son had his mobile phone in GCSE biology

[Applecheeks]

Three minutes before the end of my sons Biology paper today his mobile phone rang. It was in his pocket. He forgot he had it despite usual prompt at the beginning to hand any mobiles in. He didn't answer it, Invigilator took it off him. He was then interviewed after asked had he intended to cheat etc. My son is chaotic and disorganised. The school rang me to inform and explain that they would submit an incident report. My son is in pieces , angry at himself. I am hoping someone may have had experience. I have read the guidelines on the website of the exam board. This suggests he will receive a penalty of either a warning, lose of points on a unit or the paper, disqualification of this GCSE or ultimately of all he has taken under this board. That would be five GCSEs. I'm so angry with him but that's not helping so trying to stay calm. Clearly it's a breach of the rules but the website doesn't help me work out which penalty is likely as it is judged case by case

[ReallyTired]

The kids don't have bags in the exam room. A mobile phone went off when I invigilated in 2004. The child was given a written warning and their marks did stand.

[SallyMcgally]

Agree with stonecircle. It's not as if there's ever silence in an exam room. Invigilators walk up and down, people cough a lot, people cry and jiggle. When I sat Maths O level a bloody wood pigeon cooed outside all the way through. A mobile phone going off three minutes before the end should not be that big a deal. I was once on an exam board where we had to read a plea for mitigation from a student who couldn't concentrate because a drop of water fell on his head. There was v little sympathy and no mitigation. I think it's comparable. I also think the poor OP is anxious enough without recriminations for how her son distracted a whole exam hall.

[passthewineplz]

I'm absolutely amazed at the majority of the responses on this thread.

I've just recently sat a GCSE. The inviglators ask for all mobile phones to be handed in. And irritate this several times, as well as the consequences of mobile phones going off during the exam - i.e if a candidates mobile phone rings they will be disqualified.

DS would have had several warnings, and the opportunity to hand his phone in. I feel he's learned a valuable lesson in life, either hand your phone in, turn it off, or listen to your teachers.

[passthewineplz]

And re the comments about the phone going off and being distrating, yes there is that issue but also the issue it can be used to cheat,

[SallyMcgally]

I think everyone recognises that he shouldn't have had the phone and should have some kind of punishment, but that people do make mistakes and he was unlikely to be intending to cheat, otherwise he'd have turned the thing off.

[Bunbaker]

"What should happen to a child who accidently takes revision notes into an exam?"

At DD's school they have to put their bags into their lockers prior to the exam. They only take clear pencil cases into the room with them, so it would be difficult to smuggle revision notes in.

[Sandpipernest]

The kids don't have bags in the exam room. A mobile phone went off when I invigilated in 2004. The child was given a written warning and their marks did stand.


Which was in the time before smartphones. The main issue with phones i scheating - internet access! It is exactly like taking in revision notes!

[ReallyTired]

Lots of child have all kinds of bits of paper in their blazers. Ds blazer has about ten pockets.

[noblegiraffe]

I had a student a few years ago who was found to have bits of paper on them. They didn't appear to be revision notes.

Their marks for that paper were cancelled.

[stonecircle]

I don't know what invigilation is like elsewhere, but where I have done it I just can't see how it would be possible to cheat using a mobile phone with invigilators seated on stage looking down on the hall, invigilators stationed at various points around the hall and walking up and down the rows.

Really, it's just amazing what people forget when they're stressed and nervous and how easy it is to switch off when you've heard stuff loads of times - does anyone other than a first time flier really listed to the safety talk before a plane takes off?

[muminhants1]

I do because I read years ago in an article that if you listen and make sure you know where the nearest exit is, you have a greater chance of survival. But I absolutely agree with you.

Going back to the exam thing, I just googled this, and came up with this report on last year's exams: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/386119/malpractice-for-gcse-and-a-level-summer-2014-exam-series.pdf.

It says "The penalties for candidate malpractice vary depending on the type of offence. They
include warnings, loss of marks and disqualification from units, components or
qualifications. For example, candidates who bring a mobile phone into an exam room
but do not have their phone at their desk might receive a warning, whereas
candidates found using a mobile phone during an exam might be disqualified from
the unit or the qualification in that exam series. An individual candidate can be
penalised more than once and by more than one exam board if they commit
malpractice offences when sitting more than one assessment."

