There is no proposal to allow students to use mobile phones, iPods, or the internet during Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations.

General Manager of the Office of the Board of Studies, Dr John Bennett, said strict rules govern the HSC exams which prevent students from taking such devices into the exam room.

‘This year’s HSC students must remember that if they take a mobile phone into an exam, they risk a zero mark in that course’, Dr Bennett said.

‘Today’s story in the Sydney Morning Herald relates to students using technological devices to access information in a school-designed Year 9 assessment task and is in no way related to the School Certificate or the Higher School Certificate.

‘The state-wide external tests and exams are tightly controlled and students are carefully monitored.

‘The Board has a zero tolerance approach when it comes to cheating and has provided information to students, teachers and parents on the consequences.

‘The information is available on the Board’s web site. See the rules for what students can take into the exam room: HSC Exam 2008 – Important Information

‘Cheating is absolutely unacceptable in the HSC. It undermines the integrity of the qualification and is unfair to other students.

‘I would like to reassure students, teachers and parents that in investigating the use of computers in exams, the Board of Studies is not considering allowing students to access outside sources, such as ‘phone a friend” or the internet.’