‘I’ve only caught three exam cheats in 25 years’

She told BBC Scotland News: “There have only been three unquestionable incidents of breaking the rules with intent.

“One was in a modern languages exam where it struck me that one candidate appeared to be looking up an awful lot of words [in a dictionary] starting with A or B. But indeed it turned out they had notes tucked in there.

“The most recent one was a mobile phone in somebody’s pocket which is clearly totally against the rules. Not only was it in their pocket, but it was on.”

She added that these incidents were very rare and the overwhelming majority of candidates were polite, grateful and abide by the rules.

Another major change and additional challenge is in the rise in the number of candidates who need special conditions to sit their exams, such as using IT, getting extra time or having a separate room.

Dr Laird said: “It’s no longer the concept that everybody goes into the school hall.

“This year we had 22 rooms on the go for Nat Five English.

“Also quite a lot of students need their exam paper to be slightly different from the standard version – such as a particular font or an enlarged print, or coloured paper.

“Some schools may need them to be in braille. So you must know exactly where that candidate is going to be because you need to get the correct paper to them.”