Mobile-phone exam cheating on the rise

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of pupils in England penalised for bringing a mobile phone into exams has risen despite a warning sent to all schools about the issue last year, figures from the exams watchdog showed on Friday.

There were 1,276 students caught with mobile phones in exam halls in 2006, a slight rise over the previous year, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) said.

QCA Chief Executive Ken Boston wrote to all schools last March, telling them to remind candidates of the strict rules banning all phones from exam halls.

Boston acted after a noticeable rise in the numbers caught with phones in recent years.

Students taking phones into exams potentially face disqualification from all papers taken whether they use them to cheat or not.

Those caught with phones accounted for around a quarter of the 4,750 students penalised during last summer's round of A-level and GCSE exams.

However, the overall number of candidates penalised remains low, with less than one incident for every 1,500 exams taken.

Around a third of the offences involved students caught for plagiarism, collusion or copying another candidate's work, typically in coursework done before a final exam.

Others were penalised for cheating or disruptive behaviour during exams, writing obscenities on their exam papers or failing to follow instructions from invigilators.