PITTSBURGH ― The firm that oversees registrations for the SAT has canceled college entrance exams on Saturday in China and Macau, because some students may have already seen copies of the tests.
The College Board, the New York-based testing firm, revealed the cancelations on Thursday. Stacy Caldwell, the firm’s vice president for college readiness assessments, said officials told students on Wednesday.
The College Board said 45 testing centers were affected, but it could not immediately say how many students were due to take the tests this weekend. Those students will likely be advised next week about a makeup exam, which will probably be scheduled in a month or so, Caldwell said.
College Board officials wouldn’t say how many students might have accessed the SAT tests in advance, or how they did so, citing security concerns.
“Any piece of information we provide, folks use that to try to figure out ways around the system,” Caldwell said.
Last year, federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh charged 15 Chinese citizens in a conspiracy to have impostors take the SAT and other college entrance tests in western Pennsylvania since 2011.
A former University of Pittsburgh student, Han Tong, 24, has pleaded guilty to being the go-between for Chinese students who paid up to $6,000 to have impostors take the tests for them. He’s set for sentencing April 21.
