Now Cambridge won’t put all exam results on display
CAMBRIDGE University has scrapped the historic practice of displaying all students’ exam results, following concerns it was bad for their mental health.
Class lists have been displayed outside the university’s Senate House every summer since 1748, but this year students will be allowed to easily opt out for the first time.
It will mean a vast reduction in the number of undergraduates on the lists, since only those confident of good grades are likely to want to remain. The move follows a campaign by students who said the lists are ‘damaging’ to welfare, trigger depression and ‘promote a culture of shaming’.
The university has also been under pressure to allow results to be confidential, to ensure they comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation which came into effect in April. The debate has divided opinion, with some students saying it is ‘sad’ to break with tradition.
Student Nicholas Taylor said: ‘I want to keep the lists. If you are part of a bigger institution at an ancient university, which goes back 800 years, then your results should be public.’
Critics have said that while those with genuine mental health issues must receive support, universities should not encourage the growth of a ‘snowflake’ generation which cannot deal with the real world. Until now, Cambridge students wanting to have their names removed must undergo a lengthy process, in which applications were only considered in ‘exceptional circumstances’ and required medical evidence that it would affect their well-being.
Under the new system, rubber-stamped yesterday, every student can simply tick a box which states they wish to opt out.