The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, famous for its challenging Class XII board exams, has faced a security breach for the first time in its over five-decade history. According to reports, some students memorized the exam questions and shared them with students in different time zones via social media.

The Leak’s Journey Online

The initial discovery of the leaked math exam content was made on Reddit, where links to the questions and answers were being shared. This incident highlights the evolving nature of cheating in today’s digital education landscape. According to the South China Morning Post, screenshots of a Telegram channel included links to questions in corporate management, global politics, mathematics, physics, computer science, biology, and chemistry.

The time zone difference meant that while students in Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, and the Americas may have benefited from the paper leak, Indian students were less likely to, according to the publication.

As of Sunday afternoon, roughly 17,000 and 18,000 individuals had downloaded two documents, "Paper 2 Math AA HL" and "Maths AA HL Questions," according to a downloading website.

The "Global Politics HL Paper 2" and "Business Management Paper 1" materials were also downloaded over 2,000 and 8,000 times, respectively. The four papers were held between April 26 to May 2. The alleged paper leak was found on May 3, according to the Hindustan Times.

The IB board administers the annual exams across three time zones.  According to the SCMP report, The Post found that the information had been downloaded over 45,000 times.

Response and Repercussions

The International Baccalaureate organization has acknowledged that there was a leak of the exam papers, but the source of the leak is still unidentified. They have started an investigation and have stated that only a small number of students were involved in this "time zone cheating". Those who are identified as having cheated could face significant consequences, such as receiving no marks or grades for the affected subjects. Despite demands from students and parents for transparency and justice, the organization maintains that the cheating was not widespread.

Over 3,000 people have signed an online petition urging the IB to either cancel the exam this year or grant justice to students who were unaware of the leaked material.

According to a Hong Kong student who took two exams whose answers were made public, he didn't think the IB was taking the issue seriously enough.
He pointed out that numerous of the documents containing answers had been downloaded or seen tens of thousands of times, contradicting the allegation that only a limited number of students were aware of the breaches.

"It would be nice if they said something to reassure the students who actually tried hard," he went on to say. "It makes me question how professional the IB is," he told SCMP.

About the International Baccalaureate

The International Baccalaureate, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is a non-profit educational organization offering four programs tailored to different age groups. The Diploma Programme is recognized worldwide as an entrance qualification to universities. With a growing number of IB schools in India and around the globe, the integrity of its exams is crucial for maintaining its esteemed reputation. The 2024 exams are currently underway, spanning from late April to mid-May.

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