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?

The advice from my DC's school is that if you have a mobile on you and it's off, you will be disqualified from that paper or qualification. If the phone is on, you will be disqualified from all qualifications taken through that board.

I would agree that it's likely she will be disqualified from the paper and, as students have been told time and time again - the exam bought might disqualify you from all exams this year. Obviously you have to wait and se but I think you need to sit down with your daughter and say - look - the mistake has been made and there is nothing anyone can do to change that - the consequences might be disqualification BUT - "everything is going to be alright - we will get through this" - and you will. If she is disqualified then she will have to retake her exams - it is not the end of the world - even if she might think it is - and the same for you as a parent - it's the time for you as a parent to show her how you deal with situations where something goes wrong in life. Yes - there will be lots of knock on effects but it's no use banging on about "if only" - what's done is done - it will be hard waiting to find out what the exam board is going to do and hard for your daughter to think about anything else or even concentrate on her remaining exams. If she has to take another year to prepare for her exams - then hopefully - she will do even better in them - I really do think it's important to stay positive for your daughter - she must be feeling awful - and you probably are too but it's her that needs your support.

I was once disqualified from an exam for having my phone on me. Didn't use it of course, but totally forgot it was in my side pocket. Had to resit the exam, sucked but wasn't the end of the world

The standard is to be disqualified from that exam and all exams by the same board.
This is discretionary though

I’m an invigilator. There’s honestly no way they ‘forget’ they have their phone. We hold deposit boxes by the door. We remind them more than once before the exam begins. It is the rule they all know.

I’m very sorry for your DD, OP, but it’s extremely unlikely this paper will stand and her other papers with the board are at risk too.

If it was found to be deliberate all her results could be stopped. I can't believe she didn't know how serious this is. She could be banned from all public exams like a levels in future although more likely just disqualified from this subject.

Valuable lesson in listening to the rules me thinks

There is no way she didn't notice her phone in her pocket

Are you absolutely sure she didn’t take it to try and use in some way? It’s the “fell out of her pocket” bit that causes me to ask. That doesn’t happen very often really, what was she wearing with such a shallow pocket?

I am guessing she just might have been avoiding needing to deposit and school office and collect.
I think the most important thing now is to reassure her its not the end of the world so she can focus on her other exams. One of the key things is to check does she need this exam for her A level entry? ie is it a subject she wants to do at A level or needs to get into another A level subject she wants to do? If not, then I would completely forget about it. You can do A levels with 5 GCSEs - most kids do somewhere between 8-10 GCSE subjects but you technically only need 5 for A level entry unless she is a a grammar school or a very academic private high - ask the school how this will impact her A levels.

I work in a school, 3 boys had mobile phones, they weren't using them, they just didn't hand them in. It was reported to the exam board and I'm afraid they were all disqualified. Not the news you want to hear sorry but it has to be fair for everyone.

I have to say, the falling out of pocket sounds a little dubious. I take my phone in my pocket on rollercoasters regularly, and as yet, it's not fallen out.

Are you absolutely sure she didn't have it as a safety net. They would have been told repeatedly about not having their phones on them.

After you have heard 100 excuses and downright lies it becomes very difficulty to believe the truth. Exam boards have heard so many tall stories that they may not accept your DDs explanation.

Accept the decision whatever it is, and I'm sure your DD will not do this again.

I'm sorry OP but it doesn't sound good, looks like she'll be disqualified. I hope she's OK and can focus on any remaining exams.

Op was it the Spanish reading and listening? If so, unless that was an A level choice, she could write that subject off.

I would talk to her and tell her she almost certainly will be DQd from that exam, and probably that subject (may as well be anyway as that’s 50%) but wouldn’t mention the possibility (less likely IME) of DQ from all exams. She needs to focus on papers to come and know she can still do well.

How in an exam did her phone fall out of her pocket?
I'm sorry OP but there are enough warnings and notices, she didn't 'forget'.
Why should the rules not apply to your daughter just because 'it was turned off'.

I can’t believe you’ve even had the thought process that the school didn’t have to report it.
If a school didn’t report this and it came out, all the children’s results would be in jeopardy. Such a wonderful example of how parents are quick to blame the school for their children’s mistakes. 🙄

I’m also confused how she didn’t realise her phone was in her pocket but it was a pocket shallow enough for her phone to fall out 🤷🏻‍♀️

My experience of this situation she will lose all the marks for that exam.

Putting aside the fact that I find it hard to believe that she forgot to get rid of her phone something similar happened to my best friend when sitting her English GCSE. I am 25 so this would have happened about ten years ago so not sure if policy has changed.

She got a text message in the middle of the exam as she didn’t hand in her phone nor switch it off. I was there when it echoed around the exam hall, it honestly felt like the loudest and longest text alert I have ever heard. She had a blackberry too so if you’ve ever had one of them you’ll know it pings three times with a couple of seconds in between. She handed it in straight away and sat the rest of the exam. They reported her, there were talks of her losing points, being disqualified from the exam and being disqualified from all other exams that she was taking with the same board. She was disqualified from the exam in the end and she had to resit it the year after so it wasn’t the end of the world but it was definitely an upsetting and stressful time for her.

The argument was that there were signs all over including the entry to the exam hall saying no phones, they remind us at the start of the exam to put all belongings at the back and no phones. They said she could have gone to the toilet to use it & I’m pretty sure the fact that it was turned on went against her too.

And I recently learned (from current Year 11) that taking your phone into the toilet and googling the answer is commonplace in schools.

So it's absolutely right that she should be penalised. I don't believe for one minute that it was an accident.

They apparently have two phones, hand one in so as not to arouse suspicion and keep the other in their pocket and then ask to go to the toilet in the middle of the exam.

I have had this a few times with GCSE and once with A Level. She will be disqualified from that exam and possibly the subject depending on the number of papers, but definitely that exam and lose all marks.

I do not know how a phone is forgotten; I must have said hand in your phones/turn them off and place in your bag over a hundred times the week before half term alone. hey have practiced going into the exam room. We have reiterated the rules repeatedly.

As for asking about school even bothering to report; you will find that parents of other children would contact JCQ if they thought that the rules were not correctly applied, as they should do and I have known this to happen as they are also worried about the potential impact on their own children. This can strip a school of the ability to hold exams. Can you imagine the impact of that? Let alone the loss of jobs for the staff involved.

Erm how could she be excluded from school as she'll be currently on exam leave and then leaving? (Or is it different in NI?)

Unless you mean from sixth form?

They make it so clear to check you have handed in your phone before they start the exam. She could have handed it in then. She could potentially be disqualified from all exams from that whole exam board.

To all those in England bleating on that no exams were sat during the last week, please think before you post. This happens every year. Scotland and NI have different holidays, different exam dates. The UK is not England. It will be the same in 4 weeks time when Scotland starts their Summer holidays.

I used to be an exams officer in England, being caught with a mobile phone always results in disqualification for that exam, even if it was switched off and there was no evidence the student had looked at it.
The students all know that they are forbidden in exams and they are reminded to hand them in before every exam starts, so there was never any excuse that the exam board would accept.