8:01am UK, Tuesday May 27, 2008

Exam chiefs are resorting to James Bond-style security methods to stop teenagers cheating in their GCSEs and A-levels.

80% of cheats are caught, say examiners

The Edexcel board says it recorded fewer serious incidents last year after adopting the high-tech '007' approach to deter the cheats.

The exam board suggested that many teenagers realised they were more likely to get caught and so had decided not to try their luck.

The technology used includes"micro-text", in which the name of the school can be hidden in microscopic writing within a single letter on an exam paper.

This proves a question paper on which answers are filled out is genuine as it cannot be photocopied.

Containers of exam papers are also being fitted with radio frequency identification tags, which can be scanned to make sure the bags have not been tampered with.

Children who copy their answers from other pupils will have to get past sophisticated computer software, which can analyse written answers to detect copying.

The Edexcel board is also investigating the possibility of recording oral exams using MP3 technology.

"Last year we had the best year ever of attempted cheating - we had zero incidents," said Edexcel managing director Jerry Jarvis.

"Eighty percent of kids that cheat get caught anyway and it's devastating when they do get caught.

"The chances of cheating and getting away with it have gone down again as far as we are concerned."

Details of the new security measures emerged as 1.1 million teenagers were taking their GCSEs and A-levels across Britain.

Penalties for pupils who are caught range from official warnings to losing marks and, in the most serious cases, being disqualified from all their exams.

No measures can stop the occasional slip however - last week it emerged that 12,000 music GCSE students had taken an exam which had the anwers printed on the back.