Phone confiscated in exam

10

Hi so today i had my AQA A Level Chemistry paper 3. Usually in all my exams i check my pockets for my phone and anything that i shouldn’t have. the thing is i wasn’t sitting this exam at school because im sitting it privately so i wasn’t wearing my uniform and i forgot the check the pocket of my jeans.

my phone was confiscated off of me and i was told to continue doing the exam. afterwards, the invigilator gave my phone back and told me that they would report the incident back to AQA.

does anyone know what the sanctions could be and if i could get away with just a warning? i’ve never done or been in a situation like this before and im kind of scared

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

F22

7

Well it depends at what stage of the exam it was taken away. Worst case scenario, your GCSE will be provoked (if it is really serious), but realistically if you didn't know or even use it you might be able to argue it to them or they'll let you off and maybe give you a warning :smile:

.

Reply 2

ilovespareribs

15

Original post

by F22

Well it depends at what stage of the exam it was taken away. Worst case scenario, your GCSE will be provoked (if it is really serious), but realistically if you didn't know or even use it you might be able to argue it to them or they'll let you off and maybe give you a warning :smile:

.

It’s a level not GCSE..

Reply 3

F22

7

Original post

by ilovespareribs

It’s a level not GCSE..

Oh ok. Might still be a bit of a mixed result then 🤔.

Reply 4

qjrifbfbfbejekeb

1

My daughter accidentally did this in one of her GCSE maths papers. It rang in the exam!!Daughter wrote a letter explaining the circumstances and the paper was voided but the other math papers still stood. She was still able to pass GCSE maths. Daughter was told any similar occurrences in next 3 years would be viewed severely and could result in all of her future exam papers being voided.write a letter and submit to school to send on your behalf. Teachers should help you phrase the letter.

Reply 5

isha.

OP

10

Original post

by qjrifbfbfbejekeb

My daughter accidentally did this in one of her GCSE maths papers. It rang in the exam!!Daughter wrote a letter explaining the circumstances and the paper was voided but the other math papers still stood. She was still able to pass GCSE maths. Daughter was told any similar occurrences in next 3 years would be viewed severely and could result in all of her future exam papers being voided.write a letter and submit to school to send on your behalf. Teachers should help you phrase the letter.

honestly it wouldn’t be ideal but i’d rather them give me zero marks for that one paper and let my other papers still count than them disqualifying me from the exam board or the subject. best case scenario they let me off with a warning but i heard AQA is pretty strict. kinda scared, how long did the whole process take to find out the results?

Reply 6

Flower2007!

14

Original post

by isha.

Hi so today i had my AQA A Level Chemistry paper 3. Usually in all my exams i check my pockets for my phone and anything that i shouldn’t have. the thing is i wasn’t sitting this exam at school because im sitting it privately so i wasn’t wearing my uniform and i forgot the check the pocket of my jeans.
my phone was confiscated off of me and i was told to continue doing the exam. afterwards, the invigilator gave my phone back and told me that they would report the incident back to AQA.
does anyone know what the sanctions could be and if i could get away with just a warning? i’ve never done or been in a situation like this before and im kind of scared

hi there, sorry i don’t have much advice but i’m just so sorry you’re going through this especially when it was a accident. you must be so stressed out :frown:

we can’t know for certain what will happen and you
should defo talk to your teachers, but they may give you a zero on that paper rather than failing you on all of chemistry and i know that sounds bad and scary but you may still get the grade you need for uni and you can resit. i know that resitting, esp when this was all a mistake, sounds so unnecessary and not ideal, but worst case scenario, you just gotta do what you gotta do yk? and you will make it through this ofc whatever the outcome and whatever you decide to do afterwards.

i sincerely hope everything works out for you girl. pls update if anything happens 🫶

Reply 7

Muttley79

20

Original post

by isha.

Hi so today i had my AQA A Level Chemistry paper 3. Usually in all my exams i check my pockets for my phone and anything that i shouldn’t have. the thing is i wasn’t sitting this exam at school because im sitting it privately so i wasn’t wearing my uniform and i forgot the check the pocket of my jeans.
my phone was confiscated off of me and i was told to continue doing the exam. afterwards, the invigilator gave my phone back and told me that they would report the incident back to AQA.
does anyone know what the sanctions could be and if i could get away with just a warning? i’ve never done or been in a situation like this before and im kind of scared

Did they say anything before the exam about checking pockets?

Reply 8

martin7

20

Original post

by isha.

honestly it wouldn’t be ideal but i’d rather them give me zero marks for that one paper and let my other papers still count than them disqualifying me from the exam board or the subject. best case scenario they let me off with a warning but i heard AQA is pretty strict. kinda scared, how long did the whole process take to find out the results?

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) publishes "Suspected Malpractice Policies and Procedures" -- this year's version at https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Malpractice_Sep24_FINAL.pdf

Starting on page 47 is "Appendix 6 Indicative sanctions against candidates". That includes a section for "Mobile phone or similar electronic devices".

"n the candidate’s possession but no evidence of being used by the candidate" gives sanctions 2-4 as options, which in your case would probably result in zero marks for that paper; sanctions 2-4 do not include disqualification.

If there was evidence of you using the phone, that would put you in the "sanctions 5-9" range, which would include disqualification.

AQA are listed as being part of JCQ, so these policies/procedures would apply to them. (And there's obviously an advantage in the various exam boards having standardised and consistent policies for malpractice, rather than some being stricter (or conversely, more lenient) than others.)

Reply 9

dx7

8

Original post

by isha.

Hi so today i had my AQA A Level Chemistry paper 3. Usually in all my exams i check my pockets for my phone and anything that i shouldn’t have. the thing is i wasn’t sitting this exam at school because im sitting it privately so i wasn’t wearing my uniform and i forgot the check the pocket of my jeans.
my phone was confiscated off of me and i was told to continue doing the exam. afterwards, the invigilator gave my phone back and told me that they would report the incident back to AQA.
does anyone know what the sanctions could be and if i could get away with just a warning? i’ve never done or been in a situation like this before and im kind of scared

according to some UK.gov page on exactly this [and I'd expect it's based on how you got caught, which you coincidently didn't mention]:
• 66% got 0 marks
• 33% got disqualified

Reply 10

dx7

8

(source)

Reply 11

dx7

8

don't shoot the messenger geez…
Untitled 2.jpg

Reply 12

qjrifbfbfbejekeb

1

Original post

by isha.

honestly it wouldn’t be ideal but i’d rather them give me zero marks for that one paper and let my other papers still count than them disqualifying me from the exam board or the subject. best case scenario they let me off with a warning but i heard AQA is pretty strict. kinda scared, how long did the whole process take to find out the results?

I think it was within a week

Reply 13

Kingston Jenifer

Official Rep

11

Original post

by isha.

Hi so today i had my AQA A Level Chemistry paper 3. Usually in all my exams i check my pockets for my phone and anything that i shouldn’t have. the thing is i wasn’t sitting this exam at school because im sitting it privately so i wasn’t wearing my uniform and i forgot the check the pocket of my jeans.
my phone was confiscated off of me and i was told to continue doing the exam. afterwards, the invigilator gave my phone back and told me that they would report the incident back to AQA.
does anyone know what the sanctions could be and if i could get away with just a warning? i’ve never done or been in a situation like this before and im kind of scared

Hi there!

As you are taking A-Levels I would assume you are applying to uni? I would firstly contact the exams officer. It is likely they will have to report this because should they let it go, and word gets out, it reflects badly on them as an exam center (this is what we were told when I did my A-levels back in 2020!). Your exams officer or head of year will be able to tell you the sanctions for this.

Secondly, review the potential sanctions and how this may affect your grades and therefore acceptance into university, and prepare for the worst case scenario.

In the future, if you do go to uni, things like this will mean that you fail the exam (often 50%+ of your module) and this may mean you fail the module. You would have to retake the module, which will cost another year of fees. Please double check next time!

Kind regards, Jenifer (Kingston rep)

Phone confiscated in exam

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