Cheating in the Scholastic Aptitude test
On 17 January, Norrköping District Court passed a verdict in an extensive case relating to cheating in the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The court case and its consequences have attracted a lot of attention.
The Scholastic Aptitude Test is common to all higher education institutions in Sweden and the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) is responsible for constructing the test and deciding on test results. If someone who took the test has cheated, UHR can reject the results. UHR is now reviewing the material that has become available after the court case and is in the process of communicating decisions to the higher education institutions that have admitted students on false grounds.
UHR has announced that in the material that has become available after the court case there are students who have been admitted at Lund University. In view of this information, Lund University has begun work on the continued handling of individual cases. If someone has been admitted to a study programme on false grounds, the admission can be revoked.
Actions by Lund University.
At Lund University it is the Admissions Board that decides on individual cases concerning admission. The Admissions Board at its most recent meeting on 6 February decided on how the cases in question are to be handled. The basis for the decisions are the rules contained in the Administrative Procedure Act. Above all, this concerns every individual being given the opportunity to respond to the information that Lund University has in the matter. Thereafter, the Admissions Board makes a decision and once the decision has legal force, the admission can be revoked. This means that the student is not allowed to continue their education to which he or she has been admitted on false grounds. The board estimates that the first decisions on individual cases will be made in early March.
A total of 22 of those found guilty by Norrköping District Court of cheating in the test have had their results annulled. Nine received no results in the spring following the police operation against test venues and the offices of the gang behind the scam. UHR has now annulled the results of the other 13. One of the 22 who took the test in the autumn of 2016 avoids suspension, as the period of limitation expired in October 2018. The other 21 have been suspended for two years from retaking the test. UHR will shortly make a decision on measures against the last of the 23 found guilty of cheating in the test.