Cheating in Exams, Essay Example

Cheating in exams can be defined as committing acts of dishonesty during an exam in order to score good grades. This is normally done by students when they fail to prepare for the exams or when they feel that the test is too hard for them and they want to score good grades.

Various acts are considered as cheating: first when a student gets access to exam papers be it part of them or all the exam papers before the exam is considered as cheating. Another way of cheating is by having materials that are not authorized in the exam room either electronic or non electronic in their reach from which the students copy or even copying answers from scripts of other candidates or allowing your script to be copied from by other candidates. Such materials include phones in which they store data; some phones have memory cards that store huge amounts of data and thus a student can even carry the whole syllabus in their phones from which they copy. Other electronic materials are calculators in which students store formulas especially for science and math exams. Science and math formulas may also be written on the desktop which they hide from their supervisors by covering with the answer sheet. Non electronic materials include small notes which the students make on something they suspect will be tested. Such writings are made on small pieces of paper, on the palm or on sole tapes which the students stick on their clothes. Another way of cheating is when a student impersonates another one and ends up doing the exam for them or even communicating with fellow candidates during an exam session. These forms don’t exhaust the many ways of cheating.

When students succeed in their first attempt of cheating they will always be tempted to repeat the act since it enables them to pass exams without struggling however this may bring serious consequences for the students. The problems may be short lived or long term. Short term consequences include being awarded a zero score by the lecturer because they believe that the candidate does not know anything. Getting a fail forces the student to repeat the unit .This means an addition on the other terms work a burden which may make the student fail other units hence causing a cycle of failing. Other lecturers punish these students by suspending them for a given period of time .Such students get it rough in explaining to their parents the reasons for being suspended. They may also become the laughing stock in the village when fellow students spread the rumours. Another short term consequence is when the lecturer forces the students to take remedial studies as others go for holiday hence denying them the opportunity to enjoy their holidays.

Long term consequences include being expelled from school. This means the student has to look for another school and hence the student delays from finishing college which consequently affects their chances in the job market because most job advertisements specify age limit. Cheating students also gain bad reputation from fellow students and lectrurers.Fellow students always see you as a liar and lecturers lose faith in you and it becomes difficulty to convince them that you didn’t cheat at times when you pass.

In the long term a student who passed her exams through cheating may have problems when it comes to delivering services in a job. This is because a student may cheat in exams, graduate from college but have difficulties when solving problems touching on their field of study in work environment since the certificates they present don’t really show their capability but what they pretend to be. When it comes to giving ideas during discussions in the office the cheaters will strain to contribute and also the manner in which they present themselves in such meetings will be affected since they fear that fellow workers will notice their dormancy. Without a question poor performance in the job will lead to job loss.

Cheating in an exam also denies a student important knowledge in their lives which they would have gained if they take their studies seriously A student may escape being caught cheating and get good grades which would sound okay   but the truth is they may lie to their teachers and parents but they cannot cheat themselves .the truth will remain that they waste their money and time in college but at the end of it they wont gain any knowledge since what they show to have gained is not theirs. In some colleges like the ones offering ACCA when a candidate is caught cheating they are discontinued from doing the other papers and this may kill the student’s dream of venturing in such a field.

The consequences of cheating in an exam are just too much to bear and so students should avoid such instances by ensuring they revise utilise their time well and revise thoroughly for their exams.