Graduate Teaching Assistants, part-time staff and external examiners

Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate Teaching Assistant roles are arrangements where postgraduate students are guaranteed a fixed amount of remuneration for teaching a set number of hours.  Graduate students must not work more than 180 hours over the academic year.

Contract and payment

Your College may issue a contract to you for this work.  If so, you will be paid in monthly instalments through the University payroll.  Your College will ask you to complete sections A-E of the PD85, they will then complete the remaining information and arrange payment.

If your College is paying you through the Claims payroll, please follow the steps outlined in the section on Getting started.

If you have undertaken additional work – whether teaching, demonstrating or administrative/clerical – a claim form should be submitted (following approval from an authorised manager) using form PD82.

Part-time staff

If you already hold a part-time employment contract with the University, then any additional work in your employing College/Service must be paid through the payroll as overtime. 

If you have a part-time employment contract with the University and are working on an occasional claims basis in a different College/Service, you will need to follow the steps outlined in the section Getting started.

External Examiners

First degree programmes

External Examiners are taxed at source (PAYE) but are not liable for national insurance deductions – provided that the whole of the work is performed under a contract for services (ie the External Examiner is treated as self-employed) in less than twelve months.

Higher degree programmes

External Examiners are treated as self-employed income and universities are not required to deduct tax or national insurance – provided that the whole of the work is performed under a contract for services (ie the External Examiner is treated as self-employed) in less than twelve months.

Other programmes

Payments relating to examinations other than university degrees, eg for professional qualifications, will be chargeable to tax as self-employed income provided the work is carried out under a contract for services.

All External Examiners (ie for first degree, higher degree and professional programmes) are responsible for liaison with HMRC to ensure that they have paid the correct amount of tax on their earnings as External Examiners.

The payment of External Examiners for Taught Programmes is now authorised through the Colleges.  See the External Examiner flowchart and the Forms and templates section for more information.

For further information on External Examiners please see the Claims policy.

In this guidance:

See also the terms and conditions for individuals paid by claim.