According to England’s qualifications watchdog, a new generation of wearable high-tech devices such as smartglasses or invisible earpieces could increase cheating in exams.
Ian Bauckham, head of the Office for Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), also revealed that GCSE and A-level courses in England were being investigated for potential AI use in students’ curriculum, after teachers said they were struggling to figure out how to use it.
Speaking at an Ofqual podcastBauckham warned that the recent rise in fraud by smartphones could be made worse by the next wave of wearable devices, which would undermine England’s school qualifications system.
Bauckham said the regulator “has to act really fast because technology is changing rapidly. We are all familiar with mobile phones but there are also smartwatches that we are increasingly seeing among young people which are completely connected to the internet and so present many of the same challenges as mobile phones.”
“I understand there are things in the pipeline like smartglasses that will run text inside the lenses that only students can see… so we have to keep that on top of that.
“Our merit system is a real national asset and we have to keep it on top to stop this national asset being weakened, because that is in nobody’s interests.”
Ofqual said internet-enabled gadgets “including invisible earpieces and smartglasses” were already being advertised, while the number of students penalized for having mobile phones and other connected devices such as mobile phones and smartwatches in exam halls continued to rise.
Ofqual last summer 2,225 cases registered Mobile phone and smart device fraud related to GCSE, AS and A-levels, which has been the largest category of exam fraud each year since 2018.
“Obviously, if you incorrectly receive help on a mobile phone or a smartwatch or any other type of device, you are potentially getting points on the test that you are not entitled to,” Bauckham said.
“The long-term result is that the grade you get in the end probably doesn’t accurately describe the extent to which you have learned, mastered and performed the material that is being assessed. So you end up with grades for qualifications that are no longer reliable, no longer trustworthy.”
After teachers repeatedly said it was “becoming increasingly difficult” for them to detect AI-generated content, Bauckham indicated that stronger checks were likely to be introduced to protect students using AI in the curriculum offered for A-levels and GCSEs.
“We are looking at that question very seriously now. As we are in the process of refreshing or reforming GCSEs and A-levels, one of the things we are asking… is if there is still going to be coursework as part of this qualification, what do we need to do to make sure that the authenticity of that coursework can be guaranteed, in other words it really is the student’s own work,” he said.
In addition to the “nuclear option” of dropping coursework entirely, Bauckham said teachers may need to check with students more frequently about their work before signing off on it.
“The other thing we can do is increase what we expect through references and sources, so you can actually explain where you’ve done your study, where you’ve got the material you’re using. But what you haven’t done is just open up ChatGPT and say: ‘Please write me 10,000 words on the foreign policy of Henry VIII,’ because that’s just not acceptable.”
