The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Mobile cheats diddle exam system

Never would have happened in our day

Free whitepaper – Dell/EMC CX4 and Dell PowerEdge blades

More and more kids are using mobile phones to cheat in A Level and GCSE exams. According to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), 1,100 pupils were collared smuggling phones into exams last year making hi-tech trickery the most popular form of cheating among students.

Not only can vital bits of information be stored as text on phones, more adventurous students can also use their mobiles to access the net. It's a far cry from when students had to cheat by writing on their hand or by making notes on a hanky.

"Over recent years we have seen a noticeable rise in the number of mobile phone related incidents in examination halls across the country," said Ken Boston, chief executive of the exams watchdog who warned students not to take mobile phones into exams.

Those who get caught cheating will be disqualified, he said.

"Cheating compromises the integrity of the exam system and QCA is strongly committed to working with awarding bodies to combat it in all forms," he said. ®

Free whitepaper – Dell IT infrastructure services brochure

Don’t Miss

DustbinDirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide

Ventblockers Horror beyond human imagination

SC09Top 500 supers - rise of the Linux quad-cores

SC09 Jaguar munches Roadrunner

Ubuntu teaser Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala

Smooth Windows upgrade it ain't

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes