Destroy exam notes, Oxford tutors told

Academics at Oxford University have been told to destroy notes they make when marking final exams to prevent students using them to challenge their grades.

The history faculty has told tutors to destroy official comment sheets as soon as degree grades are published. Undergraduates are increasingly using data protection law to demand access to the documentation to have their marks reviewed.

The move comes as the university introduces changes to its degreegrading system, thought to be aimed at curbing a rise in firstclass degrees being awarded. From this year, examiners will be able to adjust grade boundaries to determine-the final proportion of firsts and other classes of degree.

One tutor warned: "They are going to rip up all the papers at the same moment they are introducing a major change in the marking conventions, the result of which they don't know."

The letter to examiners from Simon Skinner, chairman of the final honour school responsible for awarding degrees, acknowledged that students were increasingly likely to challenge their marks.

It said: "From this year, it has been decreed that . . . comment sheets can be destroyed as soon as the class lists have been posted.

"Once they have agreed marks, assessors should therefore destroy any copies of comments or rough drafts . . . and will be asked to sign a declaration to this effect; any retained materials would be disclosed in the event of a claim."

Louise McMullan of Oxford University Student Union said: "We are furious. The information is often critical for students wanting to do postgraduate work.

"We have been fobbed off and find it hard to believe that the university is doing something like this in such an underhand way."