From the phonics test in Year 1 and Sats to GCSE and A-level exams, the year is shaped around the study, preparation and taking of tests.

However, with exams comes the challenge of administration - schools have to ensure that paperwork is completed correctly and that no cheating has taken place.

Staff and pupils face great scrutiny to ensure rules are followed and the exams are carried out fairly.

Although rare, it is important that all people working in education understand how to report incidents where rules have been broken and correct procedures have not been followed.

What is exam maladministration at KS1 and KS2?

Maladministration at key stages 1 and 2 falls into two categories: maladministration of tests (including cases where pupils have cheated) and maladministration of teacher assessments.

Test maladministration covers both where staff have broken the rules, and where students have cheated.

The government guidance gives these examples of test maladministration:

• Incorrect opening of test papers
• Pupils resitting a test (or check)
• Pupils being over-aided (cheating, pupils being told the answers, test administrators indicating an answer is correct or incorrect)
• Changes being made to pupils’ test papers outside of test conditions
• Incorrect reporting of pupils’ check scores
• Pupils cheating

Where teacher assessments are undertaken for the KS2 writing assessments, the guidance gives these examples of maladministration:

• Inflating or deflating the teacher assessment judgements of pupils’ work 
• Submitting data that differs from what was agreed following the local authority moderation of the writing assessments
• Falsely claiming work is “independent” and submitting it as evidence
• Falsely claiming work was completed in test conditions 

What is exam malpractice at GCSE and A level?

Unlike Sats, students taking GCSEs and A levels are working towards “real” qualifications, and the stakes are much higher for pupils and staff.

Not only that, but these pupils are older and have more intelligent ways to circumvent the rules. 

Unsurprisingly, the number of ways you can cheat increases, and the guidance becomes a lot more complex.

The Joint Council of Qualification (JCQ) provides guidance where malpractice is defined as any act, default or practice that is a breach of the regulations, or that:

• gives rise to prejudice to candidates; and/or
• compromises public confidence in qualifications; and/or
• compromises, attempts to compromise or may compromise the process of assessment, the integrity of any qualification or the validity of a result or certificate; and/or 
• damages the authority, reputation or credibility of any awarding body or centre or any officer, employee or agent of any awarding body or centre.

The JCQ divides malpractice into offences committed by staff and offences committed by candidates.

Offences committed by candidates are then broken down into categories, including “introduction of unauthorised material into the examination room” (for example, wearing a smartwatch in the exam hall) and “breaches of examination conditions” (for example, a student impersonating another student and sitting their exam for them). 

Offences committed by staff are also broken down into separate categories and include “deception” (for example, falsifying candidates’ work) and “maladministration” (for example, repeatedly teaching out of date texts).

For a full list of both candidate and staff offences, the JCQ list is available online. 

Who do you report maladministration of KS1 or 2 Sats to?

It’s a position no one wants to be in but reporting maladministration is part of your duty when you work in education and sadly cases do occur.

For example, 743 investigations into primary school tests took place in 2019, with half of those cases being reported by the schools themselves.

It’s clear from those numbers that although it’s not common, everyone working in a school should be aware of the process involved.

If you need to report maladministration of either the KS1 or 2 Sats tests, KS1 or 2 teacher assessments, the times table check or the phonics screening check, then you need to contact the Standards and Testing Agency (STA).

If a member of staff suspects maladministration, they should report this to the headteacher, who will then contact the STA.

This cannot be done by email; instead, you have to personally call and report the malpractice. 

The government guidance asks you to get in contact by calling the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013.

Secondary schools who have concerns regarding the maladministration of KS1 and 2 tests conducted by their feeder primary schools can also raise their concerns using the same number above.

The STA will investigate all reported allegations of maladministration.

Who do you report GCSE or A-level exams malpractice to?

Given the higher number of total tests being sat, it’s no surprise that the number of reports of GCSE and A-level malpractice is far higher than those reported at primary school.

Government figures place the number of reports at 3,600 for 2019, and that figure includes all penalties for students, staff and centres. 

