Student sentenced to jail for hiring impostor to sit exam on her behalf: ‘Unfair to others’

Hong Kong student gets three months for TOEFL cheating. (Image credit: Reuters)

A 22-year-old Chinese student in Hong Kong was sentenced to three months' jail for hiring an imposter to take an English proficiency test on her behalf. According to the South China Morning Post, someone is to sit for the TOEFL exam in her place.

Huang Xinyi, a student from Fujian province, submitted the forged result to Lingnan University in Hong Kong as part of her graduation requirements.

During the hearing at Tuen Mun Court on Monday, Magistrate David Chum Yau-fong ruled that a custodial sentence was needed to send a clear message, noting a rise in comparable cases in recent years.

“Education resources are wasted unnecessarily to conduct verifications because some students are using various means to deceive their schools. This is also unfair to other students.” Chum said.

Xinyi admitted she paid US$300 for a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) certificate in May 2024, without personally sitting for the exam.

She told police that she did not meet the required score in four previous TOEFL and IELTS attempts. The degree programme required a minimum TOEFL score of 87 or an IELTS score of 6.5 for graduation.

Xinyi also said that she travelled to Cambodia to retake the test, thinking it would be easier. She later said she felt sick on the day of the test and arranged for a fraudster outside the centre to take the exam on her behalf.

After Lingnan University raised concerns about the result, Xinyi said she had changed the photo on the report because she was unhappy with how she looked.

However, after Lingnan University contacted the US-based Educational Testing Service, which administers the TOEFL, the fraud was confirmed, and Xinyi later admitted to cheating. The court heard that she applied for a master’s programme in mid-2024 despite knowing she had not met the English language requirement.

A probation officer told the court that Xinyi’s remorse was not genuine and was driven mainly by fear of imprisonment. While her lawyer sought a reduced sentence, the request was rejected. The magistrate ultimately cut the original five-month jail term to three months after taking into account her guilty plea and cooperation with the university’s disciplinary proceedings.