Besides the primary role in the assurance of the academic standards of their programmes and awards, institutions may ask external examiners to undertake additional roles. Any such additional roles should not conflict with or compromise the primary role. Institutions should state clearly the various roles, powers and responsibilities assigned to their external examiners. Institutions may wish to define other roles for their external examiners, and grant them additional powers. Institutions should define explicit policies and regulations governing the nomination and appointment of external examiners, and premature termination of their contract.
Institutions are responsible for the number and deployment of their external examiners.
Where more than one examiner is appointed to a programme or programme unit, institutions may wish to seek the phasing of examiner appointments to enable the mentoring of new examiners. Institutions should ensure that their external examiners are competent to undertake the responsibilities defined in their contract. Institutions should ensure that potential external examiners are provided with sufficient information to enable them to identify whether they can carry out their responsibilities effectively. Institutions should consider carefully how they can provide potential external examiners with adequate documentation to enable both the nominee and the institution to proceed to the approval stage of appointment with a shared understanding of the role. An institution should provide for the proper preparation of its external examiners to ensure that they understand and can fulfil their responsibilities.