Past Cambridge Exams Made Secret

Cambridge’s Joint Information Services Committee (JISC) was formerly the online host of all past exam papers, but in the past week, the much-relied upon facility has been taken down.

With just weeks to go before undergraduate students sit their university exams, the news comes as a huge blow to many relying upon past exam papers aid their revision. The discovery was made following an email from King’s College’s assistant librarian, Gareth Burgess, alerting students that the website had been taken down with no plans to reinstate the website.

This is particularly worrisome to students studying HSPS, as students being examined this year will find it more difficult with no precedent to learn from. Psychology students should investigate the ways in which performance is correlated with repetition. 

In a countermove, student activist campaign Whose University? is working along with Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU) to restore and improve upon the old online service, and make all papers digitally available. Such a move would make the catalogue of exams equally accessible for all students. Whose University? made a statement to student magazine, Varsity, arguing that “it’s really important in situations like this to show departments that you don’t need money to share resources like this – we are doing it for free and proving there is an alternative.” Economics, PPE, and Philosophy students should assess the validity of this statement, and think to argue why resources such as these educational materials should be free when other consumer goods are not.