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If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
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expect a response from us within 20 working days.
Data Protection & FOI
Legal Services
UCL

Dear Mr Travers,

Thank you for your enquiry which we are currently handling under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I write to advise that UCL are required to conduct a public interest test with regard to your request. This is on account of a qualified exemption being engaged for information you have requested.

The exemption under consideration is Section 36(2)(c) which states:

“Information to which this section applies is exempt information if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure of the information under this Act—
(c) would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.”

Public authorities are entitled an additional 20 working days to consider the application of the exemption and we will disclose our full response to you as soon as we are able.

Please let me know if you have any questions with regard to this process in the meantime.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Goudie
Data Protection & Freedom of Information Adviser
Legal Services|Finance and Business Affairs|UCL
Ext: 57862
Tel: 020 3108 7862

If you are unhappy with the handling of your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, please email [email address]

Emails should include the words 'Internal Review' in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Vice Provost Operations, alternatively you should write to:

Vice Provost Operations
University College London
1-19 Torrington Place
London WC1E 7HB

Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more than two months after the initial decision will not be handled.
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.

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details provided in this letter 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

Telephone 01625 545700

www.ico.org.uk

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Dear Mr Travers,

Thank you for your enquiry which has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I can confirm that UCL holds information relevant to your request and we are pleased to be able to provide some of this information to you. Please find attached exam papers covering the period 2014-2016, and reporting from external examiners.

Some of the requested information is exempt from disclosure however, as it is considered that an exemption applies. The exemption in question is Section 36(2)(c) which states that:

“Information to which this section applies is exempt information if, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, disclosure of the information under this Act—
(c) would otherwise prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective conduct of public affairs.”

The exemption applies to model answers between 2010-2016, exam papers used prior to 2014, and specific exam papers which use pools of questions (i.e. multiple choice questionnaires). It is considered that to disclose this information would prejudice the ability of the department to assess a student’s knowledge and learning under exam conditions (on account of the undue emphasis that would be placed on model answers by students). Disclosure would also place an unnecessary burden on staff members as they would be required to devise whole pools of brand new questions for use in multiple choice papers.

For this exemption to be engaged public authorities are required to seek the ‘reasonable opinion’ of the organisations qualified person; in UCL’s instance, that person is the Provost. I can confirm that the Provost has provided the view that disclosure of the information being exempted would prejudice the effective conduct of UCL’s affairs for the reasons given.

UCL are also required to conduct a public interest test with regard to the application of this exemption. Please see below for this test in full.

We are able to disclose to you the majority of exam papers used between 2014-2016. Please find these documents attached as part of 3 separate zip files. If you have any problem accessing these please let me know.

Factors in favour of disclosure:
- There is a general public interest in transparency. The public have a right to know how public authorities are carrying out their core functions, including those of student assessment.
- Disclosure of this information would contribute to a more open and knowledgeable debate concerning the quality of assessment within the department, which may inform prospective students
- The disclosure of this information may encourage better quality decision making if it was expected that such information would be made public in the future

Factors against disclosure:
- Examinations are designed as a method of testing a student’s ability under examination conditions, and require the student to undertake the necessary preparation to succeed in that particular format. Examination questions are also designed to further enhance a student’s learning with regard to a particular module or subject. If model answers were routinely published they are likely to be utilised by students as an alternative to undertaking conventional exam preparation. Preparation for examinations in this way is not considered an adequate manner of learning and improving a student’s technical knowledge, and wider skills, such as being able to prepare for a test of knowledge under examination conditions

- Model solutions are intended to be viewed as a guideline only; they are not
intended to be comprehensive answers to exam questions. It would be
misleading to students for these solutions to be released, and relied
upon, as complete exam answers. Student tutors would also be unable to obtain an accurate picture of a particular student’s learning ability, improvement, and overall knowledge if they were heavily reliant on past model answers as part of their exam preparation. This would therefore affect their grading, assessment and any targeted teaching that would be beneficial to them going forward.

- The disclosure of certain specified past exam papers would negatively impact upon the examination process. Multiple choice questionnaires are often formed from questions obtained from a particular questions bank. Disclosure of these questionnaires would compromise future papers from these sources. Certain questions may also be considered to be particularly effective in testing understanding and learning in relation to a particular topic. UCL had to disclose these questions it would remove a proven and effective method of testing a student’s abilities. This would negatively affect UCL’s ability to assess and grade students in the most effective manner possible

- Disclosing more than 3 years of exam papers at a given time would also be seen as being disruptive to the examination process by giving undue prominence to the use of past papers in exam preparation; this would prejudice the ability of students to prepare in the most appropriate manner possible. The Faculty Board of Examiners has made a decision to disclose only exam papers for the 3 most recent years on account of this reasoning.

Outcome of public interest test:
- Disclosure of the requested information would prejudice UCL’s ability to properly assess students in the Physics department, outweighing the public interest arguments for disclosure. If we were to make such a disclosure it would serve to limit the pool of questions available to choose from, thereby increasing the burden of work on staff members, and the disclosure of model answers would prejudice the ability of the department to effectively assess the learning ability of students. For these reasons we are unable to disclose this information to you.

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 (UCL).

Yours sincerely

Alex Goudie
Data Protection & Freedom of Information Adviser
Legal Services|Finance and Business Affairs|UCL
Ext: 57862
Tel: 020 3108 7862

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 [email address]. Emails should include the words ‘Internal Review’ in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Vice Provost Operations, alternatively you should write to:

Vice Provost Operations
University College London
1-19 Torrington Place
London WC1E 7HB

Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more than two months after the initial decision will not be handled.
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.

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details provided in this letter 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
Telephone 01625 545700
www.ico.org.uk

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*Module papers for 2016 attached as they were too large for the previous email

Alex Goudie
Data Protection & Freedom of Information Adviser
Legal Services|Finance and Business Affairs|UCL
Ext: 57862
Tel: 020 3108 7862

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