Mobile Phones Hidden in Shoes, Bluetooth Devices Suspended from Necklaces: What Tricks Did Applicants Use?

For the first time, we used metal detectors, which was new for both us and the applicants. This was stated today, July 23, during a press conference by Karo Nasibyan, the deputy director of the Admission Examination Center, summarizing this year's unified entrance exams.

“My impression is that this definitely had a positive effect. However, there is a segment that, both then and now, has attempted to enter with a phone or other device. We had applicants who were using a necklace, and nothing was visible—when you brought the metal detector close, it rang, but when we lifted it, there was already a Bluetooth device underneath. We had a graduate who was wearing a necklace, but that was a device that could talk and receive. We also had applicants who were putting small balls in their ears, which is dangerous. I was told that they later go to a doctor to have them removed with a magnet because they go in quite deep. For the first time, we also saw that they could carry a phone inside their shoes. Imagine if those metal detectors didn’t exist, how many options there would be for carrying a phone or such devices.

There have been several cases where devices were placed in trash bins in restrooms, and then they would go, check, and bring the phone later,” he said.

Nasibyan added that when any device is found on an applicant, according to the rules, they are removed from the examination room, regardless of when the device is discovered. “There was a case where we had to remove 5-6 people from one examination room that had 50-60 applicants present,” he noted.