International Baccalaureate exams authority warns of disqualification after alleged leak
- Exam papers allegedly leaked online, sparking concerns of fairness among test takers
- ‘The IB was made aware that a limited number of students have potentially engaged in cheating via social media channels,’ authority says
The authority managing the ongoing International Baccalaureate (IB) exams has warned it might disqualify any pupils involved in misconduct days after test papers were allegedly leaked online, sparking concerns of fairness among students.
A Hong Kong student told the Post on Saturday she was devastated by the apparent leak, calling it unfair to everyone who had studied for the test.
Discussions emerged online this week claiming some students had accessed leaked exam materials for mathematics and physics, prompting a warning from the test authority.
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“The IB was made aware that a limited number of students have potentially engaged in cheating via social media channels,” the IB told the Post on Saturday. “We take all allegations of academic misconduct seriously and have identified students who took part in this activity.”
The 2024 edition of the IB exam takes place between April 24 to May 17. Photo: Handout
“Consequences for students identified in correlation with this misconduct include: not receiving marks for their examination and/or relevant subjects, and potentially the non-award of the IB qualification.”
The Hong Kong-based student who wished to remain anonymous told the Post that she discovered the mathematics papers were leaked after she took the exam on May 1.
But due to time zone differences, the alleged leaks happened before students in Europe and Africa took the exam, allowing them to read the papers beforehand.
“Students from Europe and other areas would have had access to the answers prior to the exam, hence shifting the grade boundaries as most people who took the exam honestly would have had reasonably lower grades due to the difficulty of exams,” she said.
“It’s unfair as everyone had studied really hard for this paper only for people in other locations to take the exam with the answers already under their belt.”
A Post check found a Telegram channel named pirateIB involved in the alleged leak had deleted what appeared to be the papers.
The channel administrator posted an apology to the affected students and said it would no longer be leaking any exam papers.
“We would like to publicly apologise to all students who may have been affected negatively by the leaks,” it wrote. “This year, leaks were tried out as an experiment, thinking that it would be useful and well received by the community. However, it clearly seems there was a big part that didn’t seem to like it, which is understandable.”
The administrator claimed leaks could help many students review the exams at the last minute, similar to past papers, adding: “Although the methods used were perhaps not the most ideal (fighting academic dishonesty with dishonest actions), desperate times call for desperate measures.”
The Swiss-based IB diploma programme, which lasts two years, is an internationally recognised university entrance qualification.
The IB and Diploma of Secondary Education are Hong Kong’s two major university entrance exams.
The 2024 edition of the IB exam takes place between April 24 to May 17.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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