Student caught using ChatGPT in VCE exam among 109 investigated for cheating

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Schelle, C. (2026, October 19). Student caught using ChatGPT in VCE exam among 109 investigated for cheating. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/student-caught-using-chatgpt-in-vce-exam-among-109-investigated-for-cheating-20261019-p616s4.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-19 · by Caroline Schelle

Quick Summary

In last year’s VCE exams in Victoria, 109 students were investigated for cheating, marking a 25% increase from the previous year when 87 cases were reported. One notable incident involved a student caught using ChatGPT via a smuggled smartphone; they uploaded exam questions and tried to pass AI-generated answers as their own work. The VCAA investigates various forms of misconduct, including copying from others and unauthorized use of mobile phones, and can penalize students by reducing their marks or issuing formal warnings.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-19, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) reported on Monday that 109 students were investigated for cheating during last year's VCE exams, marking a 25% increase from the previous year. Among the incidents, a student was caught using ChatGPT by uploading exam questions to the AI service via a smuggled smartphone and attempting to pass off its answers as their own. Another case involved a student copying answers directly from another test-taker; both students had identical wrong answers, leading to penalties in their marks. The VCAA spokesperson confirmed that they thoroughly investigate all alleged misconduct cases and may reduce examination scores if breaches of rules are confirmed. While the authority noted that only a very small minority of students attempt to cheat, the jump in reported incidents is concerning for academic integrity.

Written for “Chat Gpt In Exam Scandal” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 89998 · logged 2026-10-19

Story

📰 Chat Gpt In Exam Scandal
Education · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 4140 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Caroline Schelle
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “The VCAA thoroughly investigates all alleged misconduct cases and may reduce a student’s examination score if they are found to have breached examination rules,” a spokesperson for the authority said.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Student caught using ChatGPT in VCE exam among 109 investigated for cheating
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Caroline Schelle →

Topics

VCAA Victorian the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Subjects

VCAA ORG · 5× Victorian NORP · 1× the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority ORG · 1×

Narrative

A student secretly trying to use ChatGPT in their exams before being caught by an eagle-eyed supervisor was one of more than 100 pupils to be investigated for cheating on their VCE tests, after the number of people attempting to break the rules jumped by 25 per cent in a single year.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-19
🔮 “The VCAA thoroughly investigates all alleged misconduct cases and may reduce a student’s examination score if they are found to have breached examination rules,” a spokesperson for the authority said.
2026-10-19 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Student caught using ChatGPT in VCE exam among 109 investigated for cheating · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 2 hedged)

A student secretly trying to use ChatGPT in their exams before being caught by an eagle-eyed supervisor was one of more than 100 pupils to be investigated for cheating on their VCE tests, after the number of people attempting to break the rules jumped by 25 per cent in a single year. asserted
number → try → year
After smuggling in a smartphone to the exam, the supervisor found the student had uploaded questions to the popular chatbot and attempted to pass off the AI-generated answers as their own, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) said on Monday. asserted
Authority → smuggle → Monday
They were one of 109 students investigated for cheating during last year’s VCE exams, the authority said on Monday. asserted
authority → investigate → Monday
In another incident, a student was caught copying the answers from another pupil and when the two tests were compared, examiners found that many answers were identical, including wrong answers. asserted
answers → catch → answers
Both students who were caught had their marks reduced as a result of reviews. asserted
marks → catch → reviews
“The VCAA thoroughly investigates all alleged misconduct cases and may reduce a student’s examination score if they are found to have breached examination rules,” a spokesperson for the authority said. uncertain
spokesperson → investigate → authority
“While only a very small minority of students attempt to cheat in their VCE examinations, the VCAA has rigorous processes in place to ensure no student gains an unfair advantage by breaching examination rules.” asserted
student → attempt → rules
The authority’s internal data shows the number of students cheating increased by 25 per cent in a single year, from 87 in 2024 to 109 in 2025. asserted
number → show → 2025
In total, the VCAA investigated 188 alleged rule breaches in 2025 tied to the cheating claims. uncertain
VCAA → investigate → claims
Of these, the most common related to copying or attempting to cheat (41 investigations, up from eight in 2024). asserted
common → relate → 2024
The use of mobile phones was the next most common complaint, prompting 31 investigations compared to 19 a year earlier. asserted
use → prompt → 19
Unauthorised notes, communicating with other students and failing to stop writing once an exam period had ended were also investigated. asserted
period → communicate → students
Under the VCAA’s rules for serious breaches, a student can face a committee and receive a formal written warning or a penalty – such as having marks deducted. asserted
marks → face → warning
In 2025, 37 students received an administrative caution, while 13 were reprimanded. asserted
13 → receive → caution
A further 15 went to a review committee, and no action was taken against 44 students who breached exam rules. asserted
who → go → rules
The seating plans of test areas are registered with exam administrators so that testers can crosscheck accusations of cheating. asserted
testers → register → cheating
Supervisors also accompany students on toilet breaks and wait outside the door. asserted
Supervisors → accompany → door
For many Victorian students, their first VCE exam this year will be English, which will be held next Tuesday. asserted
which → hold → students
The exam period has been underway since early October for subjects including languages, the exam next week is one that almost all must sit. asserted
all → include → that
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