Some have probably cheated on their 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 not entirely difficult to understand why some students cheat.
Some say that there is 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 75 cheaters did just that to ace their exams.
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.
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 he could look at his phone during the test. I hope he’s never my nurse.
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.
4) 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.
5) 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Morse code is an outdated form of communication.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.
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.
7) 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.
8) 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.
9) 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.
10) 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.
11) 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?
12) 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.
13) 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 easy to record a text file.
14) 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.
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.
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.
17) 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.
18) 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.
19) 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.
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.
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.
22) 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.
23) 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.
24) 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.
Who would’ve thought you could get students to get together and voluntarily conduct an experiment? The teacher would never be able to figure out how everyone was cheating.
26) 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?
27) 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.
28) 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?
29) 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.
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) 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 their future patients.
32) 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.
33) 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.
34) 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.
35) 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.
36) 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 though.
37) 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.
38) I’ve never 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.
This might be the simplest and most ridiculous way that anyone’s ever cheated. If you can make the teacher zone out enough, they might just give you an answer to the test.
40) 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.
41) 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.
42) 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.
43) Sometimes it pays to be a girl
These 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.
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.
45) “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.
How clever is this? But if you only wore it on exam days, the teacher might get a little suspicious… Still, it’s a nice ring!
47) When you’re determined
Why not just study for the test? Something tells me that this person would have been fine if they applied themselves in their studies like they do with cheating… it’s just incredible.
The teacher would never know.
What would have been even cooler is giving one of your study terms as your name to the barista. Not sure how much it would have helped but it would have been funny.
There’s an actual video that shows people how to cheat using a water bottle. It’s something you might not have seen before. Try at your own risk!
Crossing your legs can be uncomfortable at a desk. If you don’t do it daily, the teacher just might start to keep a close eye on you. But it sounds like it worked for them.
51) Feeling under the weather
Well, it doesn’t get much more unoriginal than this. But then again, it’s been around for some time so maybe there’s some luck to this method. Just don’t accidentally blow in it!
It’s a good thing that the teacher didn’t suspect anything! Hopefully, it never got in the way of when you actually had to use the bathroom. How many trips is that?
You can actually make put notes into your eraser! At least, some people can. This idea isn’t too shabby.
I don’t think this is the education that the foreign exchange student signed up for! This was a class that I’m sure wasn’t on her schedule. The stories she told to her friends back at home must have been interesting.
55) What legends are made of
Really. This is what everybody wishes they could do at one point in their lives. How lucky they are to have a twin willing to do this for them. True twinning!
Ah, the age-old, ‘notes inside the sleeve.’ Teachers know this one pretty well. It may not be the most original but it’s proven to be pretty timeless.
Well, this is one way to do it. It’s definitely a method of determination. Nothing odd about a pile of candy wrappers on the desk.
58) All watches on my desk!
Those darn smart watches! These have become every teacher’s worst nightmare as some students are using them to cheat on tests.
Did the teacher see you trying to read it during the test? I figure it would be difficult to see. Still, it would have been funny to see the student try.
Before you know it, all students will be coming to class with bandages on them on test day. But this is pretty smart. To be effective you’ll have to write pretty small!
61) All you need is friends
There’s one major requirement to pull this off, long hair! And if the hair is a light color, just hope the ink doesn’t leave traces in it. But it sounds like they pulled this off.
Those drinks really come in handy it seems. Just make sure the teacher doesn’t notice as they walk by! They might not have thought about that. Unless, they somehow made it look authentic.
63) Accessorize the cheat
Let’s just hope those bracelets don’t cause too much noise! It’s an interesting way to cover your tracks. Discretion is the lesson!
You know when teachers allow students to bring one sheet of notes? Well, does this count? I really wonder how this played out…
This is one way to study together. They literally passed notes back and forth during the exam. How intense!
This would be pretty painstakingly tedious. Not to mention, pretty difficult to read! All that squinting just might look a little obvious to the teacher.
Let’s just hope that your parents never find it! It’s a good reason to get into the habit of washing your own clothes. I’m sure they would love that.
This is… discreet. Not many teachers are going to be comfortable enough to ask their students what they’re doing if they’re looking inside their shirt. But then again, this is also be pretty obvious.
69) “I’m ready for my exam.”
This person is always prepared! In front of the class nonetheless. He’s lucky that none of the students ratted him out.
70) When life gives you lemons
Talk about using unfortunate things to your advantage. This student did just that. This was very creative.
Bring the eraser. It’s not going to draw attention. But unlike the hollowed-out eraser, you’ll have to write on this one… and erase it.
Some students wear hats with the notes written on the brim. It’s why some teachers don’t allow them during tests. They simply duck down down and luck up.
73) Bring the extra pencils
Some students are configuring their pencils to hide little notes. This is next level stuff! Some people just have the time, I suppose.
This student whispered to his watch for his grades. Did none of his teachers advocate for silence during the exam? Kids sure are sneaky nowadays!
Now this is original! But how does one get the notes inside? Looks like you have to do some studying to find that one out!
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