UWE Bristol External Examiner Annual Reporting Rebecca Smith

UWE Bristol External Examiner Annual Reporting Rebecca Smith, Curriculum Enhancement Manager Rebecca 24. Smith@uwe. ac. uk 0117 32 82545

Overview • • • What is annual reporting? Why do we carry out annual reporting? Who is your audience? The Report UWE 2020 Strategy - Theme Submission What happens with your report? The ‘Faculty Response’ Reporting to the Vice-Chancellor The Logistics

Points of Engagement with UWE • • • Scrutiny of draft assessments Moderation Reports/Process Scrutiny Days/Pre-Examination Boards: Field/Award Boards General correspondence with module leaders and programme managers • Professional practice placement observations • The External Examiner Annual Report

What is annual reporting? • QAA Quality Code: Chapter B 7: External Examining • Indicator 12: External examiners submit a report annually, at a time determined by the institution, to the head of the institution or to one or more named individuals that he/she designates • We require all of our External Examiners to submit a written report annually summarising their confidence in the standards of our curricula and recognition of good practice and areas for enhancement (Indicator 2 of the QAA Quality Code provides more information regarding what Awarding institutions should expect their external examiners to provide informative comment and recommendations upon)

Why do we carry out annual reporting? • Critical aspect in the Monitoring and Evaluation of our programmes to assure the quality and standards of our students’ degrees from an external standpoint. • Ensures that the principles set out in the University Assessment Cycle Policy are being adhered to. • It will inform an overarching report at University, Faculty and Department level on the academic health of the University to Academic Board.

Who is your audience? Take a minute to discuss with colleagues on your table who you believe the external examiner reports audience is?

Who is your audience? • • • Module leaders Programme leaders Field leaders (or academic colleague responsible with managing the External Examiners allocated within a field of study) / Heads of Department Faculty Academic Standards and Quality Committee Learning Teaching and Student Experience Committee Collaborative Provision Committee Collaborative Partners Learning and Teaching Enhancement Team Students – Student Rep Staff Forums Freedom of Information Requests

The Structure of the Report • Each report aligns specifically to your role and there are minor differences within the questions: – Field External Examiner – Chief External Examiner – Non-Modular External Examiner • Post Graduate Certificate in Education • Graduate Diploma in Law • Bristol’s International College

The Structure of the Report Cont. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Academic and Professional Standards (Questions 1. 1 -1. 4); Assessment Strategy (Questions 2. 1 -2. 3) Process and Procedure (Questions 3. 1 -3. 3) Collaborative Provision (Question 4. 1) Quality Enhancement (Questions 5. 1 -5. 3) Closing Comments (Questions 6. 1 -6. 2) External Examiner Resources (Questions 7. 1 -7. 2)

Confidence Judgements • Judgement Statements: Likert Scale – 1 -4 – Complete Confidence (1) – Broad Confidence (2) – Limited Confidence (3) – No Confidence (4) • Two judgements per question: – UWE Delivered Provision – Collaborative Provision • Supporting Commentary (Reviewing - 2 Boxes this year) – Please be specific e. g. identify partner/module

Example Report

Was the previous slide a good example of a report A. Yes B. No

General Pointers • Be concise and specific - please see the good and poor examples of responses to the report on the External Examiner Resources website • Detail the module/programme, and if applicable the collaborative partner to which your comment relates so we can review & action. • If you have any areas of concern, please expand on this i. e. substantiate your comment with the example • When you highlight areas of good practice please expand on why it is good? i. e. substantiate your comment with the example • As above for areas for enhancement

UWE 2020 Strategy - Theme • UWE 2020 Strategy Launched in 2013 • We will provide an annual theme and background information that is informed by our strategy • Ask to identify areas of good practice and areas for enhancement in achieving the identified theme.

Submission • Why meet the deadline? – Critical aspect of our internal Monitoring and Evaluation process – The sooner we can engage the sooner we can share the identified good practice or action any areas of enhancement – Chief External Examiner access

What is a realistic timeframe to expect a report to be written? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2 Weeks 4 Weeks 2 months 3 months +

The ‘Faculty Response’ • Closes the feedback loop • A response from the Field Leader – Acknowledge recognition for highlighted areas of good practice (to share with colleagues across Department/University as appropriate) – Acknowledge any recommended areas for enhancement and actions that will be taken – Rationale if we disagree with any aspects of your report

Reporting to the Vice-Chancellor • External Examiners may, in exceptional circumstances, report separately and confidentially to the Vice-Chancellor on any matters of serious concern. • Detailed in your report how you may do this. • Expected that these concerns would have been raised through your initial engagement i. e. moderation process and Examination Boards.

Annual Thematic Report to the University • The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Team will produce an annual thematic report based on the outcomes from all External Examiners reports for the University to consider. • Broad themes emerging from the 2014/15 annual reporting cycle: – Assessment Feedback – more consistency – Collaborative Provision – more staff development required in sharing good examples of work, support for referencing and academic literacy skills – Process of Moderation – more consistency and clearly demonstrate the whole process

The Logistics • Receive an email from the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Team with your personalised report pro forma approx. 4 weeks before June Boards. • Submission Date advised • Submit to us by email • Fee Payment

Thank you for listening! Any questions?