The Examinations Office is responsible for the processing of forms relating to fees and expenses incurred by External Examiners. This page contains important information for Schools and UG/PGT Examiners regarding the process of Examiner payments, including the roles and responsibilities of Schools, Examiners and the Exams Office, information about expenses and how Schools can claim back expenses paid from the Exams Office.
The process for payment of Fees and Expenses to Undergraduate/Postgraduate Taught External Examiner's is as follows:
1. School must contact salaries@qub.ac.uk and complete an NSP3 form for each new examiner. This is a necessary step and the examiner cannot be paid until and unless an NSP3 form has been submitted and an NSP number generated. Examiners who have examined in the past may already have NSP number - it is the responsibility of the school to check with salaries@qub.ac.uk and ensure an NSP number exists for each examiner.
2. Once all examining has been completed, Examiner must submit their report via the link provided to them by Academic Affairs. Payment will not be processed until the report has been submitted.
3. When School are satisfied the Examiner has completed their examining for the academic year, the Fees and Expenses form will need to be completed to initiate the Examiner's payment. Without this form, the Exams Office will not be able to begin processing the Examiner payment.
4. When online form has been received, Exams Office will carry out checks for 1) NSP number and 2) Examiner Report. If both are satisfied, payment will be processed for the Examiner during the next payment run. UG/PGT Examiner payments dates are in line with QWork payment dates, which can be found here.
If there is a problem or delay with UG/PGT Examiner payment, please check steps 1-3 have been actioned. If so, please contact extexamexpenses@qub.ac.uk to check the status of the payment.
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Fees
For examining carried out in the Academic Year 2024-2025 or later, UG/PGT External Examiners will be paid a flat rate fee of £750
For examining carried out Pre-2024-2025, payment is determined based on a point based system. Please contact extexamexpenses@qub.ac.uk for a copy of the relevant information.
- Expenses
Any expenses incurred on the Examiner's visit should be recorded with receipts retained and provided to the School contact as soon as possible.
The School should submit this information on behalf of the Examiner via the Fees and Expenses Form
Please note, the online form can be submitted as EXPENSES ONLY if the examining has not concluded yet. This will still be processed and expenses can be reimbursed to the Examiner, although no fees will be processed until the Examiner has finished examining, submitted their report and the school have submitted another form to confirm.
- Schools - Arranging Travel
There are three options for booking travel for External Examiners:
- The External Examiner book flights and hotel themselves. Expenses will then be claimed via the expenses claim form and paid directly to the External Examiner.
- The flight and hotel is booked on the External Examiners behalf by the School by booking directly with the airline/hotel. This is paid for using the Schools Purchase card or payment method. The details of the expenses are then sent to the External Examiner Expenses and we will journal the School for the expenses.
- The School books travel and accommodation using the CTM travel system. Details of this process below.
When booking external examiner accommodation and travel through the CTM Booking Tool, we ask that schools use their own project codes, along with the applicable sub-analysis below:
C83ACC – for external examiner accommodation, OR
C83TRA – for external examiner travel (flights, rail etc)
This will allow us to generate monthly expenses reports and journal the covered expenses back to the school’s project code.
Please note that if the above sub-analysis codes are not used, we will not have access to the information required for us to issue a journal voucher and this may cause delays to schools being reimbursed.
Importantly, the sub-analysis approach will help inform a review this year by the Examinations Office. The review will consider required overall budgets for External Examiner expenses and the levels of central support for individual expenses.
- Schools - Claiming Back
In the event that the School has covered expenses on behalf of the examiner. Those expenses can be claimed back by journal voucher.
The School may send a brief summary, receipts and project code/account number to extexamexpenses@qub.ac.uk and a journal voucher will be submitted on behalf of the School.
Alternatively, if the School submits a journal voucher directly onto P2P, please ensure that a brief summary for the expenses is included, along with the corresponding receipts.
Please note the following:
- When claiming back for taxis or other travel, please check with the External Examiner Expenses Office if the £250 travel budget has already been reached. Any travel in excess of this budget will be covered by the School.
- When claiming back for lunch/dinner, please be aware that the amount paid for the examiner only should be claimed. If the lunch is less than £15 or the dinner less than £25, the lesser amount should be claimed and not the full amount of £15 or £25. For example: lunch attended by 5 people including the examiner, lunch bill paid was £45 total. Amount then to be claimed by journal voucher is £45 divided by 5 people = £9
- Expenses covered by Exams Office
- Travel (return flights, boat, train, taxis and bus) – £250 for all travel for one external examiner visit. If total travel exceeds £250 a journal voucher will be issued to the School to cover the excess.
- Expenses will be reimbursed for attendance at an Exam Board only. Expenses will be reimbursed for a maximum of two visits in the first year of UGT/PGT Examiner appointment, and one visit per year thereafter.
- Hotel – maximum of £100 per night for a maximum of two nights
- Mileage – 40p per mile for first 100 miles. 25p per mile thereafter
- Subsistence – up to £15 for Lunch including coffee/tea/soft drinks and up to £25 for dinner including coffee/tea/soft drinks. No alcohol will be reimbursed.
Any costs beyond the limits listed above will need to be covered by the School.