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South Korea has
become notorious for test cheating rings, while in China the
U.S. College Board’s practice of recycling SAT university
entrance test forms has been exploited and students given past
exams and test questions in advance.
The ACT surpassed the SAT, administered by the College Board, in
the United States as the most widely taken college entrance test
in 2012, although it trails the SAT outside America.
As more foreign students seek entry into American universities,
overseas demand for taking the ACT and its rival SAT exam is
rising.
The South Korea and Hong Kong cancellations will affect about
5,500 students who were scheduled to take the test at 56
different test centers, says the Iowa-based ACT Inc.
The cancellations, just hours before students were to take the
exam after discovery of a leak of test materials, marked the
first known case of cancellation for an entire country,
according to a ACT spokesman.
"We looked at a number of different options to accommodate the
students who were, through no fault of their own, impacted by
the compromised test," ACT vice president for strategic growth
markets Bryan Maach said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, due to the nature of the cancellation and the
ongoing investigation, ACT is unable to offer a retest
opportunity before the next scheduled administration in
September," Maach said.
ACT has said previously that it had received "credible evidence"
that test materials had been compromised but declined to explain
how the test had leaked or where.
The ACT will issue refunds for the canceled test and encouraged
people to register for the September test, it said in the
statement.
(Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Michael Perry)
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