From making fun of pupils to ‘playing PAC-MAN’ in the exam hall: How invigilators pass the time as students sit tests

• Invigilators have shared the surprising ways they pass the time during exams
• From human battleships to making fun of students – it’s not what you’d expect

We all know the frustrating feeling of trying to concentrate in an exam, when all you can hear is the exam invigilators heels clicking across the PE hall floor as they come to peer over your shoulder.

It’s an experience that’s all too familiar to GCSE and A Level students who received their results this month.

However, it’s surprising what invigilators get up to while you’re too busy taking the exam to notice.

You might ask them if you can pop to the toilet or frantically tell them you need a new pen, but it’s rare you pay attention to what they’re actually doing as the hours pass by.

Well, it turns out they could be having the time of their lives – from secretly making fun of unsuspecting students to playing human PAC-MAN, invigilators have shared how they pass the time during exams. 

Those who you tend to forget about in the exam hall actually might be the ones you need to be wary of – exam invigilators (stock image)

Making fun of students

Rumours have circulated on social media that the games invigilators play can be quite harsh.

A popular game is a mean version of ‘who’s most likely to’ where one teacher asks a question such as ‘which student is most likely to go to prison’ and another stands next to the student they think it applies to.

In a Reddit thread about the subject, one person claiming to be an invigilator confirmed that ‘they would play games such as, go and stand next to the ugliest child’.

Around exam season last year, another invigilator appeared on the radio station Capital and said they often play ‘stand by who you think might fail’.

PAC-MAN and ‘paper boy’

The same invigilator also said that they often play human PAC-MAN where ‘one of you is PAC-MAN and the other is the ghost,’ causing the radio hosts to crack up in laughter.

One maths and physics teacher from the UK took to TikTok to share her experiences of invigilating.

Invigilators have shared they play a range of games such as PAC-MAN and battleships (stock image)

She said ‘Invigilating exams is so boring, especially for teachers. We like to talk, we don’t know how to stand still and be quiet.

‘We play some games to entertain ourselves, you have to make sure you’re paired up with your teacher buddy. 

‘We sometimes play PAC-MAN so walk in lines across the room, there’s also a game called paper boy – so the first teacher to give away all their paper wins.

‘That’s why when you put your hand up you may occasionally be descended upon to be given extra paper.

‘There’s a teacher at the front of the room and you almost copy of their movements, talking about this is so sad.’ 

In the comments of the video, one pupil wrote ‘During my last physics GCSE the invigilators were playing tag and one actually fell over.’

Another added ‘My geography teacher once said they would make up a hunger games and would stand behind the people would would die first’.

Someone else wrote ‘now it makes sense why every teacher runs to give extra paper first haha’. 

If they’re feeling really fun, invigilators will even play a game of tag, with someone writing ‘Walk round, don’t run, and try to catch the invigilator in front. I’ve done that’

Battleships and tag

Another popular game for exam invigilators is battleships – another Redditor added:

‘Exam halls have ‘coordinates’ as each pupil is allocated a seat e.g. E8. Make a note of where your ships are. 

‘To bomb your opponent’s ship just go stand next to the desk you want to bomb and your opponent will nod if it’s a hit.’

If they’re feeling really fun, invigilators will even play a game of tag, with someone writing ‘Walk round, don’t run, and try to catch the invigilator in front. I’ve done that.’

Noughts and crosses is another popular option, with someone adding ‘Ours used to use the students to play noughts and crosses and 4 in a row. They’d stand next to a student and nod to the other invigilator to signal that was their move.’

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