Inventive pupils create website for selling old exam papers

Published on Friday 5 June 2009 10:26

HANDING down old exam papers to younger pupils to help them study has gone on in schools for years.

But one group of pupils has decided to turn the informal "swap shop" arrangement into a successful online business.

The pupils at Boroughmuir High have not only helped take some of the study stress away from their own schoolmates, but also aided pupils across Edinburgh and Scotland.

Their "Pursuit UK" website allows students to sell their old books of past papers for about half the 8 shop price to those studying for their Higher or Standard Grade exams.

The service is free to students, with the group selling advertising to local businesses to make money.

They charge a reasonable rate of 20 a month and currently have seven businesses advertising through the site, including a shop selling prom dresses.

As well as helping the bank balances of the pupils – and those of their parents – the website is designed to act as an online study community so they can help each other revise.

The nine S6 pupils at Boroughmuir who created the website have also enlisted the help of 20 teachers to act as virtual mentors to any student who poses a question on the site.

The group's idea – which they came up with as part of their Young Enterprise project – has had such a positive response that they plan to run the website as a business once they leave school.

Managing director and Boroughmuir head boy Calum Leslie, 18, said: "I had a small pile of past papers under my bed and nobody really does anything with them once they're finished, so we came up with this idea.

"This website means pupils in the younger year groups can go on and buy the papers at reduced rates.

"It's very helpful for those people who need to buy them but can't afford them at retail prices – if you have to buy eight of them it can be really expensive.

"We don't make money from the students but we charge businesses for advertising space.

"Our goal is to increase popularity among students and increase viewing and encourage more companies to invest.

"We are students and we know how hard it is to get this kind of help, so we have the best viewpoint."

The group hope to enlist more teachers in Edinburgh to help with pupil questions as the website expands to reach even more pupils.

Calum, who is going to Edinburgh University after the summer to study law and economics, said: "We are looking to expand the number of teachers and when we go into business properly we might have to start paying teachers for their time.

"Before we told the school that we were going to carry on with this, the principal teacher asked us if we would pass on the reins when we left, because it is such a valuable service and an asset to the school."

Jack Hamilton, headteacher at Boroughmuir, said Calum could be "the next Apprentice".

He said: "He has got a great little niche in the market and this idea won the group the Lothians Young Enterprise competition.

"Calum has a lot of great ideas and he is really interested in business.

"Here's a guy who's tipped for the top – the next Apprentice."

The website – which has had almost 20,000 hits – has also made its way into Holyrood after a motion was tabled to congratulate the group by Lothian Labour MSP George Foulkes.