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You’re a number, not a person!
When you’re at school or college, this is what they might as well say to you. A number can be easily discarded. You can try your absolute hardest, but if you do even one thing wrong, they don’t seem to care. It’s not like that number represents a human being with their whole life depending upon passing their exams(!) It’s been nearly 2 years since I got disqualified from my law A level and as you can probably tell, I’m still bitter about it.
Pic by Alex Carr
I can distinctly remember the nerves I suffered with for months on end. Revision, revision, revision… I’ve never worked so hard in my life. During mock exams, I got C’s and B’s which, for me, weren’t good enough. I wanted A’s.So when it came to exam season, I was bricking it. I felt like throwing up and running out of every paper. And my law exam was no different. It started like any other: I walked in, found my seat, waited for the clock to reach 9am and then started the exam… but it all ended up being for nothing.
Half way through the exam, a single yellow post-it note with only one piece of information fell out of my pocket. When I saw it on the floor I mentally kicked myself for forgetting to empty them. I had been completely unaware that it was still in there, but I couldn’t dwell on it – I had to get on with the exam. I was sure to make a point of the fact that I did not even glance down at it. But as soon as the invigilator saw it and picked it up, I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
Remember this is anonymous…
Have you ever cheated in an #exam ?
— OpinionPanel (@OpinionPanelEd) March 13, 2017
He took me to the exam office once the paper had finished, where they told me I would be reported to the AQA exam board. I tried to argue my case, but they weren’t having it. Instead, I got a letter through the post telling me that I had been disqualified. I couldn’t believe it! The punishment was so disproportionately unfair, and my Law teacher agreed. She was very adamant on getting them to lessen the punishment because she knew how hard I had worked, but it was to no avail.
“It affected my whole education, and the rest of my life as a result”
The whole situation was made even more unbearable when my mate told me that he’d heard of a girl who had written notes on an entire subject all along her arm and received exactly the same punishment as me. For someone who intentionally cheated by writing a year’s worth of answers along her arm to get the same punishment as someone who accidentally kept a post-it note in his pocket is, to me, quite frankly despicable.
I’m not going to lie, I feel I bossed that exam. But what happened? I understand that I should have had some sort of punishment, maybe a few marks deducted, but no. Because I had one post-it note (which, in reality, couldn’t have given me more than 1 mark on the test) they disqualified me from the entire subject. To make matters worse, the information on the post it note wasn’t even on the exam! I didn’t and would never cheat, and I’d worked so hard all year, but they didn’t care.
It affected my whole education, and the rest of my life as a result. I had to do a BTEC in Public Services instead, all because of this. After studying Public Services, I’m now hoping to do a Psychology and Criminology course at uni, for which I have applied and received offers. But I’m still left with the knowledge that if they hadn’t given me a ridiculously harsh punishment, I would be studying Law at university right now.
I’m a whole year behind with my life, and it was completely unjustified. Thanks, AQA.
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Harsh yes but before the exam everyone is constantly reminded to empty their pockets. Can’t really argue when it’s your fault.
It was pretty harsh but you should have checked your pockets when the invigilator asks everyone to.
I think that this is very unfair. It’s not right that the person who had writing all across their arm had the same punishment as the person who’s post it note fell out. There should be different levels of punishment.
Yeah, that girl could’ve argued that she usually learns by writing on her hand and she woke up too late and forgot to take a shower to erase them before the exam… I know it’s ridiculous but the point I’m trying to make is that the same rules have been broken in both cases. Ultimately, having any sort of help during exam, even if you don’t use it, is cheating.
Why didn’t you retake the year of A-Levels?
My english a level exam went very wrong too with miscommunication with our teacher. I ended up failing along with half of the class because of this and resitting two exams on top of the second year would have been too stressful. The teacher was complained and reported by the class and it is believed he was sacked. I did have a horror year.
I think what she means is to retake the whole year, which is possible, just as some people take a gap year at age 16 and start a-levels later. A levels are tough, they are meant to be and it’s good to get into the habit of not relying too much on good teachers and becoming more independent minded. It’s good preparation for uni. I’m not sure why you felt that this disqualification was enough to stop you studying law at university, a law a-level is not required, in fact it’s not that useful because it’s the tip of the iceberg compared to what you need to learn at uni level, I know, I did it. It sounds to me that it might not be the right course for you though, it’s heavily exam-oriented and one of the toughest courses you can do. If you really wanted to do law it’s never too late, though, in fact personally I wish I had waited until I was older to do my course, mature students have a much better approach to it and tend to be more successful. The punishment does sound harsh in your case but there have always been strict rules about these things for a reason. It’s to send a message to all other students as well that cheating is not tolerated. One girl on an exam I took was disqualified because she’d left her phone switched on in her bag on the other side of the hall and it rang. I would say however, if they didn’t, they really should have reminded everyone to take the time to check pockets, remove bags etc and declare if they still had any notes before the start. Do not let this one mistake ruin your life as you are saying. As long as you are alive you always have time to make it up. BTEC is a well respected qualification and there are plenty of other routes to your ideal job. Just do a bit of research.
i think what happened was fair if i’m honest. any leniency and it can be argued one rule for one and another for another. to some other comments about not having teachers, my business AS level teacher got cancer and our school couldn’t find another one so i put my head down and got an A. it’s all down you
I think a lot of the people in the comments here could stand to have a bit of empathy with the position in this, and how harsh the punishment really was – especially seeing as the post-it had no information on it that could actually have enabled cheating. By all means a null-and-void on this exam would have been fair, but disqualification from the subject is something else.
