Exam boards check pupils’ social media for cheating

EXAM boards are spying on pupils’ social media accounts as they try to clamp down on students using online platforms to cheat in their exams.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) has a dedicated team monitoring social media platforms in a bid to stop malpractice in school examinations.

The JCQ – which represents UK exam boards – also announced an independent inquiry into exam malpractice.

A spokesman for the regulator said: “The major challenge we’re having is people having mobile phones on them in exams, which is giving them the potential to cheat.

“With regards to social media, our concerns are that students are sharing between them information on exams whilst the exam is in progress.”

It is the fear that even if a student has their phone off in an exam and has no intention to cheat, they still have the potential to do so which can result in grades being voided.

Despite the rise in students using phones in exams, malpractice is still “extremely rare”, it was suggested, and official figures show that last year, 2,715 penalties were issued to candidates (0.01%), along with 895 to school staff and 120 to schools and colleges.

Announcing the new inquiry, Mark Bedlow, of the OCR exam board, said: “Malpractice that is deliberate is still extremely rare. But, we are seeing the occasional story pop up.”

Exam chiefs insisted that the inquiry is not a response to any particular issue, but is part of ongoing work to prevent malpractice.

The commission is due to begin its work in September, with a final report published next spring.