High security to combat cheating in concours resit

Date: 14/01/1999

By Rory Watson

UNPRECEDENTED security measures are being introduced to prevent a repeat of the widespread cheating which forced the European Commission to cancel last autumn's recruitment exam for would-be officials.

As thousands of applicants prepare to resit the concours at test centres in all 15 member states on 6 February, final preparations for the exam are being made with almost military precision.

The Commission had little option but to cancel last September's exam, at a cost of €1.2 million to EU taxpayers, following the revelation that the questions had been leaked to some candidates before the test and allegations that many others had left the examination hall during the test to make calls on their mobile phones before returning to complete their papers. There were also insufficient papers at one test centre, while another gave candidates the wrong address.

In the run-up to next month's test, the Commission has laid down clear rules for the candidates for the first time. Each of the 30,000 applicants has been given a set of instructions ordering them to leave mobile phones, books and briefcases outside the examination room. They have also been warned that they may be disqualified if they leave and try to re-enter the hall.

Nor will there be any excuse for applicants to leave the room during the test on the grounds that they need to go to the toilet, as a 30-minute break is now being introduced between the two sessions.

There will be more examination centres than before, and the number of invigilators is being increased from 650 to 940 to ensure better supervision of candidates. Special training sessions are being organised for invigilators for the first time and almost 30 Commission directors are being sent to act as team leaders at the centres which will have to cope with the most candidates.

In addition, the number of people who have had access to the exam questions beforehand has been drastically reduced. Work on the translations has been carried out in a secure room on computers with no link to the outside world, the papers are being printed by a security firm which has experience of handling sensitive contracts involving banknotes, bonds and share issues, and the bags containing the papers will be triple-checked before being despatched.

Although the number of candidates actually sitting the tests is likely to fall to nearer 22,000 on the day, there are many within the Commission who argue that it is no longer feasible for the institution to organise pan-European concours on such a scale, with tests open to applicants from any member state.

"I just cannot see how you can organise such an exam when there will be more languages and more countries. There must be other ways of managing these preselection tests which are administratively less heavy," said one senior official.

Meanwhile, the Belgian authorities are still investigating the allegations of cheating in the autumn concours. But despite a parallel internal Commission inquiry and pledges that the source of the leak would soon be uncovered, no charges have yet been brought.