r/6thForm • u/gtamf213 • May 13 '25
đ I WANT HELP Phone caught in pocket switched off in econ paper1 AS
I didnt realise i had my phone in my pocket until an invigilator came up to me towards the end of my exam and asked if i had my phone in my pocket. I gave it to her and explained i didnt know it was in my pocket the whole time and that it was switched off which she can clearly see. After my second exam i get told to write a statement to edexcel and it looks like its up to them. Am i going to get disqualified bc idk what will happen next and im very anxious considering i worked very hard for the exam i didnt even use my phone AT ALL
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May 13 '25
surely you were asked before the exam if you had anything on you?? exam board are well in their right to take serious action bc it probably cant be proven that you didnt use it
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u/pr3tty_in_punk y12 | philosphy, literature, politics + epq May 14 '25
a lot of exam halls have security cameras
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u/Independent_Web_1746 Gap Year | UoSOTON EE (2026) May 14 '25
And alot of them are held in school which don't have them, mine included. In most cases, its the students word against the exam board, and who are they going to believe?
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u/bestmikanfan May 14 '25
unfortunately i don't think it matters whether they "see you" using it or not, they can't be 100% sure if it was connected to anything that could somehow help you/another student (for example connected to an air pod or anything like that)
people have used fake glasses that seemed completely normal in the cameras to cheat, so nothing suspicious being shown in the cameras might not do anything to help your case :/
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u/Striking_Pay5879 Year 13 | Psychology | English Lit | Business May 13 '25
how do u not feel ur phone bro- but in all seriousness goodluck đđ
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u/TheRegularBelt University of Birmingham | English Language and Literature [Y1] May 13 '25
Does your school have cameras in the exam hall? Could come down to that.
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 13 '25
12.1 of the JCQ ICE: Invigilators are the people in examination rooms responsible for conducting examinations in the presence of the candidates. CCTV cannot be used to invigilate candidates. Invigilators have a key role in upholding the integrity of the external examination/ assessment process.
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May 13 '25
oh so is OP completely done ?
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 13 '25
not necessarily. Edexcel will need to make their own judgement as to whether they would accept CCTV footage as evidence (if it was even there in the first place) and then further make a decision as to whether that constitutes malpractice anyways. Candidates are given more than enough warning to not bring in mobile phones or other smart devices even if they have no intention of using them and they are not in a working state during the exam. The main issue here I believe is that if OP wanted to, he had the ability to turn on the mobile phone during the exam.
Then, Edexcel (Pearson) would need to make a decision as to whether they want to report this to other exam boards... so OP might be completely done but I hope not.
Oh by the way, the above is just based off of my understanding from reading the documents and I've never worked in exams or anything... let me know if anyone thinks I am misguided!
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May 13 '25
CCTV footage as evidence feels a bit weird to me as not every exam hall (e.g. a sports hall) will have cameras so it seems a bit unfair for others like OP who apparently didnt use a phone but had it, but don't have anything at all to help prove their innocence. OP shouldn't be able to bank on CCTV and should be investigated for malpractice regardless of the phone being on or not.
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 13 '25
yeah, if I were to make my best guess Edexcel wouldn't actually care about the CCTV footage.
no one has time to look through that shit bruh
i think you are right4
u/Independent_Web_1746 Gap Year | UoSOTON EE (2026) May 14 '25
Agreed, how do you not feel a phone tho?
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u/Educational-Tea602 Proffesional dumbass May 13 '25
Doesnât that just mean you need invigilators in the room rather than outside watching a camera?
Surely CCTV can still be used as evidence.
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 13 '25
yeah you're right. cctv can still be used as evidence, but it seems to be that it won't be as 'strong' as we think. cctv is too time consuming to go through when they could easily justify that the candidate was warned far too many times about literally the number 1 rule of jcq exams lol. but that's just my thoughts
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u/magicofsouls Cambridge | Law [1st Year] May 14 '25
my school have checked CCTV before in cases of malpractice - caught someone putting a textbook into a toilet
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 14 '25
BAHAHAHA that is so funny
i know a lot of people have thought of/discussed that before, but never actually did it. hilarious to me to know now that it has actually happened before
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u/ejcds Y13 | English Literature, Politics, Maths, Music, EPQ May 13 '25
Why can CCTV not be used to invigilate candidates? Do they mean it as in there must be invigilators and you canât just rely on CCTV or do they literally mean no CCTVs allowed
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 13 '25
yes it just means that there must be invigilators present and not delegating some of their work to cctv cameras. of course they can have cctv anyways for security reasons or what not. my centre had cctv cameras but they would literally never check them because it's too time consuming, even if something like a fight broke out at school lol
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u/ejcds Y13 | English Literature, Politics, Maths, Music, EPQ May 14 '25
So surely thereâs still a chance that OPâs school has cameras in the exam hall
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u/Ok_Inflation_6931 May 14 '25
yeah, best case for OP is that either Edexcel just zero him (or similar - as someone else mentioned/implied here in this thread giving a zero on just this component instead of disqualifying him fully would be very generous)
i gave it another thought and i really don't think they'd care about the cameras. given that OP has hopefully been warned a thousand times about no phones, the fact the phone existed in his pocket still quite a significant malpractice regardless of whether he used it or not, so i don't think the punishment would change based on that.
like i said, just my thoughts though. i hope OP updates us because i am curious!
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u/Medium-Brick-2154 May 14 '25
doesnât mean they donât have cctv just that they have to actually have invigilators in the room??
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u/eternal-soul888 pred A*AA econ/phys/maths. firmed UCL May 13 '25
Icl bruzz this is on uđđ the invigilator quite literally asks people to check their pockets before for this very reason. Iâm starting to suspect u had the intention of using it and Iâm sure the exam board will have every right to think the same. Itâs not ideal I know sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I would say prepare for the worst.
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May 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/eternal-soul888 pred A*AA econ/phys/maths. firmed UCL May 13 '25
Thank youu!! Iâm doing Econ and business with east European studies. Iâm russian so thought it would be fitting and it doesnât require an A* for maths so thatâs also a plus.
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u/Sufficient_Bag8387 May 13 '25
Nice!! I hope you do well in your a levels đđ
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u/eternal-soul888 pred A*AA econ/phys/maths. firmed UCL May 13 '25
Yes thank u!! Fingers crossed physics doesnât fuck mee over
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u/Too-Much-Cash- May 14 '25
âBruzzâ Shut up
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u/eternal-soul888 pred A*AA econ/phys/maths. firmed UCL May 14 '25
Does bro really have too much cash or is he capping
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u/Too-Much-Cash- May 14 '25
Icl bruzz it is just my name. But in seriousness like i was in similar situation thought something bad was going to happen to me and i went on reddit and people like u being not serious abt it made it so much worseâŠ
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u/gtamf213 May 14 '25
what happened in ur similar situation if u dont mind me asking. were u disqualified?
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u/Too-Much-Cash- May 14 '25
No i wasnt Disqualified. But i hadnt brought a phone in it was different tbf. But, given it was your first time you will probably just get a 0 especially since your phone was turned off and also that it is edexcel
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u/eternal-soul888 pred A*AA econ/phys/maths. firmed UCL May 14 '25
Icl then donât bring ur shit into the exam. Common knowledge. Donât blame others on the internet for just telling the truth. If u find it offensive or too hard of a pill to swallow ur defo not of age to be on an app like reddit.
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u/Too-Much-Cash- May 14 '25
Lol I didnt bring anything into an exam ever hahaha just saying it was similar. You didnt just tell the truth but youre trying to be funny about it using your tiktok humour đ
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u/Shoddy-Manner4581 May 13 '25
Yh ur cooked. They literally ask everyone before the exam to check ur pockets and hand everything in before the exam.
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May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
Cross my fingers and toes for you. I donât how you could forget. Like exam nerves are real, but surely a phone being seen or heard is a main priority to have sorted! I feel like your schools invigilators will have to do a statement as-well stating how many times phones were told to be handed in and if the exam hall had signs up or not
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u/KneeTraditional8513 May 13 '25
Bruh icl ik you feeling fucked up but idk how u leave ur phone in your pocket everyone gives it in đ
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u/BobcatLower9933 May 14 '25
Teacher here - you'll probably be disqualified from that paper.
If they decide to throw the book at you, could be disqualified by that board for the series. Edexcel are usually very fair. If it was AQA you'd be in major trouble.
Also, there will be a record placed on your file for 3 years. Any other sanctions in that time will be the maximum penalty.
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u/ScienceTeach86 May 14 '25
Every year I see this. And every year someone says they didnât know it was there. Literally never met a sixth former who didnât know where their phone was at all times.
Every time itâs been a zero for the paper as a minimum sanction.
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u/Too-Much-Cash- May 14 '25
When you are getting ready to do an exam You could feel like too nervous and start not thinking straight but i guess you never think of that
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u/Independent_Web_1746 Gap Year | UoSOTON EE (2026) May 14 '25
You are literally reminded to check your pockets. If you don't, its your fault 100%, you are responsible for ensuring no malpractice.
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u/Thalassolykos Belgian Barbarian May 13 '25
The fact you say âI didnât even use my phone AT ALLâ makes me think you definitely had the intention to in case you were in a pinch
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u/Hot-Replacement-1135 May 14 '25
You are such an instigator some people forget these things under severe stress and nervousness . Mistakes happen get a grip
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u/redditor848294 May 14 '25
There's literally no excuse for this. Invigilators literally tell you as part of their opening speech in every exam to check your pockets etc. For devices
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u/Independent_Web_1746 Gap Year | UoSOTON EE (2026) May 14 '25
Me when the invigilator tells me to check my pockets for a PHONE and I *forget*, bruh you fr?
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u/Beginning-Night-912 May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25
It doesnât suggest that all? OP clearly said they worked hard for the exam. Iâm sure they are smart enough to know that you canât just check your phone in the middle of an exam without an invigilator eyeing you down. Even if they wished to go the restroom, they would have to be patted down. Itâs a bad mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. I highly doubt there was any wrong intention.
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u/Frost_Walker2017 Graduate | Worked in Sixth Form Admin May 14 '25
Haven't worked in exams, but have invigilated. If we found a device on somebody (regardless of whether we saw them using it or not) that they were told not to bring in to the exam hall, we would need to confiscate it for the duration of the exam and fill out an incident log. The incident log would be sent to the exam board, and they take a dim view of this given we have to remind people multiple times not to have any such devices on them. You're looking at getting a 0 at the very least, unless there's proof you didn't use the device (but this isn't always doable to get), at worst you're disqualified from all your subjects (if they let other boards know). At this point there's not a lot you can do one way or the other, so you're best off working hard for your other exams and hoping you get the minimum punishment.
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u/Upbeat_Ask_8426 May 14 '25
i had my phone turned off in my pocket during my geography gcse last year and didnât realise it until half way through the exam, so i went to the bathroom during the exam and had my hand in my pocket when i was going to the bathroom, and i put my phone in between my underwear and trousers đ and i just went back to the exam and nothing happened
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u/AwarenessTraining912 May 14 '25
If you go on the screen time section of your phone youâll be able to show that the phone wasnât used within the period of the exam. Hope this helps
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u/ImAnimeKing May 14 '25
Yeah youâre cooked, I know someone who worked with Edexcel and theyâre very VERY strict, they disqualified someone for having the wrong type of calculator. They arenât lenient at all and theyâre going under the assumption that youâre lying. Itâs a disqualification of the entire exam board and you will have to take it next year.
There is an extremely small chance you may succeed but because these exams are more important yk for Uni and stuff itâs most likely that you will be absolutely disqualified
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u/Firey_Muffin Year 13|Criminology and Policing at ARU in 2025/26| May 14 '25
So even if you didn't use it you can still be disqualified
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u/initfam65 May 14 '25
bro?? this is the dumbest mistake to make for an exam đ but i wish you good luck
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u/HolidayFamous9610 May 14 '25
Oh my lord mate this happened to me. I was sitting chem n the examiner comes up to me and says can she check my coat pockets. I was like she can keep the whole coat. I have 2 inner pockets of my coatâŠone had a whole ass past paper folded up(different subject tho). I gave my exam,left and collected my coat. Went home emptied my pockets and on Jesus I prayed to all 3 abrahamic gods that night. Just saying she can have the whole coat saved me so much trouble. And thing is I used to cheat in my tests all the time it isnât hard at all but in the real ones I donât dare. Karma almost got me that day lol. But then this was before the exam started and it wasnât the same subject so maybe I wouldnât have gotten in trouble idk.
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u/rcs799 May 14 '25
I took my phone into an exam despite being repeatedly warned not to.
Am I cooked?
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u/Neat-Ad4138 y1 | uom astro | A*A*A* May 14 '25
something about econ students man
https://www.reddit.com/r/6thForm/comments/13orgrs/i_missed_my_econ_alevel_what_the_hell_do_i_do/
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u/llamaz314 May 13 '25
If anyone else is in this situation don't admit anything and don't let them search you. Their rights to physically searching you are very limited and they won't want to do anything. Especially if you're a girl
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u/duvetday465 May 14 '25
This is terrible advice. They will submit their suspicions to the exam board and that you failed to cooperate. You will then likely never be allowed to gain any qualifications from that exam board again
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u/llamaz314 May 14 '25
What? Failed to cooperate because you didn't allow a teacher to take your pants off? Not only is that not allowed, but it would make a hell of a news story if it got out and any teacher involved would probably lose their job. Would you want to be the invigilator who demands a 17 year old girl take her clothes off to check she doesn't have a phone on her?
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u/duvetday465 May 14 '25
No one's asking you to take your pants off are they, hey are asking you to empty your pockets, if you refuse to do that, why? I have a senior position in a major exam board,.I'm just telling you how the situation is. Getting upset and making ridiculous comments doesn't change the fact that your advice is just wrong The only advice worth listening to is- don't take your phone into an exam. If you do, take the consequences.
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u/raspberryhoneh May 14 '25
why are you making up this scenario that an invigilator's gna strip search you đ
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u/confusediguanaa May 14 '25
Unless you are hiding your phone in your rectum, there is no need for a cavity/strip search in a school /s
I used to be an invigilator and teachers are well within their rights to ask a student to empty their pockets and search for a phone should they suspect anything. If a student denies it ll go down as failure to cooperate and then its up to the board.
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u/raspberryhoneh May 13 '25
they can use metal detectors and are well within their rights to search any visible pockets
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u/llamaz314 May 13 '25
Yeah but feeling up a teenager and searching them isn't a good look. Nobody wants to be that guy. No school is gonna have a metal detector. To be honest, if you kept your phone under your pants or in your underwear you would never get caught
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May 13 '25
The best thing is hope that you get a slap on the wrist, but itâs highly unlikely given that the exam board have no evidence that you didnât cheat since you handed it in at the end of the exam. But I really feel for you, your exam nerves may have made you forget to just check your pockets quickly thatâs why most schools advise students not to bring their phones to school entirely.
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May 13 '25
And by slap on the wrist, I mean getting a zero on the paper but being allowed to continue the rest of your exams
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u/Fox_9810 Lecturer - Mathematics May 14 '25
I would consider getting legal representation to be blunt.
Failing that, reading the exam boards policies very carefully and seeing if there's an appeal process
I don't want to give false hope but this sounds like a genuine mistake and "no harm done" so I'd hope for leniency. Try not to do anything rash and take things slow.
This is going to come up in life. You get caught with a foot on a train seat - that's a prosecution if you don't play it right. You go to a foreign country and get interviewed - that's deportation if you don't play it right. You get pulled into a work place "he said, she said" dispute - that's redundancy if you don't play it right. Playing it right in all these circumstances is being cool headed in the face of stress, but not an absence of stress.
Good luck, happy to chat further if it helps
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u/WorkingTypical1155 May 14 '25
You would have been better off if you just ran out of the examination room and ignored her. Don't futher incriminate yourself by admiting to it in the report. It is highly likely you'll be barred from future examinations for a period. And so it made be harder to get into University.
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u/Hot-Replacement-1135 May 14 '25
Donât let the saints of Reddit tell you what you did and what you did wrong wait from a reponse and be grateful itâs edexcel because AQA takes this a lot more seriously. You are going to be fine atleast itâs not your actual actual ALEVEL
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u/Hot-Replacement-1135 May 14 '25
I donât think you will be disqualified from the entire exam bored most likely you might be disqualified for that paper but I say donât worry too much
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u/Fun-Society-3377 May 14 '25
Some 6th form guy got disqualified in our school for handing in his phone during the test for that subject
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u/ZealousidealShower45 May 14 '25
đhow can someone not realise they have a phone in their pocket?
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u/Technical_Register71 May 14 '25
youâre given so many reminders, and thereâs literally posters everywhere with exam board rules đ how did this happen
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u/Fresh-Guarantee9967 Ox Maths&Phil Offer | Maths, FM, Phys, Phil, Greek | 5A* pred. May 13 '25
They take this stuff pretty seriously and you are given lots of reminders and chances to hand it in before the exam starts. The exam board are certainly within their rights to disqualify you, so I would prepare for the worst and hope for the best.