UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD
Academic Standards and Support Unit
Procedures for the Retention and Disposal of Examination Scripts
and Assessed Coursework
The following procedures were introduced during the 2001/02 academic session. For
further clarification please contact Amanda Hughes in the Academic Standards and
Support Unit on extension 3027 or via email, a.j.hughes2@bradford.ac.uk
Background Information
On the 10th April 2002 the Senate approved procedures (M74.1) for the retention of
examination scripts and assessed coursework. The procedures are based on current
practice throughout the University and take into account the legally defined period of
retention of such material under the Data Protection Act.
It is the responsibility of the University to dispose of examination scripts and
coursework assignments in an appropriate manner at the end of such time as they
have served a specifically defined purpose. The purpose of retention is, in the first
instance, to enable a Board of Examiners to ratify the mark allocated to each piece of
work by an Assessment Committee and, in the case of final year and postgraduate
Boards, to confirm the award of the appropriate classification of degree. It is also to
ensure that all examination scripts and assessed coursework which contribute to the
classification of the final award are available in the event of an appeal against the
decision of the Board of Examiners. The legal limit for such an appeal is 6 months or,
if the Commission for Racial Equality is involved, 9 months from the date that the
student has been informed of the mark or award as ratified by the Board of Examiners.
University regulations permit a Final Year Board of Examiners, as part of its
deliberations, to examine work submitted by a candidate during the second year of the
degree programme; this constitutes Part One of the final degree classification. Scrutiny
of the work carried out in the second year of the course may assist a Board to set a
classification boundary or to make a decision about mitigating circumstances; however
the original mark assigned to the work may not be altered.

Therefore, examination scripts and assessed coursework for students studying
at Stages 2, 3,and 4, and for the Foundation Degree and at Postgraduate level,
must be retained for a period of 9 months after final degree classification has
been ratified by the Board of Examiners.

Foundation Year and Stage 1 examination scripts and coursework
assignments, which do not contribute to the final degree classification, should
be disposed of 9 months after ratification of the marks by the Stage One Board
of Examiners.

Practical assessments (e.g. laboratory tests or clinical practicals) and oral
presentations, where the tutor makes notes or compiles a report on which to
base the student’s mark and provide feedback:
Such feedback should be retained by the School and disposed of 9 months
after the ratification of the marks by the Foundation Year or Stage 1 Board of
Examiners. In the case of Stage 2, 3, 4 and Foundation Degree and
Postgraduate candidates, the feedback should be retained until 9 months after
the final award has been ratified by the Board of Examiners. For the purposes
of these procedures the retention and storage of notes and reports of this
nature will be considered under the designation of coursework assignments.
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Recording Comments on Examination Scripts:
Subject Access: The Data Protection Act explicitly exempts examination scripts from
subject access (examination meaning any process of determining knowledge,
intelligence, skill or the ability of a candidate) “where personal data consists of
information recorded by candidates during an examination”.
Candidates are however entitled to see any comments written by markers concerning
their performance. This means that if comments are recorded directly onto an
examination script or a piece of coursework the student has a de facto right to see the
script itself.

University guidance to Schools advocates the recording of examiner’s
comments separately to avoid the necessity of returning scripts or coursework
assessments to the student. The practice of transcribing comments directly onto
assessed coursework and examination scripts is to be discouraged; however,
as this practice is still implemented in some areas of the University the following
guidance does take this fact into account.
The Data Protection Act states that where the marker has written comments directly
onto a script/piece of coursework, the candidate must be notified of this fact as soon as
the results of the assessment are announced. The University does not wish to impose
an obligation on students to apply for this feedback under data subject access
arrangements, (i.e., within 40 days of notification, £10 fee etc.), instead Schools should
aim to provide feedback to students in line with precept 12 of the Quality Assurance
Agency’s Code of Practice on Assessment, which states that:
“Institutions should ensure that appropriate feedback is provided to students on
assessed work in a way that promotes learning and facilitates improvement.”
Return of Assessed Coursework to Students
The Academic Policy Committee, (20th March 2002, M24.2.5) recommended the
following practice in relation to the retention of assessed coursework as consistent with
the section of the QAAHE Code of Practice on the Assessment of Students, and with
the University’s own regulations:

Students should be asked to submit 2 copies of their work, one of which should
be returned to them with a feedback coversheet, the second copy should be
retained by the School together with a copy of the feedback sheet. This
process will ensure the availability of both the student’s work and the marker’s
comments to external examiners, assessment committees and Boards of
Examiners.

