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Original poster

A-level C4 Maths cheats disqualified

17 replies

LadyLance · 13/08/2018 16:30

This may be of interest to some people: www.tes.com/news/level-maths-cheats-disqualified

Edexcel have disqualified five students following the A-level paper leak in June. 30 more are being investigated still.

The person responsible has apparently been found and banned from being involved with Edexcel/Pearson examinations for life.

Edexcel believe that the A-level results coming out on Thursday will therefore be fair to everyone else.

OP posts:
JayDot500 · 13/08/2018 16:37

I wonder how many such leaks are never discovered.

I've been lingering around the threads of parents who are awaiting their childrens results, how awful it would be for any decent parent to discover their child cheated. Or, even worse, if the child was led astray by the parent.

Original poster
LadyLance · 13/08/2018 16:42

I think anything on this scale will get caught- when this happened, it was very quickly all over sites like Twitter and TSR.

It's possible that things happen on a smaller scale and don't get caught- but you are relying on teenagers keeping their mouths shut to keep it a secret, as soon as someone tells their friends and one of their friends puts it on twitter, the game is up.

The risks of being caught are pretty high. It sounds like the person who leaked the paper may have worked at an exam center. If that's the case, then they have probably lost their job over this too.

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Dancingdreamer · 13/08/2018 18:25

Only 5 disqualified! My DD knows that whole schools in our area saw the exam questions and answers in advance. She is devastated as she did not see the leaked information and found the exam hard. She thinks loads of people she knows will score practically full marks for the exam, pushing the mark boundaries up.

TheThirdOfHerName · 13/08/2018 18:31

Dancingdreamer In the case that has been investigated (mentioned in the linked article) I thought it was only one question from Edexcel C4 that was leaked? Someone shared it on WhatsApp just after midnight and someone else took a screenshot and shared that on Twitter later that morning.

What your DD is talking about sounds like a different breach. Did she report it at the time?

Original poster
LadyLance · 13/08/2018 18:49

@Dancingdreamer Your DD should pass all the information she has onto Edexcel (even if it's just the name of the school and the person who told her). Then things can be investigated further. 30 students are still under investigation.

@Thirdofhername as I understand it, some people/someone had the full paper for sale, but were showing the first question to pupils for free to prove they had the paper. I suspect this means that a lots of people have seen the first question and possibly Edexcel aren't investigating this- but only going after those who've seen or bought the whole paper.

There are lots of rumours suggesting a lot more than 30 people saw the whole paper, but as we all know, teenagers are prone to exaggerating/lying so it's hard to tell if this is Edexcel doing damage limitation or things have been blown out of propportion.

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Dancingdreamer · 13/08/2018 21:47

It is a difficult one here as her friend at another school told her that 24 hours in advance she and others had seen to whole question paper and a mark scheme so they all went into the exam knowing the answers. She doesn’t feel she can betray the confidence.

Dancingdreamer · 13/08/2018 21:50

I should add my DD didn’t find out about this until very recently. She was not aware of the breach as her school blocks all social media (boarding school). According to TSR hundreds of kids have seen this paper. Naturally this has caused huge upset and stress.

CherryPavlova · 13/08/2018 22:02

ExM boards have very sophisticated methods of identifying and tracking potential breaches. They can be sanctioned quite heavily by OfQual if there are genuine breaches rather than hearsay. The security around papers is incredibly tight and anyone sharing papers risks loss of career at best and imprisonment at worst. There is an absolute regulatory responsibility for exam boards to investigate at the slightest hint of a breach.
If your daughter knows details of cheating then she should share as she is putting other, more honourable children’s university places in jeopardy if cheats go undetected. By not saying anything, she’s betraying lots of others.

CherryPavlova · 13/08/2018 22:05

Is she aware that her grades could be dropped or she could be disqualified if she is aware of cheating and doesn’t report it? It’s abetting the offence, I’m afraid. She wouldn’t be treated as harshly as those who’ve seen a paper but there is possibility of censure.
Anyone seeing the papers and not reporting risks all grades being cancelled with obvious implications for their futures.

Original poster
LadyLance · 13/08/2018 22:11

If your DD isn't willing to report it, then she can't really complain that things are unfair. The exam board and the police can only follow up the reports they are given.

Lots of people are saying lots of things online, but the exam boards can obviously only act when they have proof. If, for example, a copy of the paper was bought and shared around the school, then there would only be a trail to one person. Nobody can take any action unless they are informed about what is going on.

And to be fair, you don't know who is or isn't under investigation. I doubt your DD's friend would be so quick to tell her if she was one of the 30 still under investigation for what has gone on.

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Dancingdreamer · 13/08/2018 22:15

She has reported this to her school who have contacted EdExcel on her behalf. However the exam board keep repeating that it is a limited breach. Rumours are that people were selling the paper on line.

FlappyFeet · 13/08/2018 22:15

That's a disgrace. Lots of kids saw that and will have scored full marks for that question, which will affect the boundaries.

FlappyFeet · 13/08/2018 22:16

It went round on Snapchat

Original poster
LadyLance · 13/08/2018 22:40

I believe the question that did the rounds on Snapchat was Question 1- which presumably lots of pupils would have got correct anyway and scored full marks on? So maybe Edexcel believe it hasn't affected their performance? I do think it seems like they are only going after those who bought/saw/distributed the full paper, for whatever reason.

Anyway, like I say, if you think you know something the exam board don't you should probably contact them tomorrow with as many details as you can provide.

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Dancingdreamer · 13/08/2018 22:43

The school have the information and have reported this.

Original poster
LadyLance · 13/08/2018 22:58

Then I think you probably have to trust Edexcel have investigated it or are investigating it, and they have either found no evidence of wrongdoing, or that some of the pupils at the school are among the 30 candidates still under investigation.

But if you really don't trust that this has happened, I believe you (or your DD's school) could make a complaint to Ofqal. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofqual/about/complaints-procedure

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Dowdydoes · 13/08/2018 23:02

The exam board will be all over anomalies in performance ... masses of students unaccountably over achieving would be addressed

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