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 2017-18, we are:

• working with 19 higher education providers as ‘early adopters’ to deliver the professional development course;
• trialling and running the ‘develop the developer’ programme for those who intend to roll out the course inside institutions, including eight partnering institutions and ‘early adopters’;
• holding four regional courses across the four nations;
• launching the online version of the course, and running four online cohorts;
• exploring approaches to the calibration of academic standards in subject areas through a north west regional consortium of higher education providers, and through working with professional bodies and subject associations;
• evaluating the longer-term impact of the course and associated calibration activities.

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.