son had his mobile phone in GCSE biology

If it's a really clear rule (my ds is 12 so haven't got there yet) I suspect the exam board will disqualify him from that paper and possibly that subject but I think it would be exceedingly harsh to disqualify from all 5 subjects. I seriously doubt that will happen.

Does he want to do A level in that subject? That would have more serious consequences if he needs a GCSE/decent grade in that subject but otherwise, it's a lesson learnt.

Yeah, I was saying to DD before this thread started that if someones phone did ring in an exam it'd probably be bloody vodafone.

Who on earth was ringing him during an exam? - the people inviting him to make a PPI claim?! - or more likely, anyone who doesn't know he has an exam right at that moment, which is probably everyone he knows apart from his parents?!

Easier said than done, bun. If your kid takes public transport a lot use the phone for music or even last minute revision on the way and may need them on the way back as they may be coming home earlier than usual and need picking up.

" Quite frankly, a phone ringing would be no more distracting to me than people walking past my desk regularly."

But you aren't the stressed out student sitting the exam.

I still think that parents of scatty children should either make sure their children's phones are off and in the bag or not taken to school in the first place on exam days. It can't be that difficult.

I sat my one of my finals papers next to a person who is now extremely famous. They wrote with a dip pen. I kid you not. I still remember the scratch scratch scratch pause dip scratch noise to this day. A mobile phone woild have bee. a blessed relief. Sadly, they hadn't been invented.

I agree with clashcity that there's definitely an element of being told about phones so often they just stop listening. We've had gsce, AS and A2 exams going on in this house for the last 4 years. Every year there's always at least one person, if not more, who's turned out to have a phone in an exam - imagine how many there must be who don't get found out because their phone doesn't ring or fall out of their blazer pocket.

I know from my kids that the penalties can be very severe however. dS3 says 'of course' he wouldn't take his phone into an exam. But I still hold off texting to ask how an exam went until I'm certain he will be well clear of the exam hall - just in case!

I don't believe a phone going off would cause a significant distraction for the other students. I've done a little bit of invigilation, whicih seems much more intense than when I was at school. Quite frankly, a phone ringing would be no more distracting to me than people walking past my desk regularly. I did one of my finals papers with the girl in front of me crying all the way through - now that was distracting!

Applecheeks. I hope your son is OK. It must be horrible for him not quite knowing what is going to happen.

Exam invigilator are minions in the exam process. They do not make any decisions. I suppose that in the future there will be CCTV cameras to observe what the little darlings are up to in the future. It would make evidence of foul play easier to prove.

It really i simpossible to say what the outcome will be but I would be shocked if teh marks for that particular paper were allowed to stand, I'm afraid. He may be okay for the other papers but he may not.

The boards take phone infringements terribly seriously as it is cheating in their eyes, no less.

We had a similar problem during our mocks, a mistake but a potentially costly one. However as a result the Deputy Head has made a big thing as they line up outside of the mobile phone patdown. He does a mad dance and they all copy. It has worked (one pupil found their ipod) but also it has dispelled tension. However they also have three further warnings in the exam room. Whilst I expect he has lost the marks for this exam I expect the rest will be fine. Hope all goes OK.

Hi Applecheeks glad you seem OK.

Not sure that it should, she didn't touch her phone until the teacher walked over to her. There were no signs as she was in a room with one other pupil.

The OP started the thread asking for information and maybe a bit of support.

It's Secondary Education not AIBU.

And the OP is now not here any more it seems. I think she probably feels pretty bloody stressed. I hope she is ok.

My friends dd remembered she had her phone in her pocket and put her hand up two minutes into the exam , there was no consequence.

That should have been reported to the board , though regardless.

Shocking that a person on here claiming to be an invigilator thinks it s okay to break the rules.
The correct thing to do is simply make a report of the incident ( or any other infringement ) to the exam board and THEY make the decision, not an invigilator who thinks they are above their pay grade.
IME exam boards take rational and proportionate decisions in these cases. so likely worst scenario is loss of the marks on that one paper.
There really is no excuse for a ringing phone - however 'disorganised', a person can switch off their phone when instructed.

I do not get the impression that the OP is denying the responsibillity that her DS should have taken on.

It's just a 'what next'?

Disorganised or not, nevertheless a phone was taken into the exam room which is not allowed.

Who on earth was ringing him during an exam?

My friends dd remembered she had her phone in her pocket and put her hand up two minutes into the exam , there was no consequence.

They're not allowed a five minute warning anymore. No time checks allowed at all. The students have to keep time - and don't always, which leads to lots of tears. And this year a lot of papers have questions on the back page. Please, please, please tell your kids to not stop until they get to the words 'End of questions '.
I I've been marking most of weekend but just wanted to add that OP should hear tomorrow. I hope you've had a good(ish) weekend and your son is ready for this weeks exams.
Let us know how it goes.

To those of you asking how disruptive this would be; very. Op says it happened 3 minutes before the end of the exam. They'll have already had their 5 minute warning and those who haven't finished will be desperately trying to get it all down. A lot of people would probably be panicking. Throw in the distraction of a phone going off and the subsequent chaos, if it were me it would have thrown me right off and probably would have resisted in my not finishing that question properly.
I'm sorry op, I'm sure it's not what you want to hear. I hope it gets resolved to a positive outcome for everyone.

Currently invigilating - unfortunately I can't predict what JCQ will do, but I would make an incident report and as PP said, usually a member of SLT would get a call. The deputy head at my school is hardcore, he would be very angry.

Unfortunately you have to take into account the disturbance to other students. He may have shared a room with students who need extra time or assistance who really were thrown off. Still invigilators are human and working with teachers who care so much about the students, possible disqualification is not something I would take pleasure in at all. I enforce the rules as required, but I don't write incident reports for kicks.

Public shaming is actually more disruptive in an exam and whilst it says "I am enforcing the phone rule" it also says that you use the power trip to disrupt much more with shouting and drama. I would never do this and your son seems like a nice kid who zoned out, like many of them do during a full month of exams.

I don't know - if you don't normally have your phone with you for exams, I can quite easily imagine having it in your blazer pocket without remembering you ever put it there (and because it's not normally there, not bothering to pat your own pockets to check). The fact it rang in the exam room indicates to me he'd probably forgotten about it, as opposed to having taken it in deliberately - why on earth would anyone deliberately take a mobile phone into an exam room with them that wasn't on in silent mode? You'd have to be mad, not bad... However, you still deserve to be punished for breaking the rules, taking in something with which you could potentially cheat (regardless of whether or not you did), and disrupting the exam.