Examination board Edexel is to start adding RFID tags to exam papers in an effort to stop students' work going missing.

The company sent out 620,000 bags of exam papers last year and received around 70 reports of security breaches.

A "significant number" will now include RFID tags that can be scanned on the way out and scanned on receipt by examiners.

Jerry Jarvis, managing director at Edexel, said: "Incidents involving stolen papers are extremely rare, but the potential impact is massive.

"The logistics of reissuing an alternative paper to schools and colleges around the country, and retraining markers on the new paper, are complicated, costly and could ultimately be detrimental to candidates.

"We are doing a major trial of new techniques and technologies with the aim of deterring potential thefts, enabling us to better identify the source of a lost or stolen paper, and reducing the threat of fake papers being sold to candidates."

The company is also using scanning technology to catch the cheats. Nine out of 10 papers are scanned and checked to see that pupils have not given the exact same answers. It also hopes to identify results which are significantly better than predicted.