Donna had spent a sleepless night worrying about tomorrow's exam. But here was someone offering a sneak preview of the paper on TikTok! She paid them £20 and waited for the paper to come through... but it never did.

Donna was the victim of a horrible new scam - but she could have lost far more money. Some fraudsters are asking up to £4,000 for what they say are leaked GCSEThe national exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in parts of the UK. and A-levelThe national exams taken by 17 and 18-year-olds in parts of the UK. A-level grades are used to determine university places. papers.

One student told the BBC that she had been quoted £500 for a GCSE paper: "I was taken aback because it was ridiculous prices."

Some fraudsters do send through papers - but not the right ones. They simply take an old paper and change the date and text on the front cover. Cases of real papers being leaked are extremely rare.

The pandemic has increased the temptation to cheat. Because many students have never sat an exam, they feel particularly nervous.

But anyone caught can be disqualified from an exam or barred from sitting exams completely.

Even before Covid-19, some people went to great lengths to cheat. Students have been caught with hidden earphones, smartwatches and T-shirts with radio receivers sewn into them.¹ Parents have been known to pay people to sit exams in their children's place.

But there has long been a debate about whether exams are a good idea at all. Some claim that they are more a test of memory than of anything else. And students can become so stressed that they fail to do themselves justice. 

It is also argued that exams stand in the way of a proper education. They mean that teaching is too focused on getting good grades. Without them, students could learn in a much wider way.

But some people say exams are vital because course work cannot be trusted. It is too easy for students to copy material from the internet or ask their parents to do the work for them.

Yes: They just give a snapshot of what students have in their heads at a particular time, rather than measuring true ability. It is much better to judge people by course work done over a long period.

No: Whatever you do in life, it will involve applying knowledge under pressure, so exams are a vital preparation for that. Course work allows too much room for cheating by getting outside help.

Or... Exams are here to stay, whether you like it or not. The arrival of ChatGPTAn Artificial Intelligence chatbot released in November 2022. has alarmed schools and universities so much that they are starting to put extra emphasis on written and oral exams.