More students in the UK are using technology to cheat, according to data released to The Guardian, and experts say the actual figures are likely higher, given how easy it is to hide some of the gadgets used.
Cheating using tech devices jumped 42 percent over the last four years, the report said, citing the data obtained through freedom of information requests. Offenders used everything from mobile phones, smart watches and hidden earpieces to outsmart invigilators during exams – and it is believed many got away with it.
“These figures are only going to show what’s been detected. Students who cheat well won’t always get caught, especially now there’s so much mini-tech out there that are hard to spot,” said Thomas Lancaster, an associate dean at Staffordshire University and one of the UK’s leading experts on cheating.
Between 2012 and 2016, the number of such cases grew from 148 to 210. Those caught cheating last year had used electronic devices, though the universities were unable to specify which devices were used. For the schools that knew, most said the cheaters used mobile phones.
Queen Mary University of London recorded among the greatest number of offenders – two-thirds of the 54 cheating cases there were committed via technology. Others like University of Surrey had 12 such cases out of their 19 cheating incidents, while at Newcastle University, almost half (43 percent) of the 91 reported cases involved technology.
Suppliers of these devices say students buy from them because they see no point in how the education system, especially exams, are structured these days.
