External examiners

The Department's commitment to excellence in teaching and learning is assisted by its external examiners who perform a vital role in the quality assurance process.

The external examiners ensure that:

• the standard of the degrees we award is comparable to other UK universities as defined by the QAA national benchmarks;
• the standard of the degrees we award is consistent with the specification of our own programme and module specifications;
• the Imperial assessment policy is implemented such that:
  • student achievement is measured against intended learning outcomes;
  • assessment is implemented fairly and equitably.

The external examiner activities include:

• reviewing syllabi, lecture content, reading lists, coursework requirements, examination papers etc.;
• visiting the university to meet students and staff as well as sample student coursework;
• visiting the university to attend the end-of-year Examiners Meeting;
• the production of an annual report.

The Department must respond to every issue identified in the external examiner's report. This feedback is used to develop and improve our teaching and learning strategy as well as our assessment policy. The previous external examiners' reports can be found on the Student Portal.

To summarise, the external examiners act as a 'critical friend' and a guardian of QAA, the university, and departmental rubrics and standards. The external examiners oversee that every single student in the degree programme is treated fairly. The Department is very fortunate that its external examiners are some of the most distinguished academics in our subject area.

Current departmental external examiners are: