Here's how students have cheated in State exams

Using a mobile phone to access the Internet for answers and opening text books during toilet breaks during the course of an exam are just two of the cheating methods employed by Leaving Cert and Junior Cert students caught cheating in the State exams last year and in 2017.

Students in 2018 and 2017 were also found to have cheated by taking written notes into an exam centre; plagiarism and completing coursework outside of the school environment, according to information released by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) in response to a Freedom of Information request..

The SEC confirmed that 69 grades were withheld from students participating in last year’s Leaving Cert while 35 grades were withheld from Junior Cert students.

In relation to last year’s Leaving Cert, the 69 grades were withheld across a range of subjects including Irish, English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Applied Maths, Agricultural Science, Physics, Biology, Engineering, Construction Studies, Business, Economics, Home Economics and Religious Education.

In 2017, 57 grades were held across a number of subjects including Irish, English, Maths, History, Geography, French, Agricultural Science, Biology, Construction Studies, Business, Economics, Home Economics and Religious Education.

The SEC FOI unit was unable to provide a gender breakdown of those found to have cheated as the SEC doesn't record those figures.

The FOI response shows that sanctions imposed on candidates include withholding of the entire results in the subject concerned; withholding of a mark for a subject component and withholding of the results across all subjects.

The SEC can impose a sanction on cheating students of disbarment from sitting any future State examinations but no student was disbarred from sitting any future exams in 2018 and 2017.

The FOI response states: “The CAO is notified of all grade changes that occur after the initial release of results, whether positive or negative, and this may have consequences for any college offers.”

This year, 71 students who sat the Leaving Certificate have not been given their results over fears that they have cheated.

In August, the SEC confirmed that a total of 51 Leaving Certificate/Leaving Certificate Applied results have been permanently withheld at the 2019 Leaving Certificate. In addition the SEC confirmed that it has “provisionally withheld 20 other results, on a without-prejudice basis, pending further communication with the schools and candidates concerned”.

At each exam centre for the Leaving Cert across the country, notices are placed in prominent locations warning students of the penalties for cheating.

Students are warned that they are liable to have their whole examination cancelled if they bring in the likes of iPods, MP3/4 Players or mobile phones into the exam hall.

Students are also warned that they risk having their exam cancelled if they aid or attempt to aid another candidate or obtain or attempt to obtain aid from another candidate.

Candidates also face having their exam cancelled if they attempt to communicate with other students in the exam centre during the exam or by electronic means with people outside the centre.