The fee paid to all external examiners appointed to undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes on or after 1 December 2017 is a flat fee of £700. The fee will be paid on receipt of the annual report(s). External examiners appointed before 1 December 2017 should refer to their letter of appointment for clarification of their fee.
External examiners are normally appointed to programmes or groups of programmes, and there are no additional payments to the flat fee. Schools should undertake an annual review of work allocation which aims to ensure a reasonable and fair distribution of work and as a result, the responsibilities of an external examiner may change from year to year.
The fee to be paid to an external examiner is set out in the letter of appointment. The Faculty/School will remind external examiners to submit their claim for their fee and any expenses incurred each year. The appropriate claim form for fees and expenses should be completed and returned as soon as possible after the Board of Examiners’ meeting, and no later than three months after the date of the meeting.
Different payment methods are in place for undergraduate and postgraduate taught external examiners due to HM Revenue & Customs’ requirements and this is explained in the letter of appointment. The undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes claim forms are available in the University’s Quality Handbook https://www.southampton.ac.uk/quality/external_examiners/fees.page and on the External Examiner information site http://generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk/externalexaminer/fees-and-expenses/
External examiners can reclaim fees and the costs of travelling or out of pocket expenses where they were agreed by the University in advance of the expenditure being incurred. All travelling and out of pocket expenses must be in line with the University's Financial Regulations, Policies and Procedures. Information on common areas of spend relating to travel and expenses is available on the allowable expenses page. It includes guidance about the information, original itemised receipts and supporting documents required when making a claim. It is the responsibility of the CQA Team or the Assessment and Admin Team to make sure that the external examiner has all of the information that they require before expenditure is made.
Details of these costs and subsistence and other expenses should be shown on the claim form provided; subsistence expenses will be reimbursed provided details are shown and receipts submitted. Further guidance is available at the bottom of this page, under Useful Downloads.
Claim forms can be sent in hard copy or electronically to the CQA Team in the Faculty who will arrange payment. External examiners wishing to submit their claim form electronically should print, sign and scan the form prior to submitting it. The University requires external examiners to submit original receipts to support their claim for any travel and subsistence costs.
Payment of undergraduate external examiner claims for fees and expenses will be paid on the last working day of each month through the University’s payroll into the external examiner’s bank account. Following receipt of fully completed claim forms by the CQA Team, the deadline for completed claims to be approved by the Faculty and sent to Payroll are published under Payroll and HR pay timetables https://www.southampton.ac.uk/finance/services/salary-and-pay.page. Due to the cut off dates, external examiners may have to wait up to two months before receiving payment.
Payment of postgraduate taught external examiner claims will be made following receipt into Accounts Payable of a fully completed and approved claim form. Payment runs are completed weekly, and will be processed in order of receipt. Standard Payment terms are 30 days from date of claim.
External Examiner Travel and Expenses guidance
External Examiner UG Claim Form
External Examiner PGT Claim Form