Constitution of Examining Board

14. All Examining Boards shall consist of:

i. a Chair;
ii. an external examiner;
iii. either an internal examiner or a second external examiner.

15. In the case of staff candidates, there shall be two external examiners and no internal examiner. This regulation shall apply both to candidates who were members of staff during their registration period, and those who become staff members after completion of a student registration but prior to submission. This is to ensure that the examiners are, and will be perceived to be, objective and to avoid any difficulties which might be experienced by the candidate or examiner when they are work colleagues. Where candidates have become staff after a student registration, and where the nature or location of their employment is such that a proposed internal examiner would be demonstrably objective, the case may be made to the Head of the Graduate School that the examination should be conducted by one internal and one external examiner.

16. Examining Boards for candidates who are, or who become at the time of submission, members of staff at another institution or University shall be constituted as for student candidatures (i.e. normally with one external and one internal examiner).

17. Heads of Department may nominate a senior member of their academic staff to act as Chair of an Examining Board. Where the Head of Department/Institute is also the supervisor of the candidate concerned, they must delegate this task. The Chair of the Board shall be independent in the examining process, and shall be responsible for the conduct of the examination. The Chair shall be:

• normally a Senior Lecturer or above or otherwise suitably experienced for the role;
• normally from the student’s department(s) but may be drawn from another department where no-one suitable can be identified, for example, because of conflicts of interest or the need for a Welsh speaker;
• experienced in supervising and examining PhD candidates;
• familiar with the regulations governing research degree vivas.

All chairs must have attended the Graduate School workshop on chairing vivas.

18. The external examiner(s) shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of the University’s Academic Quality Handbook. They must be aware of the nature and purpose of the degree for which the candidate is being examined and must possess specialist knowledge and expertise in the subject of research. Other criteria for appointment are set out in the Handbook.

19. External examiners should not be appointed where they have had extensive contact with the candidate. Where they have had significant contact, details of the nature of the contact should be made known to the Graduate School for consideration during the appointment process. Further information is contained in the notes of guidance for examining boards and Intention to Submit form.

20. The internal examiner should normally:

• be a member of staff from the student’s department(s) but may be drawn from a cognate department where appropriate or required;
• hold a PhD;
• have experience of supervising at least one PhD student to successful completion.

21. If, in exceptional circumstances, it proves impossible to appoint an appropriate internal examiner from within the University, the Graduate School may approve the appointment of a second external examiner in lieu of an internal examiner, nominated by the department. All steps should have been taken to appoint an internal examiner before a second external examine is considered.

22. A candidate's supervisor shall not be appointed internal examiner, although they may be invited by the Chair of the Examining Board, with the prior consent of the candidate, to attend the oral examination in an advisory capacity.

23. The Chair of the Examining Board may invite other appropriate persons to attend the oral examination in an advisory capacity.

24. The examiners should be provided with the candidate's thesis and any associated materials and the guidance necessary for the conduct of the examination. The Chair, and the examiners, will be asked to note that the University expects that, normally, the examination of the candidate should be completed within a period of twelve working weeks from the date of despatch of the thesis to the examiners.