I’ve been in an arguably worse boat myself. My school left me without a teacher to do my AS Level Biology, which I needed for the university course I had at the time been aggressively encouraged into pursuing. There had been a mix-up with my timetables, and they just left me without a teacher – too close to the start of term for me to maybe find a place at another school or college. I worked tirelessly in my spare time teaching myself AS Biology from a textbook. I’m also not particularly wealthy and at the time had no computer at home. Working to deadlines was a nightmare, all my grades took a hit, and I was getting severely depressed. It came to a head at the end of Year 12 when, queuing up to go into the AS Biology exam, it emerges the school never actually put me in for it. I was turned away, having wasted all that time, and enabling all my other grades to take a hit. What could have been near-Oxbridge levels of good was suddenly not enough to get me into university at all. I lost all my motivation and confidence through Year 13, and my grades suffered again. In the end I walked away with a few passable grades and a few that really weren’t. I’m still an A Level short and have since experienced the hardships of actually gaining A Level’s for mature students – they don’t make it easy. I’ve also been grappling with mental health which has since spiralled out of control in various other ways – for which the school isn’t accountable, but they definitely triggered it. Nearly a decade on and I’m still having to work hard, trying to fix their mistakes – a well-behaved, hard-working, high-grade student with promise… and they basically deprived me of a decent young adulthood. They’ve so far ruined my life, which I haven’t yet succeeded at getting back on track. Thanks to them, and the less-than-helpful exam boards as well.
A pretty sad story it is, but in my opinion this story served as a lesson for you. You will now make sure that you do not have any unnecessary material whenever going in the examination hall. Furthermore, I would like to say that these exams are not the end of the world. Probably or in fact it was written this way for you. So instead of getting disheartened and effecting your current studies, you should focus on them and stay positive. Moreover, I agree to the fact that their treatment with you was a bit harsh and they should have actually listened to your side- the actual reason- and then should have announced their decision. Seems unfair.
we all have to go through the same exams (if you take A levels) therefore its only fair there are the same rules for everyone, it may seem harsh but who leaves notes in their pocket anyway? If the exam was that important you would have checked
There is no way for invigilators or exam officers to tell who intended to cheat and who just made a mistake. It is their integrity and often their jobs on the line if the dont report something that has happened in an exam. There are exam concessions if you have serious anxiety etc. that would allow you a separate room if that is easier. The JCQ publishes loads of documents for students explaining what is acceptable in exam rooms, and it is actually not the fault of the school if you forget to check your pockets. You were really unlucky, but the punishment is fair.
that’s so horrible – clearly it wouldn’t have helped that much anyway, and to get disqualified from the entire course? That’s altered your entire life I can’t even imagine something more frightening, I do admire you for managing to get through it though, despite how despicable the entire situation was. I know when I did my first exams, we were never reminded to empty our pockets so I definitely think this was unjustified.
I think that’s quite fair, I mean, if someone would’ve intentionally done that, the punishment seems fair, and unfortunately you can’t prove you didn’t do it on purpose. It’s understandable that shit like this happens (one time I forgot my phone in my pocket and it wasn’t even on silent, I can’t believe I was lucky enough not to receive any notification whatsoever – ultimately, I would have considered a punishment like this fair enough). All in all, it’s each and every one of ours responsibility and we have to face the consequences of our actions. I hope you’ll do the degree you want in the end!
I am sorry to hear about what happen. However,the invigilators tell you to empty your pockets. So, since you were warned then the outcome is reasonable.
I’d expect all that AQA were told is that you had some form of law notes on your person during the exam. With this information they can’t really do anything except disqualify you. The teacher is never going to want a student to be disqualified so the exam board isn’t going to let the story change after the initial incident. For all they know you had everything including how to spell your name on your notes. although it was an accident the exam board can’t investigate every time a student cheats in an exam and has to make a decision, quickly, based on the facts they are given when the incident occurs.
I think I got upset coz it is unfair and each person have to get his score .Fair marks main a lot to student ,teacher and even society .
Sorry to hear that, however, being a student myself in the exam rodeo – exam figureheads i.e teachers and exam proctors explicitly advise not to bring anything “illegal” into the exam halls and that the onus is on you to check and ensure that you are complying to the board’s standards.
You seem to relegate BTEC due to your own negligence – you make BTECs sound like a second class qualification compared to A-Levels when in reality they are the same.
You never know this can be a blessing in disguise for you and you could be extremely successful in your “BTEC” chosen career – compared to Law. All the best.
