What's in the archives

What's in the archives?

Examiners meeting in the Sudan

Our archives are predominantly those of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) and include:

  • Annual Reports and statistics
  • Executive and major committee records
  • Examination administration documentation up to c.1950s
  • Examination publications from c.1876 
  • Overseas development records
  • Internal research papers from 1962 to 2000
  • Lists of successful examination candidates up to 1950.

Past results/certified statement enquiries should be directed to the specific departments within OCR, Cambridge Assessment International Education and Cambridge English.

Online samples of exam material

The archives of the 19th and 20th centuries are all held as hard-copy documents but a small selection of syllabuses, question papers and examiners’ reports have been scanned for online access. 

Sample exam material

Past Examination Publications from OCR, Cambridge Assessment International Education and Cambridge Assessment English

Past publications (question papers, mark schemes etc.) for recent examinations are available directly from OCR, Cambridge Assessment International Education and Cambridge English. Please use the following links:

Related archives held elsewhere

Many of the earliest records of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) are part of the archives of Cambridge University held at Cambridge University Library.

The archives of the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board (OCSEB) are split between the Assessment Archive and Cambridge University Library:

  • Cambridge University Archives, West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DR 
  • Tel: +44 (0) 1223 333000 
  • Email: archives@lib.cam.ac.uk

The Assessment Archive holds only limited documentation for the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations (UODLE). The main repository for the UODLE archive is:

  • Oxford University Archives, Bodleian Library, Oxford, OX1 3BG 
  • Tel: +44 (0) 1865 277145 
  • Email: enquiries@oua.ox.ac.uk

For enquiries regarding the archives of the Royal Society of Arts, which is now also part of Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR), please contact:

  • The Archivist and Records Manager, Royal Society of Arts, 8 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6EZ 
  • Tel: +44 (0) 20 7451 6847 
  • Or visit the RSA website

Research Matters

Research Matters is our free biannual publication which allows us to share our assessment research, in a range of fields, with the wider assessment community.

Research Matters 32 promo image