Education

External examiners and midwifery programmes

These standards and requirements set out the educational standards and requirements for role and appointment of the external examiners for undergraduate midwife registration programmes.

Role of external examiners

External examiners have an important role in maintaining the standard of midwifery programmes by providing an independent view of the structure, content, organisation and assessment of the education programme.

  1. External examiners are appointed by the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in accordance with its procedures and the NMBI criteria as set out in number 3.

  2. The role of the external examiner is explicit and functions to:

    • Maintain the quality and standards of the midwife registration education programmes.
    • Ensure the assessment strategies for theory and practice are reliable and equitable.
    • Ensure individual students are treated fairly.
  3. External examiners for midwife registration education programmes should:

    • Be registered midwives who have at least two years full-time experience in clinical midwifery practice.
    • Hold academic and teaching qualifications and have at least three years full-time teaching experience on programmes appropriate to the programme being examined.
    • Have experience in examining and assessing midwifery students on midwife registration education programmes.
    • Have experience in the development, management, delivery and evaluation of midwife registration education programmes.
  4. The mechanism whereby the external examiner is provided with relevant documentation, participates in decision-making concerning the programmes, and has membership of the examination boards of the HEI, is explicit and auditable.

  5. The HEI verifies to NMBI that the external examiner meets the standard as set out in 3 above.

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