Can You Cheat On The IELTS Exam?

A successful outcome after taking the IELTS exam can be a life-changing experience. The IELTS exam is a language proficiency test that is a requirement for non-native speakers who want to apply for higher learning at a university or migrate to work in an English-speaking country.

With so much depending on having a good IELTS score, many IELTS students panic and resort to unscrupulous means to get a good score.

It is important to note the cheating of any kind is prohibited. If you are caught trying to alter your score in any way, you could not only be banned from taking the IELTS exam but you could also risk your visa application or university admission.

What Constitutes Cheating

Impersonating another person.
Letting someone else sit for the exam.
Disrupting the conducting of the exam in any way.
Alteration of any data on the Test Report Form.
Trying to copy answers from another test taker.

Security Measures Taken By The Owners Of The IELTS Exam

To prevent cheating of any form, during the exam, the hosts of the exam have introduced a number of strict measures

IELTS test centers are bound to follow strict security protocols such as biometric, and photographic identification as well as having security cameras record every test and take strict rules about what is allowed in the test room. This ensures that there is no possibility of cheating during the exams. Also your test day photographs will be used on your Test Report Form.

The Consequences Of Cheating

If you are caught cheating you will not complete your exam.
If it is determined that you have altered your results once you have taken your test, your results will be canceled.
Additionally, cheating of any form will force immigration authorities or institutions that you have applied to cancel your applications and prevent you from applying again in the future.
You will also not be able to retake the IELTS exam ever again.

The length that some students go to find a way to cheat in the exam or ‘hack it’ always surprises me. They end up wasting valuable time, money, and effort that they could have more wisely used to prepare for the exam.

When you think about it, it's not really worth taking the risk of cheating, when the consequences of getting caught could literally jeopardize your entire future.

In my opinion, it would be better and more productive to invest in finding a good IELTS teacher to guide you and offer you valuable feedback on your weaknesses and strengths, so that you can effectively prepare for the exam, without needing to cheat in order to score well.