The Degree Standards project , which is led by Advance HE and managed by the Office for Students on behalf of England and the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Wales, is exploring, across those three nations, sector-owned processes focusing on professional development for external examiners. The purpose of this five-year project is to:

• design, pilot and deliver different approaches to the professional development of external examiners
• propose evidence-based and cost-effective longer-term approaches to the professional development of external examiners operating across the higher education system in England, Northern Ireland and Wales
• explore approaches to the calibration of standards, presenting recommendations for future work in this area.

During 2018-19, we are:

• Working with 35 higher education providers as to deliver the professional development course;
• Delivering the well-established blended professional development course for external examiners extensively: by means of the Develop the Developer programme, by direct delivery in two institutions, and regionally on seven occasions (Belfast, Birmingham, York, Cardiff, and three times in London);
• Reviewing the offering of the Developer the Developer programme and running a regional workshop to staff from 10 higher education providers;
• Holding 6 assisted courses and 17 observed courses at 17 institutions;
• Reviewing and modifying the online course in order to cope with larger cohorts and successfully delivering it with an open cohort of 106 registrants;
• Producing a synthesis report on calibration, reflecting on the experience of devising and delivering calibration exercises. This complements the existing guidance on how to carry out calibration activities and the toolkits in Geography, Veterinary Science and Music designed to be used to build greater consistency in the judgement of student work;
• Increasing the regional collaboration. The north west consortium has been expanded to involve 13 higher education providers. Also a Northern Ireland Group led from Queen’s University, Belfast and a ‘London Group’ made up of smaller providers have emerged;
• Devising and piloting two integrated courses. In partnership with the Royal Geographical Society, an integrated course for external examiners in Geography (combining professional development and calibration) was designed and delivered (November 2018) as part of the north west consortium. In collaboration with the British Association for Sport and Exercise Science (BASES), an integrated course for external examiners in Sport and Exercise Science was devised and delivered in July 2019;
• Organising a one-day national conference (attracting 122 participants) in collaboration with Universities UK (UK), GuildHE, and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) on ‘Protecting the value of HE qualifications in the UK: degree classification and external examining’;
• Setting up communities of practice for external examiners and, separately, for facilitators who have completed the Develop the Developer programme;
• Evaluating the long-term impact of the course and associated calibration activities, applying the agreed methodological framework.

Find out more about the development work from this project briefing.

The project benefits significantly from advice from Advance HE’s Degree Standards Project Board and the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment.