Five A-level students have been disqualified following an exam board’s investigation into the leak of a maths paper this summer.

The probe was launched after some students had access to Edexcel’s A-level maths C4 paper before it was taken on Friday 22 June.

It was alleged that images of questions from the exam were being sold in the early hours of the day via “two closed social media applications”.

Today, Pearson, which owns Edexcel, told schools and colleges that it had identified the source of the leak.

In a letter, its vice-president, Derek Richardson, says: “We have identified one individual as the source of the breach, who has been debarred from any involvement with Pearson examinations for life.”

A spokesperson for the company said the person was not a Pearson staff member.

A-level cheating: police investigation

The letter says five students have been disqualified, while the company is currently investigating “a further 30 with regards to their involvement”.

Their results are being withheld until the investigation is completed, and Pearson said it was continuing to support the police investigation.

The company sought to reassure other students who sat the exam that their results would not be affected by the cheating.

The Pearson spokesperson said: “Our absolute priority is to ensure that students receive fair outcomes for their hard work.

"All candidates under investigation have been excluded from our statistical and qualitative analysis to set grade boundaries.

"All students can, therefore, be confident that grade boundaries have been set fairly and their results are not affected.”