GCSE mobile cheating hits record high

Over 250 children were banned from their GCSEs and A-levels after taking mobile phones into their exams.

According to figures obtained by the Times Educational Supplement, taking mobiles into examinations is now the most common form of misconduct, with over 1,000 children forgetting to leave their handsets at home during the summer 2004 exam season.

284 children were banned from A-levels and GCSEs by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, UK's largest exam board, with many others receiving penalties including having marks docked from their exams.

The number marks a record high for exam misconduct with mobile phones. While some children were using their handsets in an attempt to cheat, others simply forgot to hand their handsets in at the start of the exams.

A spokeswoman for the AQA said: "If you go into an exam hall or centre with your mobile switched on, whether or not you are intending to cheat... you are liable to be banned from that particular subject. Mobile phone ownership is second nature to people of exam-taking age."