Page 2 | Gel pens in exams

gelpenlady · 2025-05-17T14:24:50+00:00

Posting for traffic… My daughter has done 6 GCSE exams this week. She didn’t realise that the pen she was using was a gel pen (or really that you are not supposed to use them in exams) and is now panicking. Is this likely to cause a problem? Can anyone that marks papers help? Thanks in advance!!

jenrobin · 17/05/2025 19:29

RobinHeartella · 17/05/2025 16:22

If it can't be scanned, the original paper gets posted to the examiner to read. It is called an Unscannable and examiners get paid extra to mark them (just a couple of quid extra).

There will be no consequences to your daughter.

If it happens too often though, the exam board might tell off the centre or even charge them for the extra costs incurred

Yeah this. If I'm invigilating, I tell the students not to use gel pens, because sometimes they buy the cheap kind that you can see blurring as soon as they lean on the page. If you have loads of unscannable papers on a given day the exam board will pitch a fit. That, or they use those pastel colours, or glitter pens that don't scan. There's always one or two who miss the instructions though and the exam board don't penalise them.

But when I'm scribing, I actually use a gel pen myself. The kind that doesn't smudge at all or show through the page (I buy my pens in a shop that lets you test the ink out first). If it was black ink, unsmudged, and not bleeding through the page it's probably scanned perfectly well anyway. I have a soft spot for students who like nice pens, so fingers crossed for your daughter!

Original poster

gelpenlady · 17/05/2025 20:43

jenrobin · 17/05/2025 19:29

Yeah this. If I'm invigilating, I tell the students not to use gel pens, because sometimes they buy the cheap kind that you can see blurring as soon as they lean on the page. If you have loads of unscannable papers on a given day the exam board will pitch a fit. That, or they use those pastel colours, or glitter pens that don't scan. There's always one or two who miss the instructions though and the exam board don't penalise them.

But when I'm scribing, I actually use a gel pen myself. The kind that doesn't smudge at all or show through the page (I buy my pens in a shop that lets you test the ink out first). If it was black ink, unsmudged, and not bleeding through the page it's probably scanned perfectly well anyway. I have a soft spot for students who like nice pens, so fingers crossed for your daughter!

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Thank you! Yes ticks all of those boxes, Bic Gelocity on checking the box, not cheap. She likes a nice pen and finds them comfortable to write with!

OP posts:

Stellarbean · 16/06/2025 17:00

My son has done the same - relieved it likely isn’t an issue. The exam invigilator did say at the start of each exam but he didn’t realise his own was a gel pen until today. I have informed the school regardless. And will send him with a ballpoint pen tomorrow.