The name, position and institution of each external examiner is made available to students through inclusion of this information in the relevant programme specification(s). If an external examiner does not give consent for his/her details to be published in this way the name will not be included in the programme specification and instead it will state that the name of the external examiner will be made available to students on request. Students are advised that they must not contact external examiners directly. Should any external examiner be contacted by a student they are asked to forward the details to their main contact for the programme for a response. Similarly, if an external examiner is approached by a student or group of students in person with a request to discuss particular issues about a programme or module the external examiner should refer the student(s) to the main programme or module contact.
External examiners’ reports and responses are shared, in full with all students, via the University’s portal SUSSED and with student representatives at SSLC. Students will also be engaged through discussion at SPC and AQSS at which they are represented.
Where possible, and particularly if the external examiner requests it, arrangements should be made for external examiners to meet with students. Such meetings are not part of the assessment process but are seen as good practice and provide an opportunity for the external examiner to gain a better understanding of a programme and the way in which it operates from a student perspective. The meeting with students may be held in person or held virtually using a University of Southampton approved platform such as Microsoft Teams.