If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
email as acknowledgement that your request has been received. You should
expect a response from us within 20 working days. 
“You will appreciate that all information requests place some degree of
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and that UCL may need to prioritise resources to other areas, or adapt its
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unprecedented challenges we are all facing during the Coronavirus
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Data Protection & FOI
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Dear S.A Kannan

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 25 August 2021.

We have completed the compilation of information in response to your
request for information about past exam papers and solutions from the 2000
– 2020 academic years for the following UCL computer science modules:

Algorithms (COMP0005), Discrete Mathematics for Computer Scientists
(COMP0147), Theory of Computation (COMP0003), Object-Oriented Programming
(COMP0004), Discrete Mathematics (MATH6301), Computer Architecture and
Concurrency (COMP0008), Computer Systems (COMP0019), Logic and Database
Theory (COMP0009), Security (COMP0141), Compilers (COMP0012),
Computability and Complexity Theory (COMP0017), Artificial Intelligence
and Neural Computing (COMP0024), Computer Graphics (COMP0027), Database
and Information Management Systems (COMP0022), Machine Learning for Visual
Computing (COMP0169), Machine Learning for Domain Specialists (COMP0142),
Advanced Topics in Machine Learning (COMP0083), Cryptocurrencies
(COMP0143), Financial Institutions and Markets (COMP0105), Machine Vision
(COMP0137), Introduction to Deep Learning (COMP0090) and Reinforcement
Learning (COMP0089).

We can confirm that we do hold information of the description specified in
your request, however the information is exempt from disclosure under
Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 43(2)
states:

“Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would,
or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person
(including the public authority holding it).”

This information has been withheld owing to the prejudice that would occur
to UCL’s commercial interests on account of competitive institutions
becoming aware of UCL’s examination methods.

Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption under the Act and as such a public
interest test is required to assess where the balance of
disclosure/non-disclosure lies. Please see the test below.

Public interest test for the application of Section 43(2):

Arguments in favour of disclosure:

o It is recognised that there is an inherent public interest in ensuring
openness, value for money, transparency and accountability with
regards to UCL’s assessment methods.

Arguments against disclosure:

o UCL competes in a highly competitive market environment in terms of
student recruitment. UCL competes with other higher education
institutions nationally and globally for this talent.
o The selling of courses is UCL’s commercial activity. To disclose
course materials which support its recruitment and education of
students would prejudice UCL’s position in the highly competitive
marketplace of student recruitment by revealing commercially sensitive
information to its competitors. Such competitors could then freely
exploit these valuable assets developed by UCL at a significant cost
to itself, and use such material to develop and promote their own
courses – giving them a commercial advantage.
o Undermining its position in this way would in turn be likely to have a
detrimental impact on UCL’s commercial revenue. Such an impact would
prejudice UCL’s core business functions and even undermine its ability
to fulfil its role, which is not in the public interest.

Outcome of public interest test:

o On this occasion, we consider that the public interest arguments
against disclosure outweigh those for disclosure in this instance.

Please note: current registered students can access a limited selection of
past papers via UCL Library Services.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example by publishing or issuing copies to the public, will require the
permission of the copyright owner.

If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please email
[1][email address]. Emails should include the words ‘Internal
Review’ in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Chief
Operating Officer, alternatively you should write to:

Chief Operating Officer

University College London

Gower Street

London

WC1E 6BT

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner at the address given below.
You should do this within two months of our final decision. (Please note,
complaints and requests for internal review received more than two months
after the initial decision will not be handled.)

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details
provided in this email and including the request reference number.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available from
the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

SK9 5AF

01625 545700

[2]www.ico.org.uk

[3][email address]

Kind regards

Rosie Lucas

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser University College
London Legal Services Data Protection: [4][email address] FOI:
[5][UCL request email]

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References

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