According to official figures, more than 4,000 students were caught copying in A-level and GCSE examinations in Britain last summer, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mobiles, notes and dictionaries were some of the banned items that students smuggled past invigilators.

In fact, the cell phones were used by examinees to text friends for answers or to access the Internet for information, the British government's examination watchdog Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) said.

In total, 4,258 cases of ‘malpractice’ in GCSE and A-level exams were recorded in 2007, against 4,757 in 2006.

According to the QCA report, there were 1,620 cases of unauthorised material smuggled into the examination halls, with 1,000 believed to be mobile phones as well as other electronic gadgets.

Altogether 24 schools were warned for helping children through examinations -- usually exposed when more than one student gives the same answer -- compared with just two cases two years ago.

Examiners are now planning to conduct snap inspections of schools that had problems with cheating in 2007.