UK Teens Send Millions of Exam Texts

Figures released by the UK's MDA (Mobile Data Association) show that August saw two of the biggest days for text messaging so far this year, as youngsters shared their GCSE and A-level results via SMS. A total of 137 million text messages were sent on August 17th, the day that A-level results were issued. This figure is over one third higher than the 99 million text messages sent on the equivalent day last year and confirms the upward growth of text as the major communication method for the UK's youth.

The figure for August 24th, the day GCSE results were released, was almost as high with a total of 136 million messages sent across the UK networks. These totals are only beaten by those sent on England's World Cup 2006 match days and the total for New Year's Day 2006.

A recent survey has shown that students would like to receive their results by SMS. The governments E-envoy office (responsible for advising government on all IT/IS issues) have predicted that sending results by SMS will revolutionise and speed up the publication of exam results. In a study undertaken by Orange the majority of students would prefer to receive their results via text message. 62% of students are in favour of getting their grades sent directly to their mobile phones, rather than having to rely on the postman to ensure they are delivered on time.

Convenience and freedom topped the list of reasons why text messages were seen as a good means of releasing the results.

A spokesman said: "Most students own mobile phones and are familiar with sending and receiving information as text messages."

Posted to the site on 6th September 2006