School Examinations Officer role

Schools must have detailed procedures to ensure effective operation of assessments and exams. It is essential to define clearly the responsibilities of individuals and deadline dates. The procedure must cover:

• The setting of examination papers, to ensure that examination papers (and marking schemes) are set, internally moderated, vetted by the external examiner (with appropriate changes made), printed and proof read at the appropriate time.
• The marking of exam scripts and the processing of marks; to ensure that exam scripts are marked anonymously with appropriate checking of completeness and of marks addition, as well as undertaking al necessary moderation of marks. Similarly, the marks lists used by Boards of Examiners must be checked for accuracy.

The specific duties of a School Examinations Officer (or in the case of taught postgraduate examinations, the Examinations Officer for a particular taught postgraduate course), which may be one or multiple people, will depend on the organisational structure within the School. The School Examinations Officer, or delegates, will normally incorporate:

Exam delivery facilitation including:

• Coordinate the production of draft examination papers by module convenors for examinations in each semester with the production of the resit papers for resit examinations at the same time.
• Liaise with the External Examiner(s) to obtain feedback on the draft examinations papers, and to supply External Examiner(s) with relevant examples of student examination scripts and coursework, marks lists etc.
• Co-ordinate with RAA the production of final “camera ready copy” versions of the examinations papers to the approved university template (together with any additional special handout material). These originals are then passed to the Examinations Office for reproduction. Deadlines for submission of papers to the Examinations Office are circulated in advance. For specific information on the production of examination papers, please consult the following:
• • Exam rubric information including dictionaries, calculators, MCQ and Open Books
  • Exam template from 2024/25
• Liaise with the University’s Examinations Office for Undergraduate examinations and Taught Postgraduate examinations as appropriate, to provide timely scheduling information to allow the production of an examinations timetable.
• Liaise with the University’s Examinations Office regarding the examination arrangements for students with alternative exam arrangements. There is a formal procedure involving assessment of the student’s needs by the University’s Disability Support Service. All students must be assessed before the deadline for alternative examination arrangements to be implemented in advance of the next examination period.

Marks processing and Exam Board facilitation including:

• Receive marksheets generated by Campus Solutions. Ensure completed marksheets are returned to the appropriate assessment team for uploading into Campus Solutions by published deadlines to enable the production of marks lists for use by School Boards of Examiners, and Taught Postgraduate Course Boards in the case of Taught Postgraduate degrees.
• Bring Extenuating Circumstances and/or Fitness to Practice and/or Academic Misconduct outcomes to the attention of the School Board of Examiners and Taught Postgraduate Course Boards in the case of Taught Postgraduate degrees.

In addition, please provide Registry and Academic Affairs UNUK, Academic Services Office UNNC or Student Registry Office - Exams and Assessment team UNM with:

• Decisions from the School Examination Board for certificates, diplomas and final degrees, including a full profile of confirmed marks which contributed towards that award.
• Decisions from the School Examination Board regarding course termination, progression, 'first sits', repeat study and reassessment entitlements, including the format of all assessment (e.g. examination, coursework etc) for candidates who have a further assessment opportunity.
• The evidence used by the School Examination Board when submitting decisions on a student's final degree classification under regulation 26 of the Regulations for Undergraduate Courses and regulation 22 (b) of the Regulations for Taught Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diplomas and Postgraduate Certificate Courses.

For more information about the University's academic regulations, please consult the following:

Academic regulations

• Collaborate with Registry and Academic Affairs UNUK, Academic Services Office UNNC or Student Registry Office – Assessment Team UNM to ensure data on reassessments and first sits have been accurately imported into Campus Solutions prior to such information being made available to students.

Examinations Officers should also provide students with: 

• Coursework requirements for modules which can be taken either externally or over the summer to those students who have the opportunity of further assessment, irrespective of the student's home School;
• In liaison with EC panels and/or DLOs, clear and unambiguous submission procedures for coursework extensions (including appropriate dates);