Students using phones, smart watches and glasses to cheat in exams, regulator warns
England’s exams regulator has issued a stark warning about the growing threat of students using high-tech smart devices to cheat in exams.
The danger should not be underestimated, the Ofqual chief has warned.
Data from the watchdog reveals that cheating using mobile phones and smart devices has been the most common category of malpractice in every summer exam series since 2018.
Last summer, this method accounted for a significant 44 percent of all student misconduct.
As more than a million students sit GCSE and A-level exams this year, Ofqual chief Sir Ian Bauckham has raised new concerns about devices such as smartwatches and glasses.
Talking about the editor’s new podcast series, Can I Just Qualify This?Sir Ian stressed that “mobile phones are not the only devices students can use to cheat”.
“Of course there are other devices, there are smartwatches and all sorts of smart things,” Sir Ian said.
“From now on, there may be smart glasses inside the lens that will play text that only the student can see.”
He said Ofqual “needs to move really quickly because technology moves fast”.
Asked about students avoiding detection and sneaking their devices into exam halls, Sir Ian said: “We shouldn’t underestimate the challenge here.”
He expressed his support for the Government’s decision to provide legal guidance on phone bans in schools.
“Then it would be much easier for supervisors to enforce this rule,” Sir Ian said.
“Students are allowed to carry mobile phones in school, but even though this is prohibited during the exam, there is a point of tension, a point of conflict.”
Last summer, there were 2,225 cases of cell phone and smart device fraud.
Of these cases, 545 resulted in students being disqualified from some or all qualifications, while 1,240 cases resulted in loss of grades.
Losing grades and being disqualified can impact college applications and internship offers.
The exams watchdog has called on boards to introduce stronger measures to stop students bringing mobile phones to exams or using artificial intelligence (AI) to cheat in their lessons.
In March, Ofqual wrote to main exam boards stating that cases of students breaking exam rules were increasing and that teachers had serious concerns about the use of artificial intelligence.
Chief regulator Sir Ian asked AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC to determine the steps they would take to prevent such cheating and how they would respond if they were detected.
“Where malpractice is identified, such as the misuse of artificial intelligence, the introduction of devices into exams or other potential forms of cheating, I expect the sanctions available to you to be used fully to send a strong signal that malpractice will not be tolerated,” Sir Ian said in his letter.
He added that there had been a “noticeable increase over the long term” in students breaking the rules in exams.
According to Ofqual figures, 44% of all exam malpractice cases in summer 2025 involved phones or similar devices; this rate was higher than 42% in 2024.
