Third time in five years: Medical students handed recycled exam at University of Copenhagen

The story has already reached national Danish media outlets that 300 medical students at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) are having their exam in internal medicine, surgery, pathology, anaesthesiology, and patient safety annulled after a »regrettable error« where a previously used exam set was handed out at the examination on 22 June.

This is not the first time a blunder like this has happened on the medical programme.

In 2020, an old exam set was accidentally reused for an exam in health and medical psychology. It was discovered too late to have any consequences for students. They were not as fortunate on the same course three years later: the 2023 exam was annulled after grading had started — when a 2008 exam set had been recycled.

At the time, the faculty’s associate dean for education, Jørgen Kurtzhals, promised that the dean’s office would ensure that no exam organisers would ever again be unclear on what the rules are for reusing exam materials.

But here we are, two years later, and 300 students are yet again having their summer holidays ruined by an exam error. Should medical students just accept that this happens?

File merge went wrong

No, not at all, says Jørgen Kurtzhals, who is still associate dean for education and is »incredibly sorry« about the latest case of improper exam reuse.

In fact, the faculty has taken significant steps to prevent this from happening again, he says to the University Post. All exam papers are now reviewed by expert panels and quality-assured by a group of examiners before use.

To prevent repeat incidents like in 2023, management also reiterated to all course organisers that exam questions must not be reused in the same way — and unlike in 2023, when it was done »with full knowledge,« as Kurtzhals puts it, none of those responsible in this case intended to reuse old material.

In 2023 we were promised that internal processes would be tightened up to prevent mistakes like this. So yes, I’m angry

Jesper Gür, deputy chair of the medicine study board

This time, a brand new exam set with fresh questions was ready — it just needed to be merged into a single document. And that’s where it all went wrong:

»There was a mix-up. The wrong files were merged into the final exam paper.«

Really? So it was a file merge gone wrong?

»Yes. One quarter of the exam set had the correct questions, but the other three quarters came from an earlier exam.«

The associate dean is openly upset:

»It’s an absolutely absurd mistake. I honestly couldn’t have imagined something like this could happen,« he says.

»It’s just… it’s so frustrating to think about.«

Three bad options

Jesper Gür, who as deputy chair of the medicine study board represents students, shares that frustration.

»In 2023 we were promised that internal processes would be tightened up to prevent mistakes like this. So yes, I’m angry. So yes, I’m angry that we’re clearly seeing this hasn’t happened,« he says to the University Post.

He led a demonstration and complaint to the Ombudsman on behalf of the medical students in 2023, after their health and medical psychology exam was annulled due to recycled exam questions.

That complaint wasn’t upheld. But he won’t rule out filing a new one this time, being furious that the same thing has happened again just two years later.

»The university has to do better so that their mistakes don’t affect us students,« he says.

Students now have three options: they can resit the exam on 8 August 2025, or wait until early 2026 to choose between 23 January and 19 February.

But it’s not good enough to have to wait until August before they can really take their summer break, Jesper Gür argues.

»My fellow students are some of the most hardworking and ambitious people I know, who have spent hours each day preparing for this exam. This should not be the result of all their efforts.«

But if they’ve studied so thoroughly, surely the material is second nature — is it really such a big deal to sit the exam again?

»That’s not how it works. Exams are emotionally intense, riddled with anxiety and self-doubt« he says.

»Anyone who’s sat an exam knows it’s not just a couple of hours — it affects you leading up to it, and your adrenaline spikes.«

Not possible before August

Jesper Gür has called an extraordinary meeting of the study board for 1 July, where members will discuss alternative solutions to propose to Jørgen Kurtzhals, the dean’s office, and most importantly the university’s legal team:

»The ideal scenario is that the exam isn’t annulled at all,« he says.

»But experience shows that might be difficult.«

I truly wish it could be earlier, but we’ve explored every option, and it just can’t be done

Jørgen Kurtzhals, deputy dean for education at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

He expects the board will instead push for an earlier resit of the exam — preferably as soon as possible:

»So they can get it over with and not have to revise everything again in a month.«

Jesper Gür and other sources that the University Post spoke to are also calling for stricter rules on exam sets to prevent this from happening again.

But for associate dean Jørgen Kurtzhals, it’s not that simple. Every mistake shouldn’t lead to new rules and procedures — that can make organising exams more cumbersome, which in itself causes problems for students.

In this case, the rules and administration actually — ironically — make it harder to grant the students’ wish for an earlier exam:

»The technical processes for setting up an exam are so complex that we can’t schedule one before 8 August,« he says.

So it’s technically impossible to have it earlier, like the students want?

»Unfortunately, yes.«

What are the specific obstacles to moving the exam earlier than 8 August?

»Organising and holding an exam involves many practical and technical aspects,« says Jørgen Kurtzhals.

»I truly wish it could be earlier, but we’ve explored every option, and it just can’t be done.«

No comment on past cases

The best solution — from the students’ perspective at least — seems to be not annulling the exam at all. But that’s where the UCPH legal team steps in, having already determined that annulment is the only option.

The reused exam set discriminates against students who prepared differently — for example, not by practising on old papers, explains Jørgen Kurtzhals:

The question isn’t whether I’m receptive. The question is whether anything can actually be done

Jørgen Kurtzhals, Associate Dean for Education at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

»If we let these grades stand, we’d be treating students unfairly, and we’re simply not allowed to do that. The law is very clear.«

There are, however, precedents where exams with improperly reused questions were not annulled — even for medical students.

For example, the 2020 exam paper in health and medical psychology wasn’t identified until three years later. Those students have long since graduated — with that result on their diplomas.

And in 2015 at Aarhus University, 156 out of 157 medical students received top marks after a reused exam paper in cardiology. Danish news site Jyllands-Posten reported on the case.

That exam was not annulled because the error was solely the university’s fault — which seems to be the case this time too.

Jørgen Kurtzhals, doesn’t this show that you don’t always have to annul exams if the fault lies with the university, not the students?

»It’s hard for me to comment on decisions another institution made ten years ago,« says the associate dean.

He has no further comment on the similar cases.

Welcomes protest

The student board meets 1 July, and Jesper Gür says he will fight for »a more lenient solution.«

Will you protest again this time, like in 2023?

»I can’t rule it out,« says Jesper Gür.

Associate dean Jørgen Kurtzhals says he would have no objection if students chose to protest:

»I would very much welcome that. I like when people protest against things they perceive as unfair,« he says.

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Will you be open to their input?

»I’m completely open to any and all input,« stresses the associate dean, before adding:

»The question isn’t whether I’m receptive. The question is whether anything can actually be done.«