Radio Frequency Identification and microtexting are just two of the new measures being introduced by Edexcel this summer to further increase the security of the examinations process.

Jerry Jarvis, Edexcel’s Managing Director, said: “Incidents involving stolen papers are extremely rare, but the potential impact is massive.  The logistics of re-issuing an alternative paper to schools and colleges around the country and re-training markers on the new paper are complicated, costly and could ultimately be detrimental to candidates.

“We’re doing a major trial of new techniques and technologies with the aim of deterring potential thefts, enabling us to better identify the source of a lost or stolen paper, and reducing the threat of fake papers being sold to candidates.”

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an evolving technology enabler for tracking goods and services (i.e. tags on CDs and clothes in shops).  A significant number of exam packages (bags) will contain an RFID tag.  Exam packages would be scanned out on despatch and can be scanned by Edexcel’s Compliance team at any time after delivery to identify the contents and ensure no papers are missing.

Edexcel is also able to detect anomalies in exam results for an individual student or group of students.  90% of Edexcel’s scripts are scanned, digitised and marked online by examiners using the ePen system. 

Responses and subsequent results are captured digitally, enabling the online system to flag if a candidate has performed significantly out of line with expectations.  A script can be accessed instantly and checked manually by the senior examining team for evidence of malpractice.  Similarly, if malpractice is suspected amongst a cohort (i.e. identical responses, the same questions right/wrong) this process can be repeated for all affected candidates.

Each year, a very small number of suspected breaches of security occur during the assessment process.  Of the 620,000 bags of examination papers despatched by Edexcel during the summer 2006 series, there were around 70 reports of security breaches.

Suspected breaches of security include examinations packages being opened inadvertently prior to their designated date.  Edexcel takes any suspected breach of security extremely seriously, and each incident is investigated by a dedicated and trained Compliance team.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and the Awarding Bodies make every effort to ensure that staff in schools and colleges are fully informed of and supported through the important security procedures that surround the assessment process, to ensure that they system is robust and fair for all candidates. 

In addition to the JCQ guidelines, Edexcel’s existing security measures include using secure bags (that are identifiable as ‘void’ once open) and track and trace despatch/delivery methods.  The new techniques and technologies trial has three key objectives: deterring, preventing and detecting malpractice in the examinations process.

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