declare?

The Board of the University of London Worldwide Academic Committee and the University have an obligation to ensure that conflicts of interest, whether actual or perceived, do not arise. The Register of Interests is therefore intended to protect the University, the Lead Colleges and the individual staff members concerned.

The following guidelines are to assist in the completion of the Register of Interests section of the online acceptance form:

  1. Disclosure must be made of any relationship with an institution engaged in teaching University of London Worldwide Programmes students, or other private teaching arrangements, for which payment or other benefits have been or will be received. This should involve details of payments/benefits received by individuals both directly and/or indirectly via a third party. Please refer to the ‘Code of Practice for Examiners when Teaching Students under Private Arrangements’ and ‘Policy and Procedures for considering Conflicts of Interest’, which can be found at Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, respectively, of the Guidelines for Examinations, where appropriate.  Relationships with agents and/or other third parties in the same field (for example publishers) should also be declared.
  2. Disclosure should be for the academic/calendar year covered by the form and where possible should be submitted in advance of work having taken place.
  3. Low value benefits, such as occasional meals, airport transfers and token gifts (to a value of £20) can be excluded.
  4. Disclosure of the value, or estimated value, of payments is mandatory.
  5. During the course of the current academic session, you are also required to report any additional payments/benefits not declared on your Register of Interests submission for that year to examiner.contract@london.ac.uk
  6. Register of Interests returns will be monitored by the Quality, Standards and Governance Directorate (QSG) of the University of London Worldwide Academic Committee and you may be contacted subsequent to submission of your Register of Interests declaration in order to provide clarification or further information.
  7. Any issues arising will be taken forward, via QSG, with the Chairpersons of Exam Boards, or other appropriate committees or persons as necessary.
  8. Submitted information will be treated as confidential and held in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Data will be used only to ensure that the interests of the University, Lead Colleges and individuals are protected.

Acceptance

In order to proceed please choose whether you need to disclose any interests, including the disclosure of any relationship  with institutions teaching University of London Worldwide Programmes, agents and/or other third parties.