CCTV trial targets exam cheats

Story link: CCTV trial targets exam cheats by Jan Harris

The Examination Officers Union is planning to trial the use of CCTV cameras, and other security technologies such as fingerprint scanning, in an effort to crack down on exam cheats.

School in Somerset are being invited to take part in the trial, and the Examination Officers Union is also approaching companies to supply the monitoring equipment.

The move is designed to combat the increasing level of cheating, which is expected to be exacerbated by the introduction of the diploma system in September, when students may sit exams in centres where they would not be recognised by invigilators.

The Examination Officers Union believes that the use of CCTV would act as a deterrent to practices such as a substitute pupil taking an exam on behalf of someone else, taking unauthorised materials into the exam room and to unfounded complaints against invigilators.

The CCTV footage could be stored for around a year.

The Examination Officers Union is also considering the use of fingerprint scanners to verify a student’s identity.