Students sitting exams and taking qualifications broke Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) rules on 207 occasions in 2024-25, reveals.
The figure is a 20 per cent rise on the previous year, when 173 incidents of cheating or misbehaviour were recorded for students taking National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers.
However, despite all the fears about the use of artificial intelligence to cheat, the SQA recorded a drop in incidents of plagiarism involving AI.
The body began collecting data on the use of AI to cheat in national qualifications in 2023-24, when 51 incidents were recorded; in 2024-25, that figure dropped to 43 incidents.
However, plagiarism - which is defined as “failure to acknowledge sources properly and/or the submission of work that is not the candidate’s own” - is still the most common form of cheating, although the total number of incidents fell.
In 2024-25, there were 69 incidents of plagiarism in total (including use of AI) - down from 92 in 2023-24.
Rise in candidate malpractice
The biggest rise in “candidate malpractice” - the term used by the SQA to describe the data - was in incidents of collusion (for instance, copying or sharing work with other candidates). There were 29 incidents in 2024-25, up from 12 in 2023-24.
Candidates breaching assessment conditions by, for instance, completing work outside of controlled conditions also increased. A total of 16 incidents were recorded last year, up from fewer than five in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, there were rises in the use of prohibited items like phones (47 incidents in 2024-25, up from 40 in 2023-24) and notes (23 incidents in 2024-25, up from 19 in 2023-24).
A total of 10 misconduct incidents were recorded in 2024-25 - when students’ behaviour in the exam room causes disruption to others - up from fewer than five incidents in 2023-24. And frivolous or offensive content in exam papers or coursework was recorded on nine occasions last year, up from six in 2023-24.
In response to the incidents, the SQA cancelled the component in which malpractice was identified on 95 occasions; issued 61 warnings and 29 warnings with revision of marks; cancelled the award on 19 occasions, and barred the students from future entries for a defined period of time on fewer than five occasions.
The figures, which were published by the SQA yesterday, are classed as “provisional data”; final data for the 2024-25 academic session will be released in spring 2026.
Commenting on the figures, the SQA said the number of cases remained extremely low in the context of overall entries - less than 0.04 per cent of 565,095 entries in 2024-25.
A spokesperson added: “We continue to actively prevent malpractice by providing information and guidance to learners, in partnership with the education community. When malpractice is found, we act using our established processes and defined penalties.”
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