• Student malpractice

When the malpractice concerns a student, then schools must use form JCQ/M1 “Notification of suspected candidate malpractice/maladministration”.

Candidates must be informed that they are being reported for malpractice and be given the opportunity to submit evidence.

The report needs to include a detailed account of the malpractice and the investigation conducted by the centre, statements from the candidate and staff, and seating plans (if applicable), and will ask if the procedures for informing candidates of regulations concerning the conduct of examinations and/or assessments have been followed.

• Staff malpractice

There are two separate steps involved in reporting staff malpractice.

The first step is when the staff malpractice has only just been uncovered and before there has been a chance to collect evidence. Schools must notify the exam board using form JCQ/M2 “Notification of suspected malpractice/maladministration”.

This form must be completed and submitted to the appropriate awarding body as soon as the centre becomes aware of a suspicion being raised or an allegation is received.

Following the submission of the JCQ/M2 form, the school will be conducted by the exam board and given guidance on how to conduct its investigation.

Once the school has had contact from the exam board, then they can begin to gather evidence to support the accusation of malpractice - for example, witness statements from staff and students, and relevant copies of student work.

As is the case when students are accused of malpractice, JCQ states that when reporting malpractice of staff, those accused must also be informed of the report being made against them and must be given the chance to provide a supporting statement to be used as evidence.

Once the school’s own investigation has been completed, the centre will need to submit a report of malpractice using form JCQ/M3 “Report into suspected malpractice/maladministration involving centre staff”.

All of the above forms must be signed off by the head of centre and need to be either posted or emailed to the relevant awarding body, which will then acknowledge receipt.

If posted, copies of all the paperwork must be made to be sent, and the originals kept on file by the centre.

Can you report malpractice anonymously?

What can a person do if raising concerns with the head of centre isn’t an option, or attempts to flag the problem have been ignored?

For KS1 and 2 maladministration concerns, you can make an anonymous complaint (using the same number above).

However, whether or not you are covered by the “whistleblower act” can vary depending on the case and whether you meet the criteria of legislation.

When it comes to GCSE and A level, the JCQ “whistleblowing” guidance says “if you do not feel safe raising the matter within the centre, or you have done so and are concerned that no action has been taken, you could consider making your disclosure to a ‘prescribed person’, which includes Ofqual and Qualifications Wales (the regulators in England and Wales respectively)”.

Whistleblowing is covered by the Public Information Disclosure Act (PIDA) and JCQ advises that “if you are involved in examinations or assessments it is likely that the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) offers you legal protection from being dismissed or penalised for raising certain serious concerns (‘blowing the whistle’)”.

However, although all conversations with Ofqual or Qualifications Wales are protected by PIDA, if you speak to exam boards about your concerns, you won’t be covered in the same way.

JCQ says that each awarding body will have staff who deal with malpractice and you can talk to them in confidence to explain your concerns.

However, “as awarding bodies are not prescribed bodies as defined by the PIDA they cannot promise you the legal protections detailed in PIDA.”

There is reassurance from JCQ that the awarding body will “understand the difficult situation” the whistleblower finds themselves in and is prepared for this type of predicament.

JCQ also says the awarding body will be able to give advice on collecting “supporting evidence”.

Although you won’t be covered by the legal protections of PIDA, JCQ says that “the awarding body will make every effort to protect your identity, if that is what you wish, unless legally obliged to release it (for example, in the course of a police investigation).”

What happens after you make a report of exam malpractice?

For primary settings, a physical visit to the school in question will always take place, but will typically not involve interviews with pupils. Instead, it will encompass administration checks and interviews with staff.

If the headteacher was not the person to have reported the maladministration, or is not aware of the nature of the allegation, then guidance from the STA says that they will only be informed of what it is after the interviews have taken place.

The STA says this protects the source of the allegation and helps to ensure interviewees provide unbiased accounts.

If the school is receiving requests from the media following the accusation of maladministration, then it is recommended that the headteacher calls the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013 and asks to speak to the maladministration team.

Unlike primary schools, though, a report of malpractice for secondary schools and colleges won’t necessarily result in a physical visit from the exam board.

