The exams regulator is planning to deliver papers “just in time” to schools to ensure that questions cannot be shared on social media.
In its annual report, Ofqual says that the continued growth of smartphones and other devices “has increased the opportunity to quickly and discreetly capture information” while social media enables exam questions to be shared quickly.
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As a result, Ofqual called a summit in September 2019 with the exam boards and the Joint Council for Qualifications to explore what they could do to increase security, and piloted some measures in November.
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Further changes planned to keep exam papers safe include reducing the amount of time papers are kept in schools before exams are taken, and changing the exam timetable so that schools can make secure arrangements in a manageable way - for example, with the delivery of some exam papers “just in time”.
Other planned changes include tightening up the approval process for schools wishing to run exams, improving the monitoring and inspection of exam administration and fine-tuning the packaging and tracking of exam papers.
“We have also spoken with some of the main social media companies to explore ways they can help to tackle the sale of real or fake papers online,” the regulator said.