It’s your own fault mate. You get told at the start of the exam to empty your pockets and you didn’t. You’re the reason it fell out and there’s no way for an invigilator or AQA to verify that you didn’t use it. You can blame everyone else all you want but ultimately, the fault lies solely with you.
The punishment was too harsh indeed. I believe it would be better if they had a graph to guide them into applying the correct punishment for each offence: deduct 10 marks fir cheating, 5 marks for attempt of cheating, 2 marks for phones ringin, etc.
Take it easy 🙂 all the people do mistakes. Mistakes are good even if they lead us to be punished because we get moral from our mistakes to not to do those kind of mistakes again. According to the college rule in an exam hall Whether you do fraud intentionally or unintentionally You will be punished. It should be an awareness that every student must check their pockets before entering exam hall
I think…it is harsh but every one need to be treated the same even if it was accidental
God I agree that’s so harsh. It’s so easy to forget to take your notes out even when the invigilator says so, because we’ve heard it so many times, right? And our brain just kind of goes past it.
They shouldn’t have disqualified you, taken marks off or something would have been more fair.
The punishment seems harsh but you had notes on you for the exam. It is your responsibility before you go in to check your pockets, turn off your phone etc. The invigilator isn’t going to know that you forgot they were there because the expectation is that people check before they go in. So the punishment is justified in my opinion.
I went through almost the same thing. for my English coursework, my teacher put my essay through a plagiarism checker and it came up as plagiarised. I swore that I hadn’t and I rewrote the essay just to be sure and it can up again. I got into so much trouble and the exam board was contacted and they wanted to see the essay. Turns out the website they were checking it on was fake and no matter what they put in it said plagiarised. I can’t believe I spent weeks being sick over this and then the school didn’t even apologise
This taught me a lesson. I would like to say that exams are just a result of your effort but that’s not the end.
I notice a lot of people saying that invigilators tell people to empty their pockets. Through my 24 GCSE exams and 7 AS exams I (or any of my colleagues) have never been told. After reading this though, I will definitely make sure I do.
I think life is about enjoyment and people should not always worry about different things likes exams as life is too short to be happy
I think there’s no way for them to know that you didn’t do that deliberately.but there’s always a reason why things happen .i am sorry to hear about what happen.
facepalm
Whether you intended to or not, you cheated. Your punishment was the one they reserve for people who cheat. Seems pretty fair.
They should have removed marks only or scored the exam as zero, not disqualified from the entire subject
I feel the punishment was not proportionate. Even if they caught you they could have found out whether or not you used it through a camera or something and should have also allowed you to explain what happened, that would have been just. However, you should always ensure you check yourself before you go in for an exam.
I guess on second thought its another chance for you to rewrite the exams and who knows from your experience you will hopefully do well in the subsequent exams
nice my brother
I think that it is a pretty harsh story
I think it was a harsh punishment. I would have made a formal complaint to the exam board.
That’s what most of the students do, taking risks with their studies. Many should learn from you cause it’s true, it is there. You have wasted all the time you went to classes and money
Wow… Talk about being cruel. The exam board should have been more lenient as it was it is very obvious that it was a genuine innocent mistake. The candidate should have been punished but only by deducting a mark, not through disqualification!!!
I am sure the AQA exam board had no choice. There’s no way for them to know that you didn’t do that deliberately. It wouldn’t make sense for you not to get disqualified. But really, I wouldn’t put the blame on you. Your teachers and the invigilators should have reminded you at least 3-4 times that you should empty your pocket before entering, and checked your pocket. If this did not happen, it is the exam centre’s fault, and if it did, it is your fault.
Wow that’s harsh.
I think instead of arguing with your professor or crying after you fail. Make your failures as a challenge or motivation to study harder for the next exam. Everyone would experience that, that’s why you should be always ready for any problems you encounter this will serve as a preparation for your future.
I feel bad for you. But there’s always a reason why things happen. I hope you enjoy what you’re doing now and take that as a life changing experience
I had to retake my freaking cooking exam which never even exsisted again
I think…it is harsh but every one need to be treated the same,
I think the punishment was very harsh and disqualification was too far. If a student has worked hard for months to ace their exams only for it to go down the drain because of a small mistake is ludicrous. There’s a lot of pressure put on students to do well and slip ups happen. There should be consequences but not to the extent of a disqualification!
its a helpfull article thank you
I think this is a good article
I believe that’s uncalled for if it’s not even on the exam you’re sitting then it’s not cheating it’s obviously just an honest mistake. There is no need to disqualify someone over that. There should be different levels of punishment and this shouldn’t have when been punished at all.
This is a very good article
I think you should be allowed another chance, everyone is equal
If everyone’s equal why would he be allowed another chance? What about all the student that didn’t bring any material into the exam. I think having a uniform punishment is fair. Cheating is cheating. Invigilators always read a set of rules reminding you to check pockets and ensure any electronics are handed in, so it’s only fair to be penalised for not doing so.
This is a very good article
this is a really interesting article
I think it’s bad luck to fail in a level because it is very easy to study