The External Examiners Online Reporting System (project STU235 https://www.projects.ed.ac.uk/project/stu235) was delivered as a pilot for ten schools to use from September to December 2014 PGT Exam Boards. This new IT Tool allows the collection and management of external examiner reports. It also allows performing thematic analysis on the responses.

This new follow-up project is supporting the pilot over Sept to Dec 14, evaluating the pilot, so that a list of prioritised enhancements to the IT Tool can be built as per available budget. The enhancements will be deployed to the whole university in June 2015 for use at the UG Exam Board. 

This pilot evaluation and enhancements project will have the following benefits:

·         Ten schools will evaluate whether the pilot is used effectively by External Examiners and staff, and assess its impact on the University.

·         It will contribute to ensuring that stakeholders buy in to the IT tools that are developed. As such the pilot can be a great approach to convincing the late adopters and bringing them along as supporters.

·         This approach will enable to engage with users at an early stage. Staff will be able to try the process and feedback to the project team; this will enable to rally support for the IT Tools and address any highlighted bugs before the roll out.

·         The schools will be able to propose further meaningful enhancements to the IT Tools, which will then be implemented by IS Apps, as per budget constraints.

·         This rework will maximise its benefits once rolled out to the whole University. It will reduce the risk of the External Examiners IT Tool not delivering all its benefits.

Release plan and progress for the prioritised enhancements is on https://www.projects.ed.ac.uk/project/stu244/page-3