This is the series where we shine a light on some of the amazing people who work in our VICTVS Global Network.  With over 5,000 members worldwide, our network is filled with inspiring individuals making a difference every day, and we hope highlighting their incredible stories and achievements will inspire you.

In this interview, we hear more from VGN member Joy Day about her time at VICTVS.

What made you start working with us specifically and what made you pursue invigilation as a job? 

I’ve been an invigilator for about 15-16 years; it really started by chance because my husband works at Heriot-Watt University here in Edinburgh. 

One of his colleagues at the time was saying that she was desperate for people to help with exams.  She asked if I was able to help out, so I did, and it kind of mushroomed from there!

It was during COVID that I saw the advert for VICTVS.  I applied and got in contact with a very nice lady, Ramona.  She wanted someone to do exams in-person in Edinburgh because certain exams needed to continue in-person.  She asked me if I would do some exams and I said “yes”, and then she asked me to be the chief invigilator.  She was so nice, and I thought, “that’s the kind of people I would like to work with.”  The rest is five years in VICTVS history. 

Over your time at VICTVS, have you had any particularly memorable instances of cheating? 

At VICTVS, I’ve only ever had two people try to cheat.  But at the university…oh my word, I could write a book on it!  I’ve had notes written on shoes and people sharing shoes by going to the toilet. 

There were two gentlemen who had white plimsolls – they’d written all the answers in blue biro so that it looked like a design on their shoes, and then they swapped shoes.  They were sitting, as men do, with one ankle sat on top of the knee.  I was wondering “why are you doing this?”  We didn’t realise until we walked past that the answers to the exam were written on their shoes.

I had a great girl who we called the ‘cigarette girl.’  We had seen her cheat in the main exams and she came in to sit the resets.  A colleague and I saw her straight away – her hair had been backcombed, it was huge.  My colleague and I said to each other, “wasn’t she the one that we caught cheating in the last exams?”  I was standing at the back of the room and she kept scratching her hair, but what she was actually doing was playing with her hair, and when she brought her hand down there was a rolled-up piece of paper like a cigarette.  She was trying to put that on the desk because it had her answers on for the essay.  And she had six in her hair! 

With the amount of thought and work that goes into some of these cheating methods, you may as well just actually revise for the exam! 

We often said that…When I was doing Life in the UK exams, it was almost industrialised cheating.  Because of course, people teach candidates how to pass the Life in the UK test. 

The worst I ever saw was a lady who had a Bluetooth piece sewn into the skin behind her ear! 

We regularly used to get ladies who had Bluetooth earphones in their ear because they would quietly read the question and say to us, “it helps me think because English isn’t my first language.”  They would quietly read the question and read the answers, and then they would get an A, B, C or D answer back in their ear.  But the worst I ever saw was a lady who had it sewn into the skin at the back of her ear. 

We’ve had it down trousers and taped to bodies, things like that, that was common.  But to actually have it sewn into your skin was something else.  I caught them because I saw the blue light flashing! 

What did you do in that instance?  

The only thing we could do was follow procedures.  We couldn’t ask them to leave, even though it was obvious they were cheating.  We had to take photographs, because it’s only the Home Office that could actually stop them doing that. 

We used to have wands for the Life in the UK exam, and these detect anything.  The Bluetooth incident was before we brought in wands, and it was partly because of that that we brought them in. 

As an invigilator, certainly as a chief invigilator, if you set the tone for an exam with an “I’m here to do my job to make sure that you do your job properly”, it sends a message of “don’t cheat because I will catch you.”  You want to be kind to candidates, but you also don’t want them to cross that boundary – and you know where that is before you walk in.  I’ve only ever caught one person, and she was writing after the end of the exam.  She tried to bribe me and another colleague into not saying anything! I don’t know what happened to her, whether she was ever allowed to take her exam again or not.  

What kind of qualities do you think make a great invigilator?

You can look at all the things that are required as an invigilator – they’ve got to be competent, they’ve got to be honest, they’ve got to have integrity.  They’ve got to have all these things.  But I think one of the most important things is that they have a sense of consequence. What consequences will there be if you don’t do your job, and if you allow somebody to cheat in an exam?  If you don’t do something about it, the consequences of a candidate going into an industry without full competency of that exam could be catastrophic.  If an invigilator understands that they will be a good invigilator.

My son graduated three or four years ago now as a naval architect.  His work is peer reviewed, so if he does something, it’s got to be signed off by another one of his peers.  But if he didn’t know what he was doing, if he had cheated and somebody else wasn’t quite as competent, something wrong could get through.  And in his case, that might mean the loss of a ship, and how much does that cost?  It’s the same with anything: it doesn’t matter whether it’s a doctor, whether it’s a civil engineer – just imagine if a bridge fell, what are the consequences of that?  I think if invigilators understand that these exams aren’t just a tick-box exercise, but that they’re done for a reason, then that will make them a good invigilator. 

Is there anyone who inspires you in your life and why?  

I lived in Africa for two years and I had a fabulous team of people at the hotel where we lived and worked.  The Maasai have got a saying: “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with friends.”  I think anybody who goes with friends inspires me because teamwork, it makes everything happen.  That’s just how it is.  People who do things not for their own glorification, people who will give back to society, without looking for recognition or even remuneration…Those kinds of people inspire me. 

Do you have any specific goals that you’re working towards? 

No, to be honest!  I’m 62, it’s my birthday on Saturday and I’ve done the whole ‘greasy pole’ thing.  I slid back down to the bottom and quite honestly, I don’t like the look of going back up there again.  I would like the people that come into contact with me – whether it’s for a long time or a short time – to think “she was helpful.”  That’s all.  

I don’t really have these big ambitions of “I’d like to go climb Kilimanjaro”.  I did that when I lived in Africa.  I don’t really want to swim the Channel!  I don’t want to run for Parliament or do anything ridiculous like that.  I would just like people who come into contact with me to say “Thanks for helping” – that would be enough.