Thank you for agreeing to become an external examiner at Brookes. I hope you will enjoy working with colleagues at the University and - for some of you - at the partner organisations who deliver programmes of study leading to Oxford Brookes awards.
Our external examiners (around 225 are currently employed on taught programmes across the University) play a key role in helping the University maintain the academic and professional standards of its awards, and in providing advice to programme teams on how to improve the quality of the student learning experience. Faculty staff, collaborative partners and University managers value the suggestions for enhancement that are made by external examiners, and I hope that you will develop mutually beneficial working relationships during your time as an examiner at Brookes.
You may be familiar with the role of the external examiner from your experience in your own institution, but institutions differ in their approaches to programme delivery and assessment, and this handbook is intended to be an accessible online reference guide to help external examiners understand the policies and systems at Oxford Brookes, and to help you to fulfil your role effectively.
Like all UK universities, our working practices were considerably changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have realised a range of benefits and efficiencies from working remotely in certain areas, such as the assessment processes; and we have therefore decided to ask our external examiners to continue to operate remotely for the foreseeable future (unless it is essential that key assessments are sampled in person).
Feedback from our external examiners suggests that they find the experience of working with my colleagues at Oxford Brookes to be a very positive one, but we understand that challenges can arise from time to time, so please do get in touch if you encounter any issues, so that we can address – and resolve – them as quickly as possible.
Chloe Teague
Head of Academic Policy and Regulations