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## Activity type
Personal pursuit (eg Art / Computing / Making / Music / Drama / Sport)
## Description
Developed an automated web scraping tool that earned me the Stand Up Award, my school’s highest honor. The project was inspired by a friend learning Python and addressed a significant pain point: manually downloading past papers from Cambridge’s official website was inefficient, requiring unstable network connections, VPN access, and tedious manual file organization.
Built a terminal-based Python scraper with extensive customization options. Users can select their curriculum level (IGCSE or A Level), specify subjects, choose years and paper types (Paper 1, Paper 2, etc.), and download exam papers, mark schemes, or audio MP3 files. Implemented multi-threading technology for rapid downloads and created an automatic classification system that organizes files by subject and year into corresponding folders without any manual intervention.
One week after completion, faced a major setback when Cambridge’s website—which rarely updates—underwent a complete redesign, breaking my custom-built scraper entirely. Despite initial frustration, I persisted through the challenge, spending an entire week analyzing the new website structure, rewriting scraping paths and logic, and successfully restoring full functionality.
Dedicated extensive effort to this project, regularly working from 4 PM after school until 3 AM for multiple consecutive days. This intensive development process significantly strengthened my problem-solving abilities and resilience. My Computer Science teacher became an enthusiastic user of the tool, validating its practical value for the school community.
## Skills
– [x] Critical thinking
– [x] Planning
– [ ] Artistic skills
– [ ] Communication
– [ ] Teamwork
– [ ] Leadership
– [x] Problem solving
– [x] Creativity / Innovation
– [x] Independence
– [x] Adaptability / Resilience
– [ ] Risk-taking / Courage
– [x] Inquisitiveness
## Date started
Month: 3
Year: 2025
## Date finished
Month: 5
Year: 2025
## Referee
Computer Science Teacher