FRCA Examiner Regulations

4.1  Appointments are normally for an examinership of 10 years. Council reserve the right to change the term of examinership as required.

4.2 Confirmation of appointment

Examiners shall not be deemed to be appointed, re-appointed, extended, stood down, resigned or dismissed until motions to that effect have been formally approved by the ETE Board. 

4.3 Examiner specification

Applicants shall be assessed against the FRCA Examiner Person Specification as set out at Appendix A.

In addition throughout their term of examinership, examiners are expected to adhere to the duties and responsibilities set out in the FRCA Examiner Job description which is at Appendix B.

4.4 Selection Procedures

4.4.1 At the closing date for examiner applications, all applicants are allocated a specific ‘examiner application number’. Application forms with the personal information page and equal opportunities form removed, are then circulated to the selection panel for scoring. 

The following scoring system is used across two domains:

Domain 1 - Active involvement and commitment to training, assessment and examination preparation (skills and knowledge).

Domain 2 - Reasons for becoming a FRCA examiner (personal attributes).  

In addition, scorers provide a global rating scale from 1-10 indicating the overall quality of the application and suitability for the role.  The final score is out of a total of 30 marks. 

Applicants’ scores are summed and ranked. The cut-off score depends on the required number of vacancies.

4.4.2 Following short-listing, requests for references from the Clinical Director and Regional Advisor of each applicant are requested by email. These are considered at the Examination Committee meeting early in the calendar year where the final selections are decided upon.

4.4.3 At a subsequent meeting,  members of the Committee will confirm the numbers of new examiners to be appointed to each board. To achieve an appropriate balance, the selection process may consider the following factors:

(i) Geographic distribution
(ii) Types of hospital
(iii) Special interests directly relevant to the FRCA examinations
(iv) Clinical vs. academic
(v) Protected characteristics

4.4.4 The recommendations from the Examination Committee are considered by Education, Training and Examinations Board. Notification will follow by official letter. New examiners are appointed, subject to a probationary period of one year, to the Board of FRCA Examiners.

4.4.5 Examiner applicants have a right to express their dissatisfaction with the way in which any part of the selection process has been done and feel confident that such a complaint is handled in a fair and consistent way. Applicants who consider they have grounds for complaint should use the policy set out at paragraphs 20-31 of the FRCA Examinations (Reviews and Appeals) Regulations.