S.L. 327.88 Art. 24Procedures for Boards of Examiners.

(1) Subject to the provisions of these regulations and to any directions given by Senate, Boards of Examiners shall determine the procedures to be adopted for the conduct of the assessment.

(2) Boards of Examiners shall strive to reach decisions by consensus.

(3) If there is disagreement among the examiners, they shall make every attempt to resolve the matter on the basis of detailed argument about the specific academic points arising from the assessment in order to reach a common decision. If no agreement can be reached, the matter shall be referred to the Dean concerned who shall attempt to resolve the matter by mediation. If no consensual agreement can be reached, a decision shall be taken by a majority vote and be so recorded in the final report:

Provided that any dissenting member may submit a minority report giving reasons for the disagreement.

(4) No examiner shall be at liberty to abstain from voting.

(5) If an external examiner is unable to take part in the final deliberations of the Board of Examiners, it shall be lawful for the other members of the Board of Examiners to proceed to a preliminary decision in his absence, which decision shall be communicated to him. If the external examiner registers disagreement with this decision, the chairman of the Board of Examiners shall include the external examiner’s decision in his report or attach the external examiner’s minority report if one is submitted.

(6) Each member of the Board of Examiners shall be required to sign the final report and/or the study-unit result sheet:

Provided that, where it is not possible to obtain the signature of all the examiners, the chairman shall make a statement to that effect.

(7) The chairman of the Board of Examiners shall submit the report or the study-unit result sheet to the Registrar, who, if the decision is unanimous, shall proceed to publish the results and shall include them in the students’ academic record. If a report includes a minority report by one or more of the examiners, the Registrar shall submit it to the Rector who shall either accept the majority decision or refer the matter for the consideration of Senate:

Provided that where an external examiner has submitted a minority report the matter shall always be referred to Senate. Senate shall either accept the majority report, or appoint an additional examiner or examiners, or a new Board of Examiners to resolve the matter.

(8) Non-visiting external examiners, appointed to assess a Master’s degree dissertation assigned at least 60 credits, shall be requested to write a report for consideration by the other members of the Board of Examiners within thirty days from receipt of the dissertation. In the report, the external examiner may propose questions to be asked to the student during the viva voce examination.