Whistleblowing

Sometimes, a member of teaching staff or member of the public has reason to believe that malpractice has or will occur in an examination or assessment. Concerns should normally be raised initially with the examination centre’s senior management. However, if this doesn’t resolve the matter, or they are believed to be involved, or there is a fear of retaliation, it should be reported to the awarding body. Further guidance on this is available from the JCQ website.

Members of staff who wish to report suspected malpractice at a centre where they work might be protected from being dismissed or penalised by the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA). PIDA protection is not available in all cases: for further guidance about the circumstances in which such protection is available please see the guidance on whistleblowing for employees. Members of the public are not protected by PIDA, but we will make every effort to protect their identity if that is what they wish, unless we are legally obliged to release it. However, it is important to note that where anonymity is required any possible actions we can take could be limited.

OCR takes all reports of malpractice seriously; however, in order to investigate concerns effectively, we will require information of a reasonably detailed standard. We will accept anonymous reports, although knowing how the information has been obtained and the reporting party’s relationship with the centre may add credibility.

Anyone wishing to report suspected malpractice to OCR should include as much of the following information as possible/is relevant:

• The qualifications and subjects involved
• The centre involved
• The names of staff/candidates involved
• The regulations breached/specific nature of suspected malpractice
• When and where the suspected malpractice occurred
• Whether multiple examination series are affected
• If the issue has been reported to the centre and what the outcome was
• How the issue became apparent.

Documentary evidence can be particularly useful and should be provided where it is available. Reports of suspected malpractice should be sent to malpractice@ocr.org.uk. Our malpractice team is also happy to provide advice.