GUANGZHOU - A chief examiner has been suspended after more than 430 students were investigated for cheating in arts exams at the city's polytechnic.

Of those students, 103 had hired substitutes to undertake the arts tests, said sources in the education examinations authority of Guangdong province on Thursday.

The authority confirmed in a statement that the chief examiner surnamed Wu has been removed as director of the teaching affairs office with Guangzhou City Polytechnic, one of the main sites for arts examinations in the province.

The statement said the qualifications of the students found cheating and any enrollment will be canceled. Those who hired others to take the exam will be banned from taking the exam next year.

Huang Youwen, deputy director of the education examinations authority, urged insiders to report cheating. He promised to investigate the scandal and increase inspection and supervision levels at all examination centers to prevent similar cases happening again.

The cheating scandal was exposed after the education authorities received reports from students' parents earlier this week.

A total of 103 students were discovered to have hired substitutes to draw or paint their artwork to submit for the examination. The bogus work had been done in the unlicensed studios in Xiaozhou village, near Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in the city's Haizhu district.

Law enforcement officers raided an unlicensed studio in Xiaozhou village, Guangzhou, on Wednesday. The studios in the area reportedly harbor "exam substitutes" who get paid for drawing for students taking part in examinations. Ye Wwibao / for China Daily