Some math questions appear online, offenders to face harsh consequences

No test papers were leaked before this year's national college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, the National Education Examinations Authority said on Wednesday, but some math questions did appear online while the exams were underway.

This year's gaokao was held on Tuesday and Wednesday nationwide, except for some places that will extend it to Friday. The math test was held from 3 pm to 5 pm on Tuesday.

Some screenshots showed that someone in a chat group posted photos of math questions and asked for help at 3:48 pm. The questions were later confirmed to be from this year's exam questions. The online activity triggered public suspicion that this year's test papers might have been leaked before the exam.

The NEEA reported the activity to the police after noticing the reports. Preliminary investigation showed that the posted photos were not from a leak of the test papers before the exam, but rather from cheating during the exam, the NEEA said in a notice on its website.

In one case, an examinee in Gansu province violated regulations by bringing a mobile phone into the exam room. After the test started, the examinee took photos of the test paper and posted them in QQ chat groups to solicit answers from others, although to no avail, the notice said.

In another case, an examinee in Guangdong province released a post before the math test and claimed it was about this year's gaokao test paper. The examinee did not obtain any papers before the test, but after taking the exam he replaced the post's content with questions he had during the test so that it appeared as if he'd gotten the questions beforehand.

The NEEA said invigilators in the involved exam rooms had been replaced and monitoring had been strengthened. Examinees who violated test regulations and staff members who are found to have neglected their duty will be strictly punished.

According to the Gansu Education Examinations Authority, the math score of the examinee who cheated in the math exam was invalidated, and the examinee will not be allowed to take subsequent examinations.

According to the measures for handling irregularities in national education examinations, examinees who carry devices that can send or receive information in the test room will be regarded as cheating, and their scores will be invalidated.

Examinees who send or transmit test information outside of the examination room or use equipment to receive information to carry out cheating shall be suspended from resitting the examination for one to three years based on the seriousness of the case.

Organized cheating in national education examinations is a serious offense and violators shall be sentenced from three to seven years in prison plus a fine, according to a judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The NEEA could not confirm whether the examinee's behavior was a case of organized cheating based on the disclosed information from the authorities. If it was organized cheating, then the examinee may face severe punishment.