By Laura Clark
Foul play: Almost 4,500 pupils were caught trying to cheat last summer (posed by models)
Rising numbers of pupils are being caught cheating in GCSEs and A-levels, it emerged yesterday.
But while previous generations might have scribbled answers on their cuffs or hands, today's hi-tech cheats are smuggling in mobiles and using them to go on the internet.
Others are storing information on hidden MP3 players and using tiny earpieces.
Figures, published today by exam watchdog Ofqual, show that almost 4,500 pupils were penalised for attempting to cheat last summer - a 6 per cent rise on the year before. The most common offence was bringing banned items into exam rooms - including mobiles, MP3s, BlackBerrys and calculators.
As cheating becomes more sophisticated, schools are fighting back with technology of their own - using detection equipment to identify any pupil attempting to text, email or surf the internet on their phones.
There has also been a rise in the number of pupils using 'sob stories' such as 'stress and anxiety' or pets dying at exam time in attempts to gain extra marks.
Growing numbers of youngsters are also being awarded extra time to sit their papers, to take supervised 'rest breaks', or receive help from prompters - adult helpers whose job is to ensure the candidate's attention remains focused on the paper.
Exam boards insisted yesterday that cheating was still rare.
They said that extra time and other assistance was designed to put all candidates on a 'level playing field' and compensate for all learning difficulties.
According to Ofqual, 4,415 penalties were handed out to GCSE and A-level students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last summer, compared with 4,156 in 2008.
Almost half of cases related to 'unauthorised material' being taken into the exam room.
A further 1,000 candidates copied from other candidates, while 539 disturbed other candidates with disruptive behaviour.
Some 349 were penalised for writing 'offensive or obscene' comments on papers or coursework - up 10 per cent on 2008.
In almost half of cases of cheating, pupils lost marks.
In a third, they were merely given a warning but the remainder were disqualified from their exam.
There was also a rise in the number of school staff - often teachers - caught giving pupils too much help during exams.
Boards identified 88 cases, up from 68 the year before, which resulted in 27 written warnings and 17 staff being suspended from involvement in exams.
Some 70 schools or colleges were penalised after cheating was found to be the result of serious management failure - up from 52 in 2008.
Another report from Ofqual showed that around 370,000 requests were made for marks to be adjusted due to disadvantage suffered by the candidate during or shortly before the exam.
Special consideration can be granted where pupils are bereaved, but it is also awarded for headaches, stress or hayfever.
Pupils gain a maximum 5 per cent upgrade if they lost a member of their immediate family or were terminally ill.
They can earn a 1 or 2 per cent upgrade for minor ailments, 'extreme distress on day of examination' and 'anxiety for which medication has been prescribed'.
Some 97 per cent of requests for special consideration were granted - slightly up on last year. Around one in 50 papers sat by candidates were given extra marks.
Jim Sinclair, the director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, representing exam boards, said: 'JCQ members take a zero tolerance approach to all forms of cheating in examinations including the possession of unauthorised items such as mobile phones, iPods and MP3/4 players.'
source: dailymail
Foul play: Almost 4,500 pupils were caught trying to cheat last summer (posed by models) 
Almost half of cases related to 'unauthorised material' being taken into the exam room. 
