Report Highlights Concerns Over University Exam Script Access Policies

According to a recent report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), restrictive policies on student access to marked exam scripts are causing harm to individual students and institutions. The report, sponsored by the University of Manchester, emphasizes the need for universities to provide greater transparency and improve confidence in assessment processes.

The HEPI Policy Note 58, authored by Oxford University student Rohan Selva-Radov, suggests that current access policies fail to offer students the opportunity to learn effectively from their past work. The report advocates for making the viewing, copying, and sharing of exam scripts a «default position,» with restrictions applied only in exceptional cases where costs would be prohibitive.

Based on data collected from 140 members of Universities UK, it was found that only 52% of universities have published policies regarding student access to exam scripts. Of the 105 institutions analyzed, 34% allow students to view their marked scripts, 19% prohibit access, and 47% leave the decision to individual exam schools and faculties.

The findings suggest significant variability in policies across universities. Some educators cited concerns about academic integrity, additional administrative burdens, and doubts about the benefit to students as reasons for restricting script access.

Selva-Radov stated, «The newly gathered data in this report reveal a pressing need for greater transparency and consistency from universities in how they approach student access to exam scripts.» He also noted that «new technologies offer a great opportunity for low-cost improvements in this area.»

Professor Gabrielle Finn, Associate Vice-President for Teaching, Learning, and Students at the University of Manchester, commented on the importance of the report in encouraging sector-wide discussions on exam script access. «For students to see assessment as a learning opportunity, we must encourage them to have agency over their learning,» she said.

Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, highlighted the lack of discussion regarding transparency in exams within higher education compared to schools. «Students benefit from knowing how their marks have been arrived at and can learn vital things from the assessment process,» he said. «This report is a wake-up call for institutions to look again at their practices and for policymakers to consider if clearer guidance is needed.»

The report has drawn attention from various stakeholders, including Alex Stanley, Vice President of Higher Education at the National Union of Students (NUS), who emphasized the necessity of policy change to prevent harm to students’ learning experiences.