Non-Examinable Content: Student access to exam scripts

Foreword

Within higher education, there is much discourse around assessment. Central tenants to this conversation are those of assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning. Assessment of learning is clear, we utilise assessments to determine the students have mastered the content being assessed. Assessment for learning is about creating feedback to improve students’ performance. Assessment as learning focusses on encouraging students to have agency and take control of their learning by evaluating their own progress. Enabling students to benefit from assessment as learning, and assessment for learning, needs careful consideration.

Arguably, allowing students to access their examination scripts for revision, consolidation, and reflection may be one way in which this could be enacted. There are of course pros and cons to such, but for assessment to be seen as developmental and not as a hurdle or punitive measure, clear policy and a unified direction of travel in the sector is required. This report starts what is a hugely important conversation within the sector.

Professor Gabrielle Finn, Associate Vice President Teaching, Learning and Students, University of Manchester

Central findings:

• Restrictive access policies harm individual students and their institutions by reducing students’ opportunities to learn from past work and undermining confidence in the exam system.
• GCSE and A-Level exam boards are further ahead of universities in offering access to scripts and offer a good example of how transparency can be increased at an institutional level alongside other assessment modernisation efforts. Senior leaders at exam boards are emphatic that increasing openness has been positive for learners, teachers and their organisations.
• Barely over half of universities (52%) have a published policy on students’ access to exam scripts. Even among universities with a published policy, the level of centralisation differs substantially, with universities split evenly between those which set a single institution-wide policy (53%) and those which leave the decision about whether or how to facilitate access up to exam schools and faculties (47%).
• Policies vary significantly between universities. The most common approach from universities with a published policy is to give all students the right to view their script under controlled conditions but to prohibit them from making any copies. However, this arrangement is in place at only one-in-six institutions (17%), demonstrating substantial heterogeneity.
• Universities’ concerns about increasing access can be mitigated by the use of technology. The move towards online exams allows scripts to be made available automatically with few administrative overheads, and also makes it easier for examiners to leave constructive comments on student work.

Key recommendations:

• All universities should publish a policy outlining their approach to student access to exam scripts, with input from individual exam schools and faculties. While the policy need not be overly prescriptive and may include discretion as appropriate, it should nonetheless set out clear principles around feedback and exam access for department-level policies to follow.
• The default position should be that students are able to view, make copies of and share their scripts, with the minimal restrictions necessary imposed in exceptional cases where permitting full access would incur excessive cost.
• Universities should consider adopting technologies that help automate giving candidates access to scripts, as part of assessment modernisation efforts.

• Non-Examinable Content – Student access to exam scripts (PDF, 160 KB)