Official Statistics

Malpractice in GCSE, AS and A level: summer 2022 exam series

Number of penalties for malpractice for GCSE, AS and A level in the summer exam series.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

The main trends for malpractice in GCSE, AS and A level qualifications for the summer 2022 exam series were:

  1. The number of penalties issued to students increased since the last time exams took place: 4,335 penalties were issued to students in 2022, up from 3,040 in 2019, and representing 0.03% of entries.

  2. Mobile phone and other communication device offences accounted for 43% of all student penalties: There were 1,845 penalties for this type of offence in 2022, compared with 1,385 in 2019.

  3. The number of penalties issued to school or college staff decreased since the last time exams took place: 340 penalties were issued to staff in 2022, down from 450 in 2019. This involves a very small proportion of the total number of staff in England (nearly 360,000).

  4. The number of penalties issued to schools or colleges decreased since the last time exams took place: 60 penalties were issued to schools and colleges in 2022, down from 135 in 2019, and involving 0.9% of centres.

Published 15 December 2022