Academic Integrity Course

Cheating is a broad term that can refer to many forms of academic dishonesty. The Camosun College Academic Integrity policy describes it as the following:

• Cheating is an act of deceit, fraud, distortion of truth, or inappropriate use of another person's effort to obtain an academic advantage.
• Cheating can include the act of sharing one's work with others for the purpose of giving another person an academic advantage.

You have a responsibility to follow all examination procedures and abide by the principles of academic integrity before, during and after an exam. Cheating on a test or exam may take a variety of forms depending on whether your exam is in-person or online. 

Examples of cheating in a test or exam may include:

• Students sharing their test answers with other students when such sharing is not allowed – see "What is collusion?"
• Students using notes during a closed-book test
• Students buying answers from online sources during a test – see "What is contract cheating?"
• Students looking for and/or finding their test/answers online –  see "What is contract cheating?"

What can you do?

• Be clear in your understanding of your instructor's guidelines about what is and is not permitted in your particular testing situation.

Contract cheating is a form of academic misconduct in which a student uses a