Where comments are recorded directly onto a piece of coursework it is the
responsibility of the School to ensure that a copy of the annotated work,
together with a copy of the feedback sheet, is retained for scrutiny by the
External Examiner and/or for the purposes of external adjudication.
Schools will wish to decide how to notify students of the fact that their
coursework/examination scripts have been annotated, and to decide how to make the
comments available to students on request. Schools may wish to develop their own
operational guide in order to ensure that these procedures are implemented; for
instance, some Schools may wish to inform students of their rights through course
handbooks, others may wish to set up specific periods of access to annotated
scripts/coursework and notify students of this fact by email.
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Procedures for the Storage and Retention of Assessed Coursework and
Examination Scripts
The following procedures assume the standard University schedule for Boards of
Examiners, June/July and September. However, many areas of the University hold
Boards of Examiners meetings at different times of the year for a variety of reasons.
The same procedures should be followed regardless of when the Board is held.
1.1
Where comments are transcribed directly onto an examination paper or a piece
of assessed coursework Schools must notify students of this fact directly the
marking period is complete. Students should be provided with an opportunity to
read the comments made about their work. When making a decision about
how long to make the scripts available, Schools should take into account the
timeframe within which the feedback will be valuable and relevant to students.
Students may not remove the scripts from the School, however a copy may be
provided at the student’s own expense if required.
1.2
Ancillary Services will continue to be responsible for the transportation and
storage of all examination scripts. In the case of annotated scripts, storage
should take place after completion of the relevant Board of Examiners but only
after the relevant feedback/access period has passed. Schools will be
responsible for notifying Ancillary Services when examination scripts are ready
for collection.
1.3
Examination Scripts should be packed in module batches and prepared for
transportation after the June/July and September Boards of Examiners. The
School should retain examination papers resulting from the January
assessment period until the Board of Examiners in June/July has ratified the
marks.
The following information should be clearly marked on each batch of modules:
 Module title and code
 The Stage and the date of the Board of Examiners which ratified the module
marks/award
 The date the scripts must be disposed by:
 For Stages 2, 3 and 4, and for Foundation Degree and Postgraduate
scripts, this will be 9 months after the Final Year Board of Examiners for
the cohort of students concerned.
 For Foundation Year and Stage 1 scripts, this will be 9 months after the
Foundation Year or Stage 1 Board of Examiners (which ever is
appropriate for the modules concerned)
Example
CM-2009M Advanced Computing
Marks Ratified by the Stage 2 Board of Examiners July 2005
Disposal period 1st May 2007
1.4
Postgraduate Dissertations are retained for an indefinite period and should be
sent to the JB Priestley Library for storage.
1.5
Disposal of examination scripts will be carried out by Ancillary Services.
Batches of modules will be disposed of in accordance with the disposal period
identified by the School at the time of storage
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1.6
Assessed Coursework should be packed in module batches and stored by the
School after each Board of Examiners.
The following information should be clearly marked on each batch of modules:
 Module title and code
 The Stage and date of the Board of Examiners which ratified the module
marks
 The date the scripts must be disposed of:
 For Stages 2, 3 and 4, and for Foundation Degree and Postgraduate
scripts, this will be 9 months after the Final Year Board of Examiners for
the cohort of students concerned.
 For Foundation Year and Stage 1 scripts, this will be 9 months after the
Foundation Year or Stage 1 Board of Examiners (which ever is
appropriate for the modules concerned)
1.7
Disposal of assessed course work should be carried out by the School in
accordance with the disposal period identified at the time of storage
1.8
Examination scripts and assessed coursework of students identified on Stage 2
and Final Year pass list in the categories shown below should be removed from
storage and retained for a period of 9 months after the award of the student’s
Final degree classification by the Board of Examiners:



Permitted supplementary assessment (with or without attendance)
Awarded an Aegrotat degree
Permitted to repeat the Stage with or without attendance
1.9
Students who entered the final year of study as an Ordinary candidate and who
have gained the award of an Ordinary degree may be eligible to undertake a
further period of study for the additional Credits necessary to achieve the
requirements for the award of an Honours degree. The work of students in this
category should not be disposed of until confirmation has been received in
writing of their intentions with regard to further study.
1.10
Students who graduate with a Foundation Degree may wish to enter the final
year of a University of Bradford Honours degree. The work of students in this
category should not be disposed of until confirmation has been received in
writing of their intentions with regard to further study.
Amanda Huggon
Assistant Registrar
Academic Standards and Support Unit
Last updated March 2005
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