The use of spreadsheets, such as Microsoft Excel, is ubiquitous. Spreadsheets can help with many tasks when dealing with data, from sorting out your personal finances to complex administration tasks.

Being able to undertake calculations on large sets of data and have these automatically update when you add new information can be helpful. The ability to write your own formulae and customise the output is great. This is why you will almost always encounter spreadsheets in use in any office environment.

The trouble is that it can go wrong and sometimes does so in a high-profile way.

One of the most prominent examples of this in recent years occurred during the Coronavirus pandemic when the process used by Public Health England to collate data on infections missed a large number of cases. This was due to limitations on the number of rows allowed when using the older .xls file format.

It is likely that spreadsheet problems may also have played a part in some incorrect exam results, such as the MRCP, although the stated reasons are rather vague.

How can problems occur? An easy mistake to make in a spreadsheet is pasting information into the wrong row. The formulae in Excel reference rows and columns so you will often still get a reasonable looking answer, even if your formula refers to the wrong row.

Another difficulty in Excel is the way it displays formulae. Simple calculations are fine but more complex formulae can be difficult to read and even more difficult to correct.

There are a number of steps you can use to eliminate some common problems.

• When possible, avoid cutting and pasting data between systems.
• Test your spreadsheet to make sure it behaves correctly.
• Once tested, lock down the parts that shouldn’t change. This will help avoid errors creeping in over time.
• Build validation steps into your processes to confirm all is well before relying on the output of your spreadsheet.

All of this will help but avoiding being the next headline needs constant vigilance.

Excel: Why using Microsoft’s tool caused Covid-19 results to be lost

MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written Exam 2023/03 Diet: Explanation about the error that led to the release of incorrect exam results