Most of us probably cheated on our school exams at least once. After all, it was tempting at times. When a class was really hard or you struggled with the material, it seemed so much simpler to just take the easy way out.
And while academic honesty is good, it’s not hard to see why students cheat. In high school, many teens feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of schoolwork. They also feel as though they don’t have the right resources to help them study in a way that’s beneficial to them. With a school day that starts at the crack of dawn and ends after extracurriculars and hours of homework, it’s easy to understand why some students cheat.
But there’s a bit of an art to cheating. You can’t just write all the answers down and get them all right, especially if you haven’t previously been doing well in the class. That’s a dead giveaway. You could always peek at your neighbor’s paper, but that’s obvious — and you run the risk of being noticed.
You have to come up with something more creative the teachers and other students won’t notice. These 45 cheaters did just that to ace their exams.
1. When you’re only allowed one note card
Some teachers allow students the use of a single note card during an exam. This student found a loophole that wasn’t technically cheating. They wrote notes on top of one another in red and blue and used a pair of 3D glasses to isolate each color. That meant they had double the notes.
2. Computer, calculator, what’s the difference?
This student removed the guts of his calculator and replaced them with a cell phone. He could easily Google the answers to the exam while appearing to be doing calculations.
3. Sometimes it pays to be a girl
Female students wrote or taped the answers to the test on their thighs and wore skirts on the day of the exam. The teacher could hardly ask them to pull their skirts up.
4. That takes some work
This student painstakingly recreated a Vitamin Water label, replacing all the nutritional information with test answers. Maybe they should have spent that time studying instead.
5. That’s some legit nail art
Some people have a real talent for nail art. From afar, it looks like a pretty pattern, but up close, it contains all the answers for the test. What teacher would think to look?
6. All you need is a pen and a small piece of paper
A classic method of cheating is to write answers on a tiny piece of paper and roll it up inside your pen. It can be removed discreetly during the test by clicking the pen.
7. Looking out for their pals
This was spotted on a building across the street from a school. It was positioned at the perfect angle so students could look out the window during the exam.
8. Got a ruler?
It’s easy to write on a regular wooden ruler. All it takes is a pencil, which is easy to spot if you’re looking for it — but also easy to overlook if you’re not.
9. It might make your eyes cross
This takes some next-level dedication. This student wrote his answers on the inside of his dreadlocks. It might be suspicious when everyone comes into the test with a new hairdo, though.
10. Don’t forget to wear the right shoes
What teacher would think to check the bottom of your shoes for cheat codes? All you have to do is sit at the right angle, which will look perfectly natural if you do it correctly.
11. Gotta stay hydrated
Some teachers allow students to have drinks during their exams. That provides the perfect way to smuggle in cheat sheets, all in the name of staying hydrated.
12. You’ll have to squint
If you can write really small, you can even put together a cheat sheet on your fingernails. Of course, you’ll also need to have amazing eyesight.
13. Hiding in plain sight
These students learned the value of hiding in plain sight. It’s so obvious the teacher will look right through it. It takes some guts to tape a cheat sheet to the back of a chair.
14. When you need a hand
This one probably isn’t possible for most students, but you have to admit it’s clever. This nursing student took advantage of a dummy hand so she could look at her phone during the test. I hope she’s never my nurse.
15. He just went for it
Sometimes cheating hacks are as simple as hiding your phone under the table. Of course, the teacher would think he was just pulling his sleeve over his hand.
16. “I’m just looking at the sugar content”
This is a pretty genius one. And they would have gotten away with it, except for one thing. The teacher had never seen that flavor before, so they picked the bottle up to read the label. Uh oh.
17. That’s pretty impressive
Morse code is an outdated form of communication. So, there’s very little chance of anyone even noticing. These students just had the bad luck of attracting the attention of a teacher who did.
18. There was no way to catch them
The sheer genius of this method was in switching the person who studied. By taking turns, the students made sure the teacher would never be able to catch them.
19. When the teacher can’t decide whether they should be angry or impressed
Teachers know tests are important, but they also look for marks of creativity and self-reliance in their students. It’s no wonder they were reluctantly impressed.
20. That takes dedication
This took a lot of creativity and a willingness to think outside the box. The teacher probably wouldn’t be looking out for something like this because who would ever think of it?
21. All you need is a rubber band
This one might take a little planning. Before the test, the student could make a habit of fidgeting with a rubber band during class. Then it would look like a restless tic instead of something out of the ordinary.
22. When you trick the teacher
This might be the simplest and most ridiculous that anyone’s ever cheated. If you can make the teacher zone out enough, they might just give you an answer to the test.
23. Apparently, it works
Who would’ve thought you could get students to get together and voluntarily conduct a science experiment? The teacher would never be able to figure out how everyone was cheating.
24. Be right back, going to get a tattoo
This is pretty clever, especially since no one would ever think to look. And even if they did, how would a teacher examine a student’s thigh without making the situation uncomfortable?
25. It slipped beneath her notice
This one’s almost on the teacher. If she allowed music in an exam, she should’ve thought about the consequences. It’s the easiest thing in the world to record a text file.
26. Making use of the sun
This is incredible. To catch them, the teacher would have to be looking at the shoes from the perfect angle. The odds of that are almost nonexistent.
27. Simple but effective
Sometimes, the simplest methods are the most successful. It’s unlikely the teacher will think to go around and check each calculator — unless they’ve seen this trick before.
28. Weren’t they crinkly?
Even teachers who don’t allow food or drink in their classrooms will usually give a pass for candy or gum. If they were passing by, they’d think the student was just waiting to throw the wrapper away until the end of the test.
29. Foiled by a small detail
This just goes to show how little the student understood the coursework. That might not have been his fault completely. But it did foil his plan in the end.
30. Simple and straightforward
This student not only had a cheating method, but also an excuse for it if they got caught. While there’s no telling whether the teacher would buy it, they probably couldn’t give them a zero if they had a solid excuse.
31. He didn’t plan on their anticipation
One thing that catches many teachers by surprise? Their students’ ability to get ahead of them with technology. This teacher sabotaged himself, even though he didn’t know it.
32. Now that’s global teamwork
Most students don’t have the opportunity to rely on classmates in other time zones. But these ones did, and they bonded together as only students can. The only ones who didn’t benefit were those in Australia.
33. You can’t ask why they’re blinking
Here’s another method that’s genius because it can’t be proven. What are you going to do, ask them to explain why they’re blinking? Everybody has to blink.
34. Clever and it involves chocolate
The teachers who allow snacking during class don’t know just how far their students will go to cheat. The only problem with this method is the potential to run out of one color of M&Ms.
35. A phone is technically a calculator
Call it cheating if you want, but I maintain that a cell phone is a type of calculator. Or at least, that’s what this student could argue if he was caught. I doubt they’d accept that, though.
36. Destroy the evidence
This student must’ve eaten an enormous amount of gum. Is a bowel obstruction worth getting an A on a test? I guess it all depends on your point of view.
37. Tap, tap, tap
Two students rigged an elaborate cheating system where they would tap out the answers — one, two, three, or four, corresponding to the multiple-choice option. If one of them needed an answer, he would touch his head.
38. All it takes is a screenshot
Sometimes, students’ familiarity with technology can be their teachers’ undoing. In this case, while taking a graded computer test, one student simply took screenshots of the answers and sent them to the students in the next period.
39. What beautiful nails you have
Students have found some amazingly creative ways to use fingernail art to cheat. In this instance, one student hid notes under their acrylic nails, which they could access when the teacher’s back was turned.
40. They can’t ask the student to show them
At one school, the girls took advantage of the cold weather to wear black tights. They also wrote the test answers on their legs. The notes weren’t visible to others, but by gently stretching the fabric, they were able to see them.
41. I’ve never even heard of that
One student who was allowed a single notecard managed to fit the entire study guide on it. How? By making something called a microcopy, which printed everything in miniature.
42. Two words: invisible ink
One student used invisible ink to secretly make notes for herself. Unfortunately, she was caught because to see them, she had to use a small blacklight.
43. Well, why wouldn’t you?
Pens and mechanical pencils are some of the best tools students use for cheating. They can easily smuggle small pieces of paper inside, and few teachers will look twice at them.
44. Does hard work count for credit?
When students know how to work with technology, almost nothing can stop them. This student figured out how to make their calculator look like it was reset when it actually stored all the formulas.
45. She fell for it
Something tells me this teacher was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. Not only did she not notice the tape on the ceiling, but she assumed they were having a group prayer.
45 brilliant cheaters that will go down in history for their wits
Cedric Jackson
01.31.20
Most of us probably cheated on our school exams at least once. After all, it was tempting at times. When a class was really hard or you struggled with the material, it seemed so much simpler to just take the easy way out.
And while academic honesty is good, it’s not hard to see why students cheat. In high school, many teens feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of schoolwork. They also feel as though they don’t have the right resources to help them study in a way that’s beneficial to them. With a school day that starts at the crack of dawn and ends after extracurriculars and hours of homework, it’s easy to understand why some students cheat.
But there’s a bit of an art to cheating. You can’t just write all the answers down and get them all right, especially if you haven’t previously been doing well in the class. That’s a dead giveaway. You could always peek at your neighbor’s paper, but that’s obvious — and you run the risk of being noticed.
You have to come up with something more creative the teachers and other students won’t notice. These 45 cheaters did just that to ace their exams.