Otago HSFY past papers
Short version: for HSFY, a past paper is only ever half a paper. The Otago Library publishes past exam papers through Ketu, its exam collection, except where a department asks for a paper to be embargoed. HSFY's multiple-choice sections, which carry most of the marks in HUBS191, HUBS192, CELS191 and BIOC192, are under exactly that kind of embargo, so they do not appear in the collection.
That is worth knowing before you spend a weekend hunting for something that does not exist, or paying someone who claims to have it.
What you can actually get
The library collection
Ketu, the University of Otago Library's exam collection, holds past exam papers and lets you search them by paper code, so HUBS191 or CHEM191 gets you straight to that paper. You need an Otago student or staff login, and because HSFY's multiple-choice sections are embargoed by the departments, what you receive is the written portion.
Otago Library past exam papersYour own paper's course page
Departments vary. Some post practice questions, worked tutorial problems or a sample test on the paper's Blackboard page, and those are usually closer to the real thing than anything you will find elsewhere. Check there before you go looking further afield.
Why the multiple-choice sections are withheld
The examinable core of any one lecture is small, and there are only so many defensible multiple-choice questions you can write about it. The same concepts have to be reused year after year in different wording.
Release those questions and the bank is exhausted in a semester, and the exam stops separating students who understand the material from students who memorised last year's paper. So the multi-choice stays locked and you get the written sections instead.
The problem that leaves you with is a format mismatch. You are assessed mostly in one format and handed practice material in another. The longer version is here.
What to do about the half you cannot get
The skill the multi-choice exam tests is not recall on its own. It is reading an unfamiliar stem under time, holding four plausible options in your head, and eliminating three of them for reasons you could defend. That is trainable, but only against questions you have not seen before.
So the substitute for a past paper is not a leaked paper. It is a supply of new questions written to the same lecture learning outcomes, in the same format, with a worked explanation of why each wrong option is wrong. That is what Cutline builds, lecture by lecture, for every paper below.
Practice by paper
Each paper page lists what the course covers and which lecture worksheets are published so far.
Common questions
Does Otago release past HSFY exam papers?
Partly. Past exam papers are held in Ketu, the University of Otago Library’s exam collection, and are searchable by paper code. Departments can ask for a paper to be embargoed, and HSFY’s multiple-choice sections are embargoed, so they do not appear there. What you get is the short-answer and mini-essay portions.
Where do I find Otago past exam papers?
Through the University of Otago Library past exam papers collection, searchable by paper code such as HUBS191 or CHEM191. Access requires an Otago student or staff login. Some departments also post their own practice material on the paper Blackboard page.
Why are the HSFY multiple-choice questions never released?
There are only so many defensible multiple-choice questions you can write about a given lecture, so the same concepts are reused year after year with different wording. If the bank were public it would be exhausted immediately and the exam would stop separating students who understand the material from students who memorised last year.
Can I buy real HSFY past exam questions anywhere?
No. Anyone offering you the real multiple-choice questions is either wrong or selling something they should not have. The honest substitute is practice written to the same lecture learning outcomes in the same format, which is what a question bank is for.
Are past written questions still worth doing?
Yes, for checking whether you understand a topic. They just do not train the skill the exam mostly tests, which is reading an unfamiliar multiple-choice stem under time pressure and eliminating three plausible distractors. Use both.