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22nd Aug 2017

Dozens of Leaving Cert results withheld over suspected cheating

The students were in breach of exam regulations.

Anna O'Rourke

Ah, lads.

A total of 38 Leaving Cert students have had their exam results permanently withheld over suspected cheating in 2017, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) has confirmed.

These students sat the exams in June of this year but did not receive their results last week.

Meanwhile, some other students did not receive results for individual exam subjects due to suspicions of dishonesty.

Those affected were “found to be in breach of the SEC’s examinations regulations,” a spokesman for the SEC told the Irish Times.

A source within the SEC said that the temptation to cheat is now greater thanks to the use of smartphones.

“Some students have notes saved on their phones and try to use this as an aid during the exams. Some have been caught taking smart phones from their socks during examinations.”

The traditional forms of cheating are still in use, however, as students still try to smuggle in paper notes and attempting to copy from one another, the source said.