6 imprisoned in graduate exam cheating scheme

Six people have been imprisoned for up to four years for their part in a scheme to cheat on China’s national graduate school exam, state media reported yesterday.

Candidates were provided with wireless transmitters and receivers and told to read the questions out loud, according to the reports. Researchers off-site would then find the answers in textbooks and read them back via the receivers.

Among those sentenced on Tuesday were two exam takers who helped recruit clients. It wasn’t clear how much the cheaters paid for the service or what punishment they received, although permanent disqualification from the exams is usual in such cases.

The six plaintiffs were sentenced to between 20 months and four years and fined up to 40,000 yuan (US$5,900). They could have faced as much as seven years in prison under a 2015 amendment to the law.

Exam scores make up the overwhelming preponderance of criteria for acceptance in the Chinese education system from early education onward.