So it could be a warning or losing the marks on that paper because he was inbetween those two - ie had phone at desk but didn't use. I think it's important that he doesn't worry about it now. He needs to concentrate on doing as well as he can on the other papers and getting those four GCSE grade C. It must be really difficult for you.

[Floggingmolly]

I don't get the logic that the phone being switched on suggests he hadn't intended to cheat? You can't cheat with it turned off? And the fact that he wasn't seen to use it during the exam doesn't mean he actually didn't do so; just that he wasn't seen to do it. He still had a switched on phone in his pocket, it's pretty irrelevant when it was discovered.
Sorry, op, I'm not disputing that in your case it was done accidentally, you know your ds best; just looking at it from the exam board's perspective.

[stinkingbishop]

Because if he'd intended to cheat he would have wanted to make damn sure he wasn't found out, so would have put it on silent so there was no chance of it ringing out...

[Applecheeks]

From what I have read a warning would be the likely outcome for phone going off but not on person. Phone ringing on person but no evidence of using it -loss of unit so this is I think where we sit. They take into account the candidates response eg if you refuse to hand it over or become argumentative the penalties are higher. He waited for the invigilator to come over and allowed her to remove it from his inside zipped blazer pocket. The thing is it isn't just a penalty for potential cheating they also take into account the disruption to others. The candidates actions can obviously impact on this. The exam board approach the evaluation incident in an evidence based manner so it will purely be judged on this basis.
DS's school do not allow bags in the exam room they are left outside the hall. They have a box in the playground for placing phones in and are prompted in the waiting area (playground) and before the exam once seated. Chemistry Unit 1 today (probably pointless exercise for DS) phone is in my handbag where it will remain until the end of the day!!!!!!

[ErrolTheDragon]

I don't get the logic that the phone being switched on suggests he hadn't intended to cheat?

Someone intending to cheat would have it switched on but on silent. I can't believe anyone would intentionally take in a non-silenced phone, and neither hopefully will his 'judges'.

[ReallyTired]

Occasionally one of the little darlings set off a fire alarm and that is truely disruptive. Asking the children to carry on working through that kind of racket is tough.

When I did my French listening paper many moons ago bloody Concorde flew over whic meant that everyone lost marks for one question. We were not given any allowances.

[MrsUltracrepidarian]

The logic or reasoning is irrelevant -it is the rules that apply to everybody - the rules could not be made clearer - there are posters outside the room and in it, the teachers will have told them in the lessons before, they will be told when they enter the room and told again before they start.
I had a parent complain recently that I had refused to help a child in a Year 9 exam. The children were explicitly told clearly and in advance that no help could be given interpreting the questions, and not to ask. Several did, though, disrupting the quiet of the room, because they are so used to being helped all the time in class they cannot comprehend trying to work something out for themselves.
Parents who constantly expect their own child to be exempt from the rules and deride the rules, or demand endless explanation of why they should apply (ignoring all the others who could then equally claim to be exempt) are a major part of the problem that schools have with behaviour.

[ReallyTired]

I have been invigilating internal exams today as the school wants the kids to have experience of people they don't know. When a kid asks me for help I am very apologetic and apologise that English/ maths/ whatever subject is not my area of expertise and I can't help them.

[ErrolTheDragon]

I don't think anyone is wanting kids to be exempt from the rules - certainly not the OP. Her question was about which of the available levels of punishment fits the crime.

[Sandpipernest]

I am very apologetic and apologise that English/ maths/ whatever subject is not my area of expertise and I can't help them.


To be correct you shoudl be telling them you can't help them as those are the rules - not because you don't know the subject! That could be very confusing!

[stonecircle]

When a kid asks me for help I am very apologetic and apologise that English/ maths/ whatever subject is not my area of expertise and I can't help them.

Why on earth would you say that? That implies that you would help them if it was your area of expertise! Surely they need to understand that they can't ask for help from anyone in a formal exam?!

[MrsUltracrepidarian]

Surely they need to understand that they can't ask for help from anyone in a formal exam?!
Precisely - amazes me that it hasn't been drilled in to them.