THE number of pupils caught cheating with smartphones in Scottish school exams in on the increase.
New figures show there were 26 cases where candidates were caught using mobile phones in exams in 2016 compared to just nine the previous year.
Over the same period the number of pupils caught cheating with traditional notes fell from 14 to just 10.
Overall, 169 candidates were sanctioned for cheating by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) in 2016 compared to 163 in 2015.
Jean Blair, the SQA’s director of operations, said any kind of malpractice was “totally unacceptable”.
She said: “We will continue to work with schools, colleges and the teaching profession to ensure our zero tolerance approach to malpractice is applied everywhere and every time.
“It is testament to the continued vigilance of teachers, lecturers, markers and invigilators that it is only a minority of pupils who engage in malpractice.
“These figures send a strong message that each and every instance will be investigated thoroughly.”
Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservative Party, called on the SQA to ensure incidents of cheating did not continue to rise.
She said: “These statistics will provide some degree of comfort that the incidence of malpractice is very low, but clearly there has been a slight rise in cheating between the exam diets of 2015 and 2016.
“The SQA has said, quite rightly, that there must be a zero tolerance approach to any incidence of malpractice and I am sure it will work hard to ensure the right guidance is available and adhered to in 2017.”
Of the cases recorded in 2016, exams results were cancelled in 126 cases while a revision of marks to remove the section where malpractice was attempted was applied in ten cases. Warnings were given in 33 cases.
Every school in Scotland is provided with booklets by the SQA on how pupils should conduct themselves in exams and when completing coursework.
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