Busted: Hundreds of students caught cheating in 2023 HSC exams

From secret notes and collusion to plagiarism and sneaky electronic device use, there were almost one thousand cases of students cheating in the 2023 HSC.

More than 700 students were caught cheating in their HSC exams and assessments in 2023, busted for plagiarising, using mobile phones and unauthorised notes during their final tests.

New figures from the NSW Education Standards Authority reveal that the number of students caught cheating in their HSC year has jumped by 29 per cent since 2019.

More than 770 students were found to have cheated in HSC school-based assessments and tasks in 2023, with 900 offences including plagiarism and using unauthorised electronic devices recorded.

The majority of offences were in relation to take home assessments, however 138 timed examination breaches were recorded in 2023.

The NSW Education Standards Authority said artificial intelligence and Chat GPT had emerged as a cheating method – but was “unable to quantify the use of AI in school-based assessment tasks and exams.”

Students sitting for their HSC exams. Picture: Jonathan Ng

NSW Secondary Principals’ Council President Craig Petersen said AI was certainly being seen in classes more, but that teachers had become good at detecting it.

“Our teachers know their students very well and can readily identify when a student’s response is inconsistent with what they can actually articulate about a topic,” he said.

The majority of exam offences last year related to unauthorised notes, electronic device use and plagiarism.

There were also 11 cases of “collusion” with other students.

Plagiarism offences have risen since 2019 – jumping from 417 offences to 537 in 2023, however, offences of this nature peaked in 2020, when 599 cases of plagiarism were recorded.

A total of 59 students were forced to front the Examination Rules Committee last year, after “serious” breaches of examination rules.

Other students caught cheating were punished with zero marks, reduced marks, or let off with warnings.

In the summary of HSC malpractice data, The NSW Education Standards Authority said students had been caught with unauthorised notes on their desk, while electronic devices had also been used during examinations.

During HSC exams, students are prohibited from brooding an electronic device into the exam rooms, including mobile phones, smart watches, headphones and music players.

English standard had the highest rate of cheating in 2023, followed by PE and business studies. Chemistry, food tech and visual arts had the lowest rates of cheating.

“Cheating in the HSC is not tolerated. Any student found to be cheating in HSC examinations jeopardises being awarded the HSC,” A NESA spokesperson said.

“The vast majority of HSC students follow the rules in both HSC exams and school-based assessments and instances of cheating should be kept in perspective.”