Pupils can demand to see their exam data

SCHOOL pupils can now get details about their exam marks free of charge, the Information Commissioner’s Office has said, as experts predicted that examination boards would be inundated with requests.

New rules under the General Data Protection Regulation, which came into force earlier this year, allow students to request examiners’ comments, marks and the minutes of appeals panels’ hearings without paying a fee.

School leaders predicted that the change could lead to a surge in appeals by students unhappy with their grades.

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it would “likely lead to an exponential increase in requests”.

“We exist in this high-stakes examination culture, so every mark matters,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

However, exam boards warned that it was unlikely the information would come back in time for the Sept 20 deadline for requesting a marking review.

Students could previously access the information but could be asked to pay up to £10. Requesting a full paper can still incur a fee, which for AQA papers is £11.30 and for OCR is up to £11.75.

A spokesman for AQA said: “Subject-access requests under GDPR take up to 30 days to process, by which time it would be too late to request a review of results.”

Jake Moore, a security specialist at data security company Eset, said the change could lead to a greater burden on exam boards as disgruntled students “bombard” them with requests.

Pearson, which owns Edexcel, already offers papers free.