Two Ways to Keep Phones Out of an Exam
Testing centers bar phones from the exam room and have settled on two main ways of making sure. With lockers, the student powers the phone off and leaves it outside the testing room along with the coat and the backpack. With pouches, the phone is locked into a pouch at check-in and stays with the test-taker, sitting in view of the proctor, until check-out.
The profession's own standards don't require either one. The National College Testing Association's standards ask for secure storage of examinee belongings and no access to them during testing, without saying it has to be a locker, though some exam sponsors do specify. LSAC tells LSAT candidates that their phones go in lockers provided at the test center.
The Underlying Question: Where Is the Phone, and Who Can Reach It?
Lockers put distance between the student and the phone. Iowa State University went this route in 2025, adding lockers, dividers, and cameras to two of its testing centers. Its testing manager told the Iowa State Daily that the lockers were meant to cut down on phone use and on the noise that bags and jackets make, and that misconduct reports had come down since they went in.
The same article also describes the downsides. The renovation was paid for largely by a $630,000 award, and whether other centers get the same treatment depends on space and funding. One proctor described students locking their own ID inside the locker, and the line that builds outside the door while staff sort it out. A center that holds other people's property also has to say something about liability, which is why Arizona State's testing services, like many others, tell students they aren't responsible for items left in lockers.
A pouch keeps the phone close and takes away the ability to open it. The phone stays with its owner for the whole exam, the owner can’t open the pouch until check-out, and the device sits on the desk where the proctor can see it. Many centers assign each pouch to a specific testing station or seat, which keeps inventory simple and makes any misuse easy to trace.
How a Pouch Check-In Works
Purdue Testing Services requires Yondr pouches for securing electronics and publishes its routine. At check-in the student puts their phone, smartwatch, and earbuds in a pouch, and a proctor locks it while they watch; the pouch then stays on the desk for the whole exam. For online exams that need two-factor authentication, the student logs in at their seat first and the phone goes into the pouch after that. At check-out, the pouch is unlocked at the desk.
The Texas Board of Law Examiners applies the same model at a higher-stakes exam. It bars cell phones from the secure area of the bar exam unless they're secured in a Yondr pouch.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Locking Pouches | Lockers | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the phone is during the exam | The phone stays with the test-taker, locked, on the desk where the proctor can see it | Outside the room in a locker, cubby, or bin |
| Who controls access | Staff, at the check-in and check-out desk | Whoever holds the key or code |
| What a proctor can see | A closed pouch on each desk | An empty desk; storage happens out of sight |
| Two-factor logins | Student authenticates at the seat, then the phone is pouched | Student is escorted back to the locker after logging in, adding back-and-forth traffic for staff |
| Ringing and vibrating phones | Signal-blocking configuration keeps a stored phone silent and offline | Phones left on ring and buzz from the lockers, often near staff desks |
| Responsibility for the device | The owner keeps possession | Centers commonly disclaim liability for stored items |
| Coats, bags, and laptops | Still need a shelf or storage area | Stored in the locker |
Where Each One Fits
Choose locking pouches if...
Students need their phone for a two-factor login before they start, and you’d rather not escort them back to a locker afterward.
You want every phone and wearable (smartwatches, AirPods) secured and visible on a desk where a proctor can see it.
The locker line backs up outside your door every midterm and finals week.
Bathroom breaks are hard to monitor, and you want the phone to stay at the student’s station while they’re gone.
Your testing capacity reaches beyond one permanent room, so you need a setup that moves and scales.
Choose lockers if...
You deliver exams for sponsors that spell out locker storage.
Coats, backpacks, and laptops need somewhere secure to go regardless.
You have the floor space and the capital budget for banks of lockers.
Many centers run both, with shelving or lockers for bags and pouches for devices. Purdue works this way.
Why Universities Choose Yondr for Testing
Test integrity is why more than 100 universities require Yondr in their testing centers. Louisiana State University's Director of Testing described what changed there: "Phones and cheating were always an issue, but since using Yondr, we have had zero incidents."
Yondr signal-blocking pouches are deployed in university testing centers, courthouses, corporate offices and worksites, and standardized testing environments including bar and civil service exams. Yondr has partnered with courts, universities, and workplaces roughly a decade longer than any competitor in the category, and that experience arrives with the pouches, as staff training and a partner success contact who stays on after launch.
Talk to Yondr about a phone-free testing center on your campus.
FAQs
Do test-takers keep their phones with a pouch system?
They do. The phone goes into a pouch at check-in, the pouch is locked, and it stays with its owner until they unlock it at check-out under staff supervision. The center never takes custody of the device.
How do students complete two-factor authentication if phones are locked away?
By logging in before the pouch is locked. Once the examinee has entered their authentication code, their phone is pouched under proctor supervision.
Do testing center pouches block signal?
They can. Yondr’s Faraday signal-blocking pouch blocks cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connections, which adds security for high-stakes exams and keeps stored devices from buzzing or connecting during the test. Yondr also offers a standard pouch that locks without blocking signal, and a center can use both. Purdue gives a non-signal-blocking pouch to students whose approved accommodations depend on a connected medical device.