Instead, the exam board that has received the report will review the evidence and consider the case, and use this as a basis to make a decision on if they need to investigate further, and then whether or not malpractice has taken place.

In both instances, the head of centre or headteacher will be kept informed of the investigation’s progress.

What happens after you make an anonymous report of exam malpractice?

If malpractice is anonymously reported then it is not the STA’s policy to keep the person making the allegation informed of the progress of an investigation or notify them of the outcome.

Similarly, at GCSE and A level, if you are a “whistleblower”, JCQ says “it will not be possible for the awarding body to provide you with a report on the findings or outcome of any investigation that may ensue”.

What happens if an investigation finds maladministration has taken place?

Maladministration at KS1 and 2

For primary schools, confirmed maladministration can result in a change in their results.

In the case of a student who has cheated, when the headteacher notifies the STA of the incident, the headteacher agrees to “either the removal of marks for the specific questions where the pupil has gained an advantage or the annulment of the pupil’s paper”.

If the STA confirms there has been a case of maladministration during the phonics screening check, then the results will be amended or annulled. In this scenario, the schools will be advised that they would need to re-administer the phonics screening check to the pupils affected.

Once a decision has been made by the STA, then the result may be shared with the school’s governing body, local authority or the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) if the STA feels it is appropriate.

These bodies may then act on the information and take further disciplinary steps. However, this is not linked to the STA, and the STA does not apportion blame in their investigation.

At GCSE and A level

• Student malpractice 

If a student is investigated and found guilty of malpractice, then there are three levels of sanctions that could be administered by the awarding body: warning, loss of marks and disqualification.

Loss of marks might mean the student loses marks gained in one section, in a component, or in a unit.

A student may be disqualified from a single unit, or from all units in one or more qualifications taken in the series, or from the whole qualification, or from all qualifications taken in that series. In some cases, in addition to disqualification, the student will also be barred from entering examinations for a set period of time.

The student has a chance to appeal the decision, and to do this must go through the school.

Their case will be heard again and can proceed to an appeal hearing if still unsatisfied with the outcome.

• Staff malpractice

If a member of staff from a school is investigated and found guilty of malpractice, then there are 11 different types of sanctions that can be given by the awarding body.

The first is a warning, where the school is told what further action will be taken if rules are broken again.

The next three involve extra scrutiny to check rules are being followed:

• Requiring the exam board to review procedures
• Needing exam board approval for assessment tasks
• Additional monitoring or inspections

Then the sanctions start to involve the restriction of how exams are sat.

Schools can be told they can no longer make “direct claims” for their vocational courses, or that exam scripts have to be opened while supervised by exam board staff, or that independent invigilators must be used.

The harshest of the sanctions involve the exam board refusing to enter any student for an exam in one or several subjects (this could be temporary until a situation is rectified, or permanent).

Exam boards could also choose to sanction by withdrawing their approval for a school to offer a specific qualification. Then, the harshest sanction of all is to withdraw centre recognition from the school, effectively blocking any student from being able to take a qualification awarded by that exam board.

JCQ also says that the awarding body will “notify the relevant regulator” if it feels there is enough evidence of malpractice (as set out in B3 of the regulators’ Conditions of Recognition). 

Not only that, but others will be informed of the malpractice that has taken place. This could include other awarding bodies that have approved the school, and other appropriate authorities (such as Ofsted and the Teacher Regulation Agency).

This won’t necessarily trigger an Ofsted inspection. However, Ofsted reserves the right for any issue to be sufficient for it to inspect if it causes concern.

How often does a report of malpractice result in sanctions?

Despite all of the above, the actual numbers of cases of proven maladministration are low.

At primary level in 2019, only 8.3 per cent of reports resulted in a change of KS1 results, making up just 0.07 per cent of all schools participating in the Sats.

Similarly, for KS2, 12.5 per cent of reports led to a change in results, and these made up only 0.45 per cent of all schools taking the Sats.

Then at GCSE and A level in 2019, of 3,600 reports made, a total of 3,040 led to penalties being issued.

This means that out of a total of 15,901,075 exam entries, just 0.02 per cent resulted in a malpractice penalty.