Medical students at The University of Sheffield have been told they will have to resit their final exam after it was claimed questions were shared on social media.
In an email to the second year trainees, the Medical School admitted the mistake which occurred in the weeks prior to the exam. In an open letter students said: “We are horrified and disgusted by the decision to make all students sit an additional emergency exam on university premises as the school has suddenly stated the previous exam students have just sat is ‘void’ due to question issues.”
The correspondence was shared along with a petition to show solidarity with the affected students which has now received almost 2,500 signatures.
The University, who are currently investigating the compromised paper, has told students that the resit of the original online exam will now happen on campus. It will be held twice, on 26 May and again on 22 June, for the students who are unable to travel back to Sheffield.
One student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “It’s been a really upsetting situation, especially for international students like me, who can’t travel back to the UK easily.
“We only had five weeks off between the end of second year and the beginning of our placements. The resit has eaten into our break and the impact on our mental health has been severe.”
Another student, who also didn’t want to be named, said that the Medical School has not held themselves accountable for the errors in the paper.
She said: “They keep saying they can’t give us any more details because the investigation is ongoing. But they had already made the decision to void our results before the investigation was even finished.
“They don’t have the answers to any of our questions. It would be a lot less frustrating if they stopped beating around the bush.
“It’s obviously a very complex situation, trying to make everyone resit the same exam. But making it in person does seem really unfair.”
A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: “We are very sorry that our students have been affected by this and we are investigating what has happened. We are doing everything we can to support our students and have given them an additional break before they start their placements in hospital.
“We have also offered financial assistance for anyone who needs to return to Sheffield and are providing wellbeing support.”