Fake fingerprints and electronic erasers: how China’s innovative cheats tap hi-tech to beat the gaokao and other exams

The gaokao – China’s make-or-break college entrance exams – started yesterday and will take place across the mainland until tomorrow. And while thousands of students will cope with the most important exam in their life – an assessment that can set the course for their future – by studying, studying and studying some more, there always seem to be others who will try to get better scores by cheating despite the risk of being sent to jail for seven years if they are caught.

There is no end to the schemes some will try to gain an edge over the millions of Chinese youth competing fiercely for admission to the country’s top universities. But even as methods of cheating change fast, authorities, too, are updating tactics and technology to keep up with the cheaters.

This year, education authorities in Inner Mongolia will use a finger vein recognition system – said to be more accurate and reliable than traditional finger prints – to confirm the identities of candidates sitting for the gaokao.

This method of biometric authentication uses pattern recognition technology that will help keep any potential substitute test-takers out of the proceedings – including an identical twin of a student who is supposed to take the exam, according to a posting on the Weibo microblogging service by the autonomous prefecture’s centre for admission tests.

Meanwhile, in Hubei province, police will inspect all properties close to schools, in particular short-term rental spaces where someone could receive test questions via a wireless device and send answers back to a test-taker in the examination room, China National Radio reported on Monday.

In addition to facial and fingerprint recognition systems, metal detectors will keep mobile phones and other electronic devices out of the exam room, while detectors will be used to find wireless earphones. Specially equipped vehicles and drones can block signals around schools.