Article from the Sunday Telegraph 4 April 2004, by Julie Henry.
Cheating just one more way to learn, says exam chief
STUDENTS who download exam coursework from the
internet and pass it off as their own are "self-teaching", not cheating, says
the head of the exam boards' council, writes Julie Henry.
The comments made yesterday by Dr Ellie Johnson Searle brought immediate criticism from
teachers and academics, who accused her of condoning exam abuse. The controversial
statement comes a week after The Sunday Telegraph revealed that A-level students were
buying tailor-made exam essays from a company that guarantees A-and B-grade coursework.
Dr Johnson Searle, the director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, the body that
represents the main exam boards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said in an
interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "People are open to download essays from
the internet. They can then change the language and grammar and put in their own words,
but if people are going to that effort they are essentially taking part in self-teaching;
they are learning the subject anyway."
She said that the penalties for cheating depended on "the extent of the cheating. If
the plagiarism becomes the substance of the work, in extreme cases, a pupil would be
barred".
Nick Seaton, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, a parents' pressure group,
said that he was appalled by Dr Johnson Searle's attitude. To describe this lifting of
work as 'self-teaching' is a nonsense. No wonder employers and universities feel that they
cannot rely on the grades that students are getting."
The exam watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, refused to comment on Dr
Johnson Searle's interview, but insisted that cheating was taken seriously by the
regulator.