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(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

flowersinmyhair

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Study Forum Helper

Original post by Athena151

hi, so in the morning before my maths exam when i was at home, i saw a youtube video use a new formula that i had never seen before and i was running out the house so i wrote it on my hand. when i got to school, i wrote it on a piece of paper (from memory) and i was just trying to memorise that formula in my head. i get to the exam, making sure i had no notes or pieces of paper on me, and take the test, and the formula comes up. we were not taught the formula in school, by the way. i use the formula that i had memorised and then the test is over, all is good. i go to the bathroom once the exam is over and i put on some lip balm and fix my hair, just freshening up and taking a breather. i think i did really well on the test, maybe a grade 7 or 8. i have always been decent at maths, not amazing, but always good- and my teachers have monitored my progress. as i walk out of the bathroom, i see my invigilator (who is also a teacher that i have known for 5 years) and so she comes to talk to me asking about the exam. as i'm talking, she starts staring at my hand, and asks me to follow her. she proceeds to take a picture (with her phone) of my hand with the faded formula on (it was faded as i had written it in the morning) and i asks what will happen next. i explain to her and apologise profusely that i wasn't cheating. she said "i know you wouldn't cheat, you are not that type of person. but rules are rules, and i am going to have to take this to the maths teacher to see " and then i ask her what will happen, and she id very vague about everything. i tell her again that i was a mistake, that i didn't use it, and.i wrote it on my hand this morning for revision, but all she said was that he has to report it. i have never cheated before, let alone gotten a detention, and i am predicted all 7s and 8s, and my life has been planned out for me, im petrified. now i am really really scared because i need maths because i want to do physics, maths, and biology for a levels, and then proceed to do some sort of engineering (preferably bio medical engineering) at some of the top universities. my parents also have high expectations of me as all of my siblings go to a range of the top 10 Unis in the world, including harvard, UCL, kings, Imperial, and oxford. (i have a lot of siblings). i am worried that if i get disqualified from edexcel, it will be on my record, also i will have to take a gap year and retake, and that will look really bad on my UCAS and CV, which can then mean i cant go to one of the top universities like UCL, or Kings, or Imperial. all just because of one stupid mistake i made not to wash my hands before the exam. i still do not know what will happen. has anyone else been in my situation before? what happened? any advise????

They may have to report you to the exam board/the JCQ, and you could get into trouble for misconduct. Depending on how serious the breach is deemed to be, you could just be given a warning, you could lose all the marks on that question, all marks on the paper, all marks for the subject and in the worst case scenario be barred from taking exams for a set period of time. I do not know what sort of punishment you would get though.

Reply 2

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

To answer the question from your title, yes it's cheating. You may well not have looked at your hand during the exam, but you're not allowed to take any notes in, so you very definitely have broken the rules, and there's no way at all for you to prove that you didn't look at your hand.

As for what's going to happen, I have no idea.

Reply 3

ithorax

The next time you look at the mirror, have a long and hard look at yourself. Find your integrity.

The faded formula, because you wrote it in the morning... faded off by the time you finish your exam...

Blaming your school for not teaching you this new formula that was in the exam... I am sure this is a joke!

Reply 4

KWad

Original post by ithorax

Bit harsh no? But anyway, there's not much you can do now. You did break the rules. The best you can hope for is to have 50% of your marks for that paper docked, but I find that unlikely. More likely you may lose all marks for the paper or subject, but a complete series disqualification is improbable.

Reply 5

048243

Hello, hope you are ok. Please, try not to worry life is too short for stress!

I'm unsure of what will happen but I think that you're unlikely to have your paper disqualified. You've excelled academically and I am sure that your teacher will do everything that they can to back you up.

You will get into college, don't worry about that. I can see that we are both overthinkers and I want to assure you that this won't impact your chances of getting into university. You're ok. When you get into college, your GCSE's will mean literally nothing. They will be glanced over to check that you have achieved grade C or B in science when you apply for university and that's it :smile: