29 June 2016
They offer a unique and valuable insight into the history of public exams, dating back to the 1850s.
Now Cambridge Assessment’s Group Archives are to feature in a BBC radio documentary which is broadcast this Sunday.
In You May Now Turn Over Your Papers on BBC Radio 4, Cambridge Classics professor Mary Beard reveals the intriguing history of exams, speaking to guests including Group Archivist Gillian Cooke. She looks at a typical question from the 20th century, noting the differences and similarities between exams of past and present. She hears how examiners’ reports in particular provide a valuable insight. And she also looks at a letter in which the father of a disappointed candidate tried to bribe the Group Secretary John Neville Keynes (whose son John Maynard Keynes went on to change the face of economics) with the offer of a trip to Paris.
The programme will be broadcast at 11am this Wednesday, July 6, on BBC Radio 4 and will be available on the iPlayer for about a month.