Information for Examiners
**Please note that the Research Degrees Examinations team are working remotely and are contactactable via researchdegrees@kcl.ac.uk **
If the Coronavirus pandemic affected the student you will be examining, they have the option to include an impact statement, further details can be found here: Coronavirus
Guidance for oral examinations and General examiner guidance
For guidance on oral examination and general guidance for examining a King's College London Research Degree, please see below:
- Guidance for oral examinations
Additional examiner
In line with the academic regulations an additional examiner may be appointed in cases where the originally appointed examiners are unable to reach agreement when approving amendments or following a re-examination. For further guidance please see below:
- Additional examiner guidance
Independent Chair Guidance
Your Oral Examination may require an Independent Chair. For guidance on Independent Chairs and their role, please see below:
Academic Regulations
If you wish to check King's Academic Regulations these can be found below:
Our Office are always happy to support you with the interpretation of the regulations or if you have any further questions so please do not hesitate to contact us at researchdegrees@kcl.ac.uk.
Fee payment and Expenses
Following the oral examination, examiners will be paid the following subject to tax:
- £150 for PhD's
- £110 for all non PhD's
Please note: our Office are unable to answer any tax queries. We advise that you contact the King's Payroll team who have the expertise to explain your tax situation.
Examiners may also claim back expenses incurred for the oral examination.
Please note: the maximum that the Research Degrees Examinations team are able to reimburse is £350 per examiner, any expenses above this should be claimed through the students department. Please check with the students supervisor before making arrangements.
Visa costs:
Please note that the Research Degrees Examinations team are unable to cover any visa related expenses.
See Examiner fees and Expenses for the examiner fee and expenses forms
See Expenses information for a breakdown of which expenses are covered by the Research Degrees Examinations team
Please note: payment can only be made directly to examiners. We do not pay invoices nor make payment to or via a third party, including other KCL departments or an examiner's home institution.
Note: We are unable to reimburse supervisors or the department if they pay on behalf of the examiners
Please email all forms and receipts to researchdegrees@kcl.ac.uk
Thesis Incorporating Publications
For guidance on a Thesis Incorporating Publications please see the following document:
- Thesis Incorporating Publications
Right to Work in the UK and Identification Documents for examiners
Right to work checks are required by law to be carried out for all examiners before they start work at King’s College London, regardless of their immigration status or nationality. This is irrespective of the length or nature of the employment or the fact that the individual is already employed in another higher education institution.
Examiners are responsible for ensuring that they comply with UK immigration law.
Before examiners are appointed, the Research Degrees Examinations team will email examiners an invitation to examine the student’s thesis, once they have been nominated by the supervisor.
This is to determine whether they are willing and available to examine the student and to check that they meet the criteria specified within the academic regulations, as well as verify their right to work in the UK and obtain identification documentation.
Further information on right to work checks can be found on the King’s HR webpages here and on the government website here
Below you will find information about the documentation required by the Research Degrees Examinations team and further details about sending the documentation and retention:
If examining within the UK (in person or virtually)
- Right to work information, such as a UK Passport, UK visa, EU settled status, frontier worker permit as outlined in either List A or List B of acceptable documents in Annex A of the Home Office guidance
- Examiners maybe able prove their right to work through the online right to work checking service here where they are able to obtain a share code that can be provided to the Research Degrees Examinations team
- Photographic identification (used for identification and payment purposes) if not already provided as proof of right to work in the UK (as above)
Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor
- The Paid Permitted Engagement visitor route allows visits to the UK for a paid engagement if you’ve been invited as an expert in your profession by a UK-based organisation or client which includes as an academic - to be a student examiner or assessor
- Further information can be found here regarding the PPE route and whether you need to apply for Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa before you travel to the UK as depending on your country of residence this may not be required
If examining from outside the UK
- Photographic identification (used for identification and payment purposes)
- Right to work in the UK is not required as the examiner will not be in the UK and thus not governed by the Home Office requirements.
How should examiners submit their documentation
- The invitation email sent to examiners asks for scans of required documentation to be attached
- Examiners may choose to email the documentation directly to researchdegrees@kcl.ac.uk using a file transfer system of their choice
- Examiners can password protect their documents before sending them and provide the password in a separate email to researchdegrees@kcl.ac.uk
Retention of documentation
- As per the Home Office guidance and King's HR webpages copies of the documents must be kept securely for the duration of the worker’s employment and for two years afterwards. The copy must then be securely destroyed.
What if an examiner is unable or refuses to provide the required documentation
- Right to work checks are required by law, any examiners who are unable to provide the required documentation or refuse to send it to the Research Degrees Examinations team upon request will not be able to examine our students