By Jeremy Reimer

MAY 16,2007-Cheating has been around for as long as there have been exams, and modern-day cheaters have a whole host of electronic tools to help them in their nefarious activities. The other side hasn't stood still, however: the UK-based Edexcel examination board has announced that the company will be adding electronic radio frequency identifier (RFID) tags to its GCSE (high school equivalency) and A-level (pre-university) exam papers.

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The tags will be embedded in many of the exam packages, which come bundled in secure bags that are supposed to stay untouched until exams start. The RFID tags can be used to detect if the bags have been opened prematurely and if exams have been removed, which would indicate potential fraud.

"Incidents involving stolen papers are extremely rare, but the potential impact is massive," said Jerry Jarvis, Edexcel's managing director. "The logistics of re-issuing an alternative paper to schools and colleges around the country and re-training markers on the new paper are complicated, costly, and could ultimately be detrimental to candidates." In 2006, out of 620,000 bags of examination papers dispatched by Edexcel, there were approximately 70 reports of security breaches.

RFID tags are beginning to be used in the retail industry to track items such as clothing and CDs. They have also been used by companies like Wal-Mart to help speed up and improve inventory management.

In addition to the RFID tags, Edexcel is utilizing a computer-based system that can flag potential cheaters if the student performs significantly better than statistical projections. Exams are scanned and digitized so that any papers that have been flagged can be sent instantly to the senior examining team for further analysis.

Doesn't it make you just want to get go back to school and learn, learn, learn? 

SOURCE: http://arstechnica.com