GovWire

Key headlines

The key headlines for cases of malpractice for which a penalty was issued (proven cases of malpractice), in GCSE, AS and A level qualifications for the summer 2023 exam series were:

1. The number of proven cases of malpractice involving students has increased compared to the previous year. There were 4,895 cases of malpractice involving students in 2023, up from 4,105 in 2022, from almost 17 million GCSE, AS and A level entries (at component level) in both years.
2. For student malpractice, 44.5% of all cases involved mobile phone and other communication device offences. There were 2,180 cases with penalties for this type of offence in 2023, compared with 1,825 (44.5%) in 2022.
3. The number of cases of malpractice involving school or college staff decreased compared to the previous year. 220 cases of malpractice included members of staff in 2023, down from 240 in 2022. Only a small proportion of the total number of staff in England (over 360,000 full time equivalent teachers and support staff in state funded secondary schools) were involved in malpractice cases.
4. There were 50 cases of school or college level malpractice in 2023, down from 55 in 2022.