--- description: Chinese students sitting down to the important 'gaokao' exams face jail time were they are caught cheating on their tests title: Chinese Students Face 7 Years in Jail for Exam Cheating image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72e01a3acb2fc911/698896e8cd1bba4afb70104b/gettyimages-538539004.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Chinese Students Face Up to 7 Years in Prison for Cheating on College-Entrance Exams  by [Charlie Campbell / Beijing](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell / Beijing Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Jun 8, 2016 9:18 AM CUT  An examinee writes during the Gaokao at the exam site on June 7, 2016 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province of China. An examinee writes during the Gaokao at the exam site on June 7, 2016 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province of China.VCG/Getty Images  by [Charlie Campbell / Beijing](/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell / Beijing Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Jun 8, 2016 9:18 AM CUT Chinese students sitting down to the most important exams of their lives this week needed no reminder of how high stakes were. But they got one — the promise of jail time if they were caught cheating on their tests. It’s the first time that custodial sentences have been stipulated for anyone using underhand tactics to get ahead their _gaokao_ university entrance examinations — essentially China’s equivalent of America’s SAT. School leavers are assessed on their Chinese, mathematics, English and another subject of their choosing, though accusations of mass cheating have been rife in recent years, even involving alleged organized syndicates between teachers and pupils. In 2013, there was a riot at one school when invigilators [tried to halt](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10132391/Riot-after-Chinese-teachers-try-to-stop-pupils-cheating.html "undefined") brazen exam fraud. Already, surveillance [drones](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33059635 "undefined") and metal detectors are deployed to catch those smuggling in illicit radio equipment, while [iris and fingerprint scanners](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/925831.shtml "undefined") ferret out brainy stooges paid to sit the test in lieu of the bona fide student. **Read More:** [_Read Stephen Hawking’s Charming Message to Stressed Chinese Students_](http://time.com/4359374/stephen-hawking-china-gao-kao-gaokao-examinations-college-university/ "undefined") Now, though, those caught cheating will be banned from repeating the test for several years, while anyone caught facilitating mass cheating or paying someone else to sit the test on their behalf can face up to seven years in prison. “So many students cheated the year I took my _gaokao_ and if cheating were treated as a criminal offense then, I would be much better off than I am now,” posted one user on China’s Twitter-like microblog Weibo. “I think there are many victims like me.” Security is so tight that for the first time SWAT teams will accompany _gaokao_ test papers, with at least eight police officers guarding each examination hall in Beijing, [reports](http://english.cctv.com/2016/06/07/VIDEV7fOomyL9d8DRjsJqCqT160607.shtml "undefined") state media. For Chinese students, the pressure to succeed can be overwhelming. This year, an estimated 9.4 million high school students are vying for just over 3 million undergraduate places. Last year, only 1 in 10 students were accepted into “top tier” universities, while a quarter failed to get into tertiary education of any standard. Without a good _gaokao_ test score, opportunities are largely reduced to low-paying blue-collar jobs. Many students are only children because of China’s recently rescinded [one-child policy](http://time.com/4092453/china-one-child-rule/ "undefined"), and, owing to the nation’s spotty social security provision, are solely relied upon to support their parents and grandparents though their dotage. As such, even those not prone to cheat go to extraordinary lengths to succeed on the _gaokao_. There are short-term [nannies](http://www.sixthtone.com/NEWS/GAOKAO-NANNIES-CASH-EXAM-STRESS "undefined") — normally students at top universities who recently bested the _gaokao_ themselves — who are paid top dollar to act as study partners, even moving in with their charges for maximum effect. Some parents pay for hotel rooms near the testing center to maximize sleep and pretest swatting time. But there are other ways to glean a slight advantage in the _gaokao_, even if it does not strictly count as cheating. Students in certain parts of China — most notably Beijing, home of China’s elite progeny — sit a different _gaokao_ that is perceived as easier than the test taken, for example, in highly populated Shandong and Hebei provinces. In addition, many of China’s most prestigious universities are Beijing-based, and they all reserve places for local students with a Beijing _hukou_ (residence registration), meaning competition for these places is far less. However, students must generally take their exam wherever their _hukou_ is registered. Getting your _hukou_ transferred to Beijing is pretty tricky but getting it moved to a remote province, where there are also lower university-entrance stipulations, a short while before the test is feasible for those with enough ready cash and connections. (Incidentally, students from China’s 55 ethnic minorities also automatically get [points added](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/987511.shtml "undefined") to their scores.) Naturally, these regional variations are a cause of great bitterness to exam students, and are also a frequent cause of protests. “The government spent a lot of effort to stop cheating, but I think the biased regional policies are the biggest discrimination,” posted one Weibo user. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4360968/china-gaokao-examination-university-entrance-cheating-jail-prison/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4360968/china-gaokao-examination-university-entrance-cheating-jail-prison/"},"headline":"Chinese Students Face Up to 7 Years in Prison for Cheating on College-Entrance Exams","datePublished":"2016-06-08T09:18:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:27:39.166Z","description":"In addition to SWAT teams guarding test papers and drones scouring for test fraud","url":"https://time.com/4360968/china-gaokao-examination-university-entrance-cheating-jail-prison/","keywords":["China","Jail","Cheating","Prison","University"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72e01a3acb2fc911/698896e8cd1bba4afb70104b/gettyimages-538539004.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell / Beijing"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt72e01a3acb2fc911/698896e8cd1bba4afb70104b/gettyimages-538539004.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"China's Annual National College Entrance Exam 2016","caption":"China's Annual National College Entrance Exam 2016","creditText":"VCG/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4360968/china-gaokao-examination-university-entrance-cheating-jail-prison/","name":"Chinese Students Face Up to 7 Years in Prison for Cheating on College-Entrance Exams"}}]}] ```