Arbitrating Examiner

43. When a dispute arises between the external examiner and internal examiner(s) or the two external examiners, the usual Report and Result Form should be marked by the Examiners and Chair so as to indicate that the Board had been unable to agree upon a recommendation. In such a case the Head of the Graduate School shall resort to another external examiner who shall be asked to arbitrate. When selecting an Arbitrating External Examiner, the Head of the Graduate School shall take into account any written reports submitted by the members of the Examining Board and may also take into account – but need not be bound by – any nomination made by the original Board.

44. Upon appointment, an Arbitrating External Examiner shall be given a copy of the candidate’s work together with the reports of the original examiners and the ‘Report and Result Form’ and ‘Notes for Arbitrating External Examiners’. When considering the candidate’s work, an Arbitrating External Examiner may choose whether or not to refer to the reports of the original examiners (and if so, when they might do so). They may also choose to conduct a further oral examination and, if so, whether or not the original examiners may be invited to attend.

45. When the Arbitrating External Examiner has concluded the consideration of the work, the outcome should be communicated to the Chair of the Examining Board, in the first instance. The Chair shall arrange for the ‘Report and Result Form’ to be completed, signed and returned to the Academic Quality and Records Office.