Students at Saltus Grammar School are due to sit a mathematics exam at 6 a.m. today — becoming the first youngsters on the Island to face a new early start time laid down by England's biggest exam board to combat cheating.

Fifteen pupils in the senior year of the private school have to be in school for 5.30 a.m. to take the AS Level Maths paper from the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA).

Tomorrow, 13 students at Saltus will sit AS Level ICT at the same time. Members of the parent teacher association plan to provide muffins, bagels and juice on both days in a bid to wake up the young learners.

Saltus is the first but not the only school in Bermuda to be affected by AQA's stipulation this year that overseas students taking its exams sit them at the same time as Britain.

Next week, students at Bermuda High School for Girls, the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy will also face their alarms going off alarmingly early on GCSE exam days.

Education Minister Randy Horton pledged last week to do all he could to get the start times — put in place to prevent students in earlier time zones passing on exam information to those abroad — changed.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education did not respond to requests for an update on the situation.

No information has yet been released on whether special transport or meal arrangements have been put in place for the two public senior schools.