EXAM boards have set up dedicated teams to monitor social media as part of moves to clamp down on cheating.

A "huge amount" of time and effort is spent looking for signs and indications of malpractice in exams online, exam chiefs said.

The comments came as the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) - which represents UK exam boards - announced an independent inquiry into exam malpractice.

Malpractice is still "extremely rare", it was suggested, and official figures show that last year, 2,715 penalties were issued to candidates (0.01%), along with 895 to school staff and 120 to schools and colleges.

Sanctions issued to candidates were overwhelmingly for possession of a mobile phone in an exam, the JCQ noted.

Announcing the new commission, to be led by Sir John Dunford, Mark Bedlow of the OCR exam board said: "Malpractice that is deliberate is still extremely rare.

"But we are seeing the occasional story pop up and it is getting profile and we are also seeing students increasingly use technology in different ways."

He added that a lot of work is already done to combat malpractice, but more can be done to look at issues such as the role of social media, and to understand the reasons for malpractice.

Alex Scharaschkin of the AQA exam board said awarding bodies are conscious of the fact that there are different ways in which information can be shared.

Mr Bedlow said: "There's all this technology change that's going on. We spend a huge amount of effort and time monitoring social media, to look for signs and indicators of malpractice."