Exam Malpractice

Malpractice is a failure to follow the rules of an examination or assessment and means any act, default or practice which is:

• a breach of the Regulations; and/or

• a failure to follow established procedures in relation to a qualification;

Exam boards may impose sanctions and penalties on students found to have committed malpractice.  The penalties for student malpractice vary depending on the type of offence. An individual student can be penalised more than once and by more than one exam board if they commit malpractice offences when sitting more than one assessment. A student may also receive one penalty for multiple offences.  

To prevent malpractice, students must ensure that read and adhere to the rules that are outlined  on this page Information for Candidates 

Summer 2025

Types of student malpractice 

The most common type of malpractice reported in 2025 was the introduction of a mobile phone or other communications device into the examination room, the same as in 2024.

Disruptive behaviour - 5.5%

Inappropriate materials - 8.9%

Mobile phones - 42%

Other reasons - 22.8%

Other unauthorised materials - 14.6%

Plagiarism - 2.5%

Multiple Malpractice types – 3.6%

Note: The ‘mobile phones’ category also includes other communication devices such as smartwatches. ‘Inappropriate materials’ refers to the inclusion of inappropriate, offensive or obscene materials in scripts, coursework or portfolios. The ‘other unauthorised materials’ category includes non-smart watches, which were prohibited from being brought into the examination room from September 2021.

Types of penalty issued to students

There are 3 penalties that a student can receive and they are a warning, a loss of marks or a loss of aggregation/certification opportunity.  The most common type of penalty issued in 2025 was a warning.

Loss of aggregation or certification opportunity – 1125 cases

Loss of marks – 1955 cases

Warning – 1970 cases

For those students issued with a penalty for malpractice involving a mobile phone, 55.4% of cases resulted in students losing marks and in 24.2% of cases, they lost the grade in the subject(s) involved.  

For those students issued with a penalty for malpractice involving any disruptive behaviour, 40.4% of cases resulted in students losing marks and in 18.3% of cases, they lost the grade in the subject(s) involved.  

For those students issued with a penalty for malpractice involving plagiarism, 41.9% of cases resulted in students losing marks and in 19.9% of cases, they lost the grade in the subject(s) involved.