I have, in the past done some service as a paid examination invigilator. It is incredible how many ways students can think of to cheat. France has come up with quite a good idea for preventing students slipping a piece of ‘scrap’ paper with their notes on it, into the examination room. Each exam has a different colour of scrap paper. When I asked for some ‘scrap paper’ at the university – ‘brouillon’, I was offered paper in all sorts of lovely pastel shades. Yellow is used for one exam, pale blue for another and pink for a different subject, or even green. The choice is made at random to ensure that students can’t predict which colour will be used. An exam cheat in France risks being banned from taking any exam, including their driving test, for 5 years. In 2012 one hundred and forty students were punished in that manner. That is an idea that could be copied in the UK.