Watch ban imposed at GCSE and A-level exams Published duration 16 May 2018

image copyright JCQ image caption The JCQ exam body is publicising the new rules via an online video

Pupils are being told to remove watches from their wrists before taking GCSE and A-level exams, to combat cheating.

In most cases, students are being told to place the timepieces on their desks, but invigilators can demand they are left outside the exam hall.

The new rule was introduced to prevent pupils trying to pass off smartwatches - which have long been banned - as normal ones.

Some universities have already imposed similar requirements.

The rule is also intended to prevent examinees trying to smuggle in notes folded up and placed under normal watch faces.

Hidden earpieces

Various watches explicitly marketed as cheating devices can be found advertised online, including on Amazon's UK store.

Some work by pressing a button to replace a graphical representation of a watch face with uploaded text, but others have no digital display and work by playing audio to a small earpiece via a Bluetooth connection.

image copyright Kupi

image copyright GSM Earpiece

Several exam centres had already introduced their own ad hoc watch bans.

But the JCQ's move means that most school students sitting exams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now affected.

Although some of the JCQ's members award Scottish Highers, those exams are not covered by the change.

image copyright Amazon