Examiners warn over students'mobiles

Hundreds of youngsters are being disqualified from GCSEs and A-levels this summer for taking their mobile telephones into exams.

One exam board alone, the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, has recorded a 25 per cent increase in the number of cases of mobiles being taken into exams this year, to more than 400. The overall figure is likely to be nearer 800.

The youngsters may not have been cheating, according to exam bosses. In one case, for instance, a student was rung by his mother to ask how he had got on - but she telephoned just before the exam ended.

The exam boards warn, however, that simply taking a mobile phone into examinations risks disqualification.

A spokesman for the AQA said: "Students are specifically warned beforehand that they may be disqualified - regardless of whether they use them or not.

"For some, it seems the mobile telephone is so much a part of their dress code that they just don't hand it in or leave it behind when they go into the exam."

Around 250,000 youngsters will receive their A-level results on Thursday, with GCSE students getting theirs the following week. Exam boards are expecting the overall number of top-grade passes to rise again this year.

One exam board official said invigilators could easily spot a youngster constantly referring to his or her mobile to look up an answer that they might have stored in text.

He added: "It is probably still the case that the most popular way to cheat is to take in a piece of paper." The AQA said that any case would be regarded on its merits.