The HKEAA said an ACT exam was scheduled for Saturday morning. Photo: RTHK
ACT on Saturday cancelled US college entrance exams for students in Hong Kong and South Korea at the last moment over what it said was a verified breach of test materials.
The cancellation affected about 5,500 test takers who will receive refunds of test fees, according to ACT spokesman Edward Colby.
The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority said they were told on Saturday morning of the need to cancel an exam scheduled to begin at 8:25am.
ACT, an Iowa-based non-profit organisation, had planned to administer the tests at 56 different locations in South Korea and Hong Kong on Saturday morning. ACT decided to cancel the test soon after it received “credible evidence” that the test materials had been leaked, Colby said.
“We are extremely concerned about any activities that could impact the fairness and integrity of the test. When individuals attempt to profit by stealing test materials and selling them, it can hurt thousands of students who did nothing wrong, as it has in this case”, Colby said in an email conversation.
Colby said he couldn't comment on when and how the test materials might have gotten leaked because the incident is still under investigation. He said the ACT exams will be administered in South Korea and Hong Kong again in September.
The College Board, the New York-based testing firm that oversees the SAT college entrance exams, cancelled tests in the mainland and Macau in January over concerns that some students had seen copies of the tests in advance. The College Board was forced to cancel SATs in South Korea in 2013 for similar reasons.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1265620-20160611.htm
