Every summer there is at least one news story about an exam paper being leaked, and every year students ask what really happens next. The short version: for UK GCSEs, malpractice is handled under a shared framework called JCQ Suspected Malpractice Policies and Procedures. For Cambridge International qualifications, it is handled by Cambridge directly. Both cover the same ground (what happens to the exam, what happens to a candidate, what to do if you see one) but with different bodies making the decisions.
This guide covers both frameworks, walks through recent real cases from 2026, and sets out the practical advice: if a leak lands in a group chat, do not look, do not share, and tell your exams officer. If you are worried about the outcome of a paper that had a leak allegation, our how to appeal your GCSE results guide covers the post-results route.
The rule you need to know: obtaining, keeping, using or passing on leaked material counts as candidate malpractice under JCQ rules, and in the most serious cases sanctions can include disqualification from all qualifications in that series. If a leak reaches you, don't engage with it and report it straight away.
How UK GCSE malpractice is handled: the JCQ framework
JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) is the body that publishes shared malpractice policy across AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, and CCEA. JCQ publishes a new edition of its Suspected Malpractice Policies and Procedures each academic year; check the JCQ website for the edition that covers your exam series. The policy sets rules that apply to GCSEs, A-levels and many vocational qualifications offered by JCQ member awarding bodies.
Under the JCQ policy, candidate malpractice includes:
- Actively seeking, buying, or asking for a leaked paper.
- Sharing or forwarding leaked material to others (including in group chats).
- Using leaked material to prepare, even without paying for it.
If you receive something that may be a leaked paper, report it to your exams officer straight away.
Sanctions available under the policy range from a warning, through zero marks for the affected component, through disqualification from the unit, the whole qualification, or every qualification the candidate is sitting in that series. In serious cases, the awarding body can bar a candidate from entering its exams for a set period.
Centres (schools and colleges) must report alleged, suspected or actual incidents to the relevant awarding body via a JCQ M1 form. Appeals against a malpractice decision are made to the relevant awarding body, normally through your head of centre, within 14 calendar days of receiving the decision.
What happens to the exam itself
The exam is a separate question from the candidate-side sanctions. When a paper or specific questions are confirmed as leaked, the awarding body has a set of standard remedies:
Discount the compromised questions. Marks are calculated across the remaining questions in the paper and grade boundaries adjusted accordingly.
Award full marks on the compromised questions to every candidate. This is the approach Cambridge International has used in recent cases; it neutralises the advantage anyone who saw the leak might have tried to gain.
Use an assessed marks methodology. If a whole paper is compromised (rare), the awarding body calculates grades from performance across the other components of the same qualification.
Set aside the paper and rescore. In extreme cases (a full paper leaked with no other component to fall back on), a replacement paper or a rescoring exercise may be needed, but this is uncommon.
Which remedy applies depends on the scope of the leak (a single question versus a whole paper) and the number of candidates affected. Most confirmed leaks in recent years have involved individual questions rather than complete papers, and the discount-or-full-marks route has been the standard response.
The Cambridge International 2025 and 2026 cases
Cambridge International Education runs IGCSEs and International AS and A Levels that are sat by students in over 160 countries. Because of the scale and global sitting times, it faces a specific set of confidentiality challenges that UK domestic boards do not.
In June 2025, Cambridge confirmed that one question in AS & A Level Mathematics Paper 12, two questions in Paper 42 and one question in AS Level Computer Science Paper 22 had been leaked, and gave all candidates full marks for those questions.
In early May 2026, Cambridge cancelled AS & A Level Mathematics Paper 12 (9709/12) after the whole paper was leaked online, and affected candidates in several regions sat a replacement paper on 9 June 2026 at no extra cost.
In May 2026 Cambridge confirmed that A Level Mathematics Paper 52 (9709/52) and AS Level Computer Science Paper 12 (9618/12) had been 'shared prematurely in Pakistan against our strict regulations', and said it would use assessed marks for candidates in Pakistan. In August 2026, however, it confirmed that Mathematics 9709/52 grades would be based on candidates' original answers after all, while Computer Science 9618/12 would use assessed marks, with a free resit offered in November 2026. Cambridge has said it is pursuing legal action against those responsible, with sanctions available up to permanent disqualification from Cambridge qualifications.
Wider news coverage in mid-2026 flagged allegations of a larger number of papers being shared online, and investigations are ongoing.
Cambridge International handles its own malpractice separately from JCQ. If you sit Cambridge IGCSEs or International A Levels, the rules that apply to you are Cambridge's, not JCQ's, though the candidate-side principles are similar.
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What counts as candidate malpractice with a leak
This is where students get caught out most often, and it is worth being direct about it. Simply opening a message that turns out to contain a leaked question is not in itself malpractice, but what you do next matters: close it and report it immediately rather than screenshotting or forwarding it. The JCQ tip-off route exists precisely for this.
Under both JCQ and Cambridge policies, the following can be treated as malpractice:
Actively searching for a leak (checking Reddit, Telegram, YouTube for the paper before your exam). Messages and online activity can be used as evidence in a malpractice investigation.
Sharing a leaked screenshot in a group chat, even if you are just showing what you saw.
Buying leaked material, no matter how small the payment or how the seller framed it.
Using leaked material to prepare notes, memorise answers, or plan your exam approach.
One useful mental line: if you would be embarrassed to explain to your school what you did with a leaked paper, that is probably the malpractice test. "I saw it in a group chat and told my exams officer" is fine. "I saw it in a group chat and used it to prepare" is not.
Sanctions available under the policy
| Sanction | Typical example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Warning | First minor infraction, cooperated fully | Recorded on file; no mark impact |
| Zero marks (affected component) | Confirmed use of leaked material on one paper | That paper scored zero |
| Disqualification from unit | Serious infraction on one paper | Unit removed from qualification |
| Disqualification from qualification | Confirmed sharing or purchase | Whole GCSE removed |
| Disqualification from all qualifications in the series | Widespread malpractice, coordination | Every GCSE sat that summer removed |
| Bar from future exam series | Repeat offence or criminal element | Set period before re-sitting |
What to do if you see a suspected leak
- Do not open, forward, screenshot, or share the content
- Do not reply or engage with the person who sent it
- Take note of when you received it and who sent it (if visible), but do not save the content itself
- Tell your exams officer at school in person, or by email if you cannot reach them
- If it is outside school hours, tell a parent or carer, then contact school first thing the next morning
- Do not post about it on social media or in class group chats
- If it turns out to be a fake or a study aid mis-labelled as a leak, the exams officer will confirm that after checking
The rule the JCQ policy sets is that centres (not students) submit the M1 malpractice form to the awarding body. Your job as a student is to get the information to your exams officer or exam board contact as quickly and cleanly as possible. Screenshots and forwards work against you here, even when your intent is to help; do not do it.
If you are worried a leak has affected your results (either because you saw one, or because your subject was the one under investigation), our how to appeal your GCSE results guide covers the reviews of marking process. For general results-day preparation, GCSE results day 2026: dates, times and what to expect has the timeline.
