Search Page

The government urges that exam papers should be scanned by specialist computer software as part of a crackdown on internet plagiarism by A-level and GSCE pupils in their compulsory coursework. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority warns that exam boards appear to be failing to spot cheating, even though the number of cases of fraud is increasing. Last year 3,600 teenagers were caught breaching the rules, a 9 % rise on the previous year.

Almost a third of the polled students in Serbia said that they would bribe somebody if that was the only way to pass an exam, according to a survey conducted by the Students Union of Serbia. 69 % would cheat in their exams if it was certain they would not be caught, while 53 percent said they would not feel bad about the cheating. Seven in ten students said that corruption is involved in enrolment procedures, and 79% heard of cheating in the exams.

The new Matura exam, which is designed to be more objective and to ensure that the familiarity of students and teachers is no longer a factor, is facing criticism. Papers are now encoded and a cheat will automatically be failed. However, concerning the subject of the oral presentation, the student can now choose it before the actual exam. This has created a market for ready-made presentation which have appeared on the Internet for prices ranging from $30 to $165.

Exam boards report a sharp rise in teenagers caught cheating in public exams. More than 2,500 lost marks for breaking the rules in last year's GCSEs and A-levels - a 9% increase on 2003. More than 900 pupils were caught cheating or plagiarising their coursework. In total, 1,013 penalties were triggered by inappropriate use of mobile phones - 16% up on the same time last year.

Popular web-based auction sites such as eBay could be contributing to the spiralling number of plagiarism cases occurring at British universities. Increasing numbers of students are turning to commercial sales sites to both buy and sell dissertations and essays on the web. Powerpoint presentations and slides have emerged as the newest form of work to attract buyers on the internet.

The National Council for Higher Education and Research (Cneser), which is an administrative jurisdiction, treats every year cases of fraud in the French education system.

809 procedures against university students have been raised because of cheating. In 1999, 84 cases of fraud were detected for the graduating exam, against 148 cases in 2003. Out of the 77 cases discovered in 2004, 55 concerned use of personnel documents; 8 use of mobile phones; 6 change of draft and 8 false identity.

Several hundreds of students cheat on exams every year and the methods and imaginations are better than ever; programmed calculators; copying from Internet; fake identity card and so on. However, the sanctions can be up to two years exclusion from sitting an exam.

Sorbonne has for the first time in the university's history made a complaint against two students after having cheated on an exam. The two students have supposedly got help from a third person to correct their papers.

Police officers have collected "much new evidence" in the case of an alleged exam-selling ring at Rome's La Sapienza University, the largest university in Europe, the local newspaper Il Messagero reported last week. According to police officers, students paid fees ranging from $1,695 to $ 3,391, depending on the degree of difficulty, to receive oral-exam questions in advance from the faculty member who would test them.