Cheating in end of year exams

[Notrightbutwhattodo]

DS is currently doing end of year 8 tests. He came home today and told me most of his form has cheated on the subject they did today. Apparently they got hold of a cheat sheet from other dc who had already done the test. There was only ds and a few others who didn't cheat. Consequently the bulk of the class have a aced the test but ds and co have not! He is very annoyed, as am I, but doesn't want to snitch. These marks will be used to set targets and decide which set the dc will be in next year. WWYD?

Well they've been back at school over a week now and it seems they are ignoring the cheating. I am incredibly proud of Ds for not cheating but really annoyed that nothing has been done. Not really sure what to do next.

AT my DCs school they used to reuse end of year tests but they found that older siblings were keeping them to pass on to younger siblings.

It is going to be pretty obvious to the students that it is one of the small group of non-cheats that grassed. I hope your DS does not bear the brunt!

Carycach100 something similar happened at DC1s grammar - a small group (of friends) of the Yr 12s seem to have got hold of the previous year's exam paper. Why would schools be so obtuse as to imagine that cheating won't happen if they do this?

FWIW, DC1 has always reckoned there's been lots of cheating going on at his school, even in GCSEs. We've challenged him as to why he hasn't said reported it but he reckons he's not a 'grass'.

It is going to be pretty obvious to the students that it is one of the small group of non-cheats that grassed

Probably not - there will be a whole form group (or more) of pupils who sat the test first without the cheat sheet but know about it now. TBH this happens quite a lot in end of topic tests - at least verbally (child in form A asks his friend in form B what topics came up in the test). At least DS1's school treat end of year exams seriously from Year 7 - any groups of pupils not sitting end of year exams at the same time (e.g. because they were attending a sports event) are given a different exam paper.

Which subject is it? Are you certain that the school actually set by ability for it? How many form groups in the year - perhaps most pupils in the year group didn't receive the cheat sheet? If your ds didn't cheat his targets will be right for him.

If these cheats are put in a higher set than their abilities they’ll either have to work their socks off or be moved into the appropriate set. I’d be surprised if the subject teachers set on these results alone especially if these results are an anomaly for these students. At least your son will be set appropriately.