As students around the world cram for this Saturday’s SAT college entrance exam, many in Asia are poring over old tests in hopes the College Board will again reuse a test that has leaked ahead of time. These bootleg tests are widely available on Chinese websites to download for free.
Students and tutors were amazed in January after thousands who flocked to regional testing hubs in Hong Kong and Singapore discovered they were given the same exam administered in Asia the previous June. In the intervening months, copies of the exam freely circulated on the web, giving students in Asia a leg up in the fight for prized slots at premier U.S. universities.
The recycled test was all the more surprising because the College Board, which owns the SAT, has been plagued for years by test leaks and other security breaches in Asia.
The problems have prompted tens of thousands of test score delays across Asia and raised questions about the integrity of the exam, a central piece of U.S. university applications. Students from China and South Korea, where the most widespread problems have been reported, represent two out of every five foreign undergraduates enrolled in U.S. colleges.
“The recycling of tests is serious. It is giving Asian students a huge advantage over American kids,” said Duc Luu, founder and CEO of The Edge, which provides test prep and college consulting services to students in Hong Kong and mainland China. Unless the College Board puts out new tests for each sitting, he said, “They are going to give students the incentive and ability to cheat.”
All SAT tests are copyrighted, the College Board says, and cannot be copied or distributed legally unless the board specifically releases them as practice tests. Even then, the exams can only be purchased from the College Board itself, the organization says. When students register for the SAT, they agree to the test’s terms and conditions, which state: “Test materials are secured before, during and after the test. You are prohibited from accessing secured test materials at any time before or after the test.”
Yet in February, the College Board announced some international scores from the January test were being delayed “due to a potential security violation”, without elaborating. It was the fourth consecutive test in Asia that had widespread score delays and cancellations because of cheating allegations.

Asian students cram for SATs with bootleg tests
This January students and tutors were shocked to find the exam identical to the one issued in June 2014. (File photo: Reuters)
Hong Kong, Reuters
Wednesday 29 April 2015
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:44 - GMT 06:44
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