Examiners get tough on students who cheat

Experts say test takers should stop memorizing answers and polish their language skills instead

Some students who took the International English Language Testing System exam in August and September have had their results "withheld permanently", sending a strong signal that the examiners intend to stamp out cheating, some senior language tutors said.

Yang Yuting, chief language training tutor at Amber Education, an overseas studies consulting agency, said there have been a few cases in which candidates' IELTS results were canceled in recent years, leaving the students with no qualification.