Exam boards are urging social media companies to do more to prevent the sale of fake GCSE and A-level papers to students. Accounts falsely claiming to have access to this year’s exam papers have been discovered on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Some charged hundreds of pounds for the papers whilst others were free. TikTok and Instagram have both stated that they don’t allow the sale of exam papers on their platforms.
The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) thinks that it is highly unlikely that real papers are being leaked online and that fraudsters are merely scamming students. England’s exam regulator Ofqual warns that students who try to cheat could lose the qualification they were studying for, even if the papers they have attempted to buy are fake. The Commonweal School in Swindon has warned its students of the fraudulent accounts. Teachers showed students how to quickly recognise the scam accounts in a proactive attempt to prevent students from being conned.
Exam boards are requesting direct access to social media companies’ enforcement teams to help try and stop the scam accounts more quickly. Teams of analysts at exam boards have so far had to scour social media sites to look for scammers and report any fraudulent accounts. The JCQ states that partnering with social media companies to directly shut down these accounts is crucial.
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, says it removes any accounts that are flagged, claiming that it does not allow exams or answer sheets to be sold on its platform. TikTok removes any content that tries to defraud or scam members. The IBO, The International Baccalaureate Organization, says that while a few students have accessed some exam papers after they were shared online, there is no evidence of widespread cheating.
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