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• Thousands of transport managers could be passing their Certificate of Professional Competence exams by cheating. One training company, Friendberry, of Taunton, is so concerned about exam fraud, it is offering a 210,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
Industry sources attack the RSA's exam vigilation procedure as "lacking control" and "a shambles": even the Road Transport Industry Training Board concedes that the RSA system is "not watertight".
The Royal Society of Arts, which administers the CPC exam, is investigating allegations of cheating against one training centre which is said to have achieved an almost perfect pass rate last year.
Sara Coldicott of the RSA says: "Obviously we have to rely to some extent on the integrity of centres. But we issue very strict instructions on the opening, collecting and dis patching of papers which place responsibility very clearly on the individuals."
Any training centre can be the subject of a spot check by an RSA inspector, either during exams or the training period, but the RSA admits that most centres will be inspected less than once a year. "Once a student hands in a paper, there is no control over it," says Eddie Pargeter, director of EP Training Services, Esher. "Anyone could alter the students' marks."
Exam papers are delivered up to a week before the exam date, and one industry source told Commercial Motor of a CPC candidate who was offered an opened paper for 250 one week before last October's exam. But the RSA dismisses suggestions that it is easy for students to see exam questions before sitting the exam. "The papers have to be sent a week before to make sure they arrive in time," says