Will DD likely be penalised for this

[curiousitygotthebetterofme]

DD(15) sat a GCSE exam yesterday, which she prepared so well and worked hard for.

She is aware of all the exam hall rules including that you can’t bring mobile phones in with you.

Yesterday, she had her phone with her but forgot to leave it at the school reception until after the exam was finished.

She was not using her mobile phone during the exam nor did she attempt to. The phone was also switched off.

It was in her pocket and it fell out onto the floor and invigilator seen it happen.

Her head of year rang me yesterday to inform
that they are obliged to report it to the exam board and that they could very well take marks off her or disqualify her.

I feel sorry for DD as she worked so hard for these exams and she has been quite distressed over it all and the possibility of being penalised. It just slipped her mind but she knows to be more aware for future exams.

I get that exam boards have to follow procedures, but surely the fact she wasn't actually using the phone will work in her favour?

When it fell did she make sure to point out it was off therefore cannot have been being used at that time?

“This is ridiculous though. Invigilators would see her use it. If she picked up her jacket, or moved in her seat, and it fell out, how is that an issue?”

There may have been hundreds of students in that exam; invigilators can’t have their eye on every student all the time.

The report will say that no invigilators saw her use the phone and that it appeared to be switched off when the invigilator found it - but the fact remains that she had a means of cheating in her possession.

@WigglyWombat that was before an exam so an entirely different scenario, even if you were seated in the exam room.

It would also be very rare for a student to be removed from an exam. The phone would be removed and it would be noted on the Exam Room Incident Log (an official document) - the lead Invigilator would also, I imagine take advice from the Exams Officer as to how to proceed. Our policy is always to sit the exam and then deal with the issue eg when students are very late for the exam and in the time frame when there is no guarantee of paper being marked - get them to sit the paper and argue their case to the board.

Exams don’t have the opportunity to have individuals using their discretion- the rules are applied fairly and consistently to ensure all students are treated equally.

This is the JCQ suggested wording which will be read to students before an exam starts. JCQ also provide an audio recording which we use - I tell students before playing it that although they have heard it many times it is vital they listen to it carefully and follow the instructions.

^ the bits in yellow on the doc are the changes made for this exam series - watches used to be allowed and had to be removed and placed on desk. They are now not allowed.

Why?

ignore the 'against the rules' part.

Why is a switched off phone in her pocket not OK?

It doesn't matter at all. Phoned are not allowed in the exam room. That's the malpractice.

Well, there wouldn't be hundreds at GCSE.

But that aside, any invigilator worth their salt would spot someone on a phone.

there wouldn't be hundreds at GCSE
Our year 11 is 240

Really? At my secondary school there were around 360 in a year group, a handful would be in a small venue if they had a scribe etc. The rest were in the school gym, so over 300. I would have thought a secondary school having year groups larger than 100 would be quite usual.

@minutesturntohours there might be hundreds of students in the room for a GCSE exam actually. My dc were in years of 220+ and some exams are sat by every student. (Yes I know this is not the point)

Tell her to breathe.

Tell her you believe her. ( I do, because it’s the kind of fuck up I could manage despite having heard every warning.)

Tell her she’ll get past this.

Tell her, if you like, that we know a brilliant university student (not mine) who left some of her endless clutch of revision flash cards in a pocket. They fell out and she automatically failed that exam. She was utterly distraught. But she did so well in everything else that she still got a First overall. I suspect it did her good to realise she was humanly fallible.

Yes it is, that's literally the issue.

I don't think this could be clearer

Well, there wouldn't be hundreds at GCSE.

How to say you don't know what you're talking about without saying you don't know what you're talking about....

Those posters are everywhere in schools. Not just the exam rooms.
It could not be clearer.

In my experience, university exam rules are often a little more relaxed than GCSE/A-level exams, and they're not regulated in the same way.

If schools don't report and it's found out, they may be stopped from running exams. And if a school can't offer GCSEs and A-levels then... I don't actually know what would happen, but it wouldn't be good for the school!

Exactly and that poster is outside and inside the room. There is also this outside:

Yeah, tell her she’ll get through this. In my case it was appendicitis during my A levels. The next available retake was the following year.

In her case, it’s a forgotten mobile phone during her GCSE’s. It’s horrible at the time, but the important thing is to keep going.

Are you thick? Ignore the rules?

Do you tell your children to “ignore the ‘against the rules’ part”?

It is against the rules to have a phone on your person during an examination. Switched on or off.
What’s hard to comprehend about that?

There will have been signs all over reminding students to hand in their phones, they’re reminded as they go in to the exam hall/room, reminded again before the exam starts. You can’t “forget”. She can’t prove she didn’t use it so yes, then can, and likely will, fail her exam. It’s happened in a school I’ve taught at twice.

@FlissyPaps cool name BTW .

Because said student could go to the toilet, turn it on while in the toilet get answers, turn it off and go back into the hall.

if a student really wants to cheat they can. Hiding phones in the toilets prior to exams is a common trick. Our school stopped that by only allowing students to use the ones in the sports hall, which were closed off except for exams in the hall over exam season, other schools in the area had this happen to them Jensen why ours changed their policy and secured the toilets.

also it being off means nothing. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t on at any point. That’s why the rule is no phones full stop. They don’t need to catch you in the act, just ban the item, which is what they do. Therefore if you have a phone on you there is a possibility to cheat therefor they treat it as if you have cheated

Because said student could go to the toilet, turn it on while in the toilet get answers, turn it off and go back into the hall.

if a student really wants to cheat they can. Hiding phones in the toilets prior to exams is a common trick. Our school stopped that by only allowing students to use the ones in the sports hall, which were closed off except for exams in the hall over exam season, other schools in the area had this happen to them Jensen why ours changed their policy and secured the toilets.

also it being off means nothing. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t on at any point. That’s why the rule is no phones full stop. They don’t need to catch you in the act, just ban the item, which is what they do. Therefore if you have a phone on you there is a possibility to cheat therefor they treat it as if you have cheated

God how awful for your dd.

I'm sure that she is in bits, but the best and only thing she can do now is focus on the exams that she has left and LEAVE HER PHONE AT HOME.

If/when she does well, it will 'prove' to her and others (not the exam board unfortunately) that she is capable of doing well without cheating.

Over time, this will make what feels like a disaster into something manageable. If she doesn't sit her other exams, it will make the whole situation much, much worse in every way.

Hi there, The school must observe all the rules of the exam board, if they don’t the school is at risk of losing ‘exam centre status’, this would lead to all future exams for their students to be held off campus. This is why the school were obligated to report it, they do not have the leeway to deal with it in house and it is classed as malpractice. The exam board will decide the outcome (not the school) and inform them and yourselves of the outcome. If you look on the JCQ website (www.jcq.org.uk) you should be able to find some information.