External Examiners

Discover essential guidance for External Examiners and access the current list at the University.

External Examiner role

External examiners play an important role in maintaining high standards of teaching and assessment in biology. They are full members of the exam boards to which they are appointed.

External examiners are appointed for 3 years in the School (this can be extended up to five years) to cover courses across several years. 

They are integral to the joint examination boards for years 1-3, the Honours boards for year 4 and the MSc programme boards. This allows them to comment on both vertical and horizontal integration of teaching. Their roles include:

  • Provision of external examiners reports to the College of Science and Engineering.
  • Meeting with students and staff to provide independent analysis of courses.
  • Commenting on curriculum, course content, examination papers, assessment procedures, marking standards.
  • Suggesting improvements in procedures and academic matters.

Undergraduate

External ExaminerUniversityHonoursProgrammes/courses
Professor Kerry FranklinUniversity of BristolPre-HonoursAll Year 1 and Year 2 undergraduate courses
Dr Tracey GlosterUniversity of St AndrewsBiochemistryMolecular Cell Biology 3, Structures and Functions of Proteins 3
Dr Peter MorrisHeriot-Watt UniversityBiotechnologyMolecular Microbiology 3, Biotechnology 3
Dr Berenika PlusaUniversity of ManchesterDevelopment, Regeneration, and Stem CellsDevelopmental Biology 3
Dr Pegine WalradUniversity of YorkGenetics/Molecular GeneticsEvolutionary and Ecological Genetics 3
Dr Jeremy BrownNewcastle UniversityCell Biology/Molecular BiologyGenomes and Genomics 3, Molecular Genetics 3
Dr Andrew KnightNewcastle UniversityImmunologyImmunology 3, Pathogen Biology 3
Dr Yoselin Benitez AlfonsoUniversity of LeedsPlant ScienceMolecular and Synthetic Plant Biology 3, Evolution and Ecology of Plants 3
Professor Tracey ChapmanUniversity of East AngliaEcology/Evolutionary Biology/Honours ZoologyBehavioural Ecology 3, Field Zoology 3, Population and Community Ecology 3, Animal Diversity and Evolution 3

Postgraduate

External ExaminerUniversityProgrammes/courses
Dr Dee ScaddenUniversity of CambridgeMSc Biochemistry
Dr Alastair CulhamUniversity of ReadingMsc Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants
Dr Jean-Marc SchwartzUniversity of ManchesterMSc Bioinformatics/Data Science for Biology
Professor Tim BuggUniversity of WarwickMsc Biotechnology
Professor Bernadette ByrneImperial College LondonMSc Drug Discovery and Translational Biology
Professor Tim BarracloughUniversity of OxfordMSc Ecology, Evolution & Biodiversity
Professor Jon SlateUniversity of SheffieldMSc Quantitative Genetics
Dr Jon Marles-WrightNewcastle UniversityMSc Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology

Full details of codes of practice, assessment regulations and relevant forms are available on the Academic Services website.

Further guidance on completing reports and navigating the External Examiner Reporting System (EERS) is found within the University's Registry Services web page.

Guidance for External Examiners when navigating EERS


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