The College Board, the not-for-profit organization that owns the SAT, has acknowledged widespread problems with test security in Asia in recent years. students given SATs that were online before exam Why do they “recycle” SATs? FAQ about the big testĬollege Board’s note to schools on the Reuters report Video: How the test-prep industry games the SAT Part Five: Breach exposes questions for upcoming SAT exams Part Four: Widespread cheating alleged in program owned by ACT Part Three: Chinese cheating rings penetrate U.S.
Chief among them is a vulnerability created by the owner of the exam: the routine practice of reusing material from tests that already have been given. His cram school is part of a vibrant Asian industry that systematically exploits security shortcomings in the SAT. His score on that section? A perfect 800, he said.ĭing’s advance look at material from the test he took was no fluke. Thanks to the booklet, Ding said he already knew the answers to about half of the critical reading section of the SAT when he took the test in Hong Kong in December 2013. It revealed words from the correct responses to multiple-choice questions that had appeared on past SATs - many of which would be used again on the exam Ding took. Known in Chinese as a jijing, the booklet was essentially an answer key.
His study aid was far more valuable than the practice questions that students in America use to prepare for the SAT, the standardized test used by thousands of U.S. He had an advantage on his final try: a booklet compiled by a Shanghai test-preparation school he attended. In applying to schools, the 20-year-old from China took the SAT college entrance exam four times. Xingyuan Ding is a sophomore at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of America’s most exclusive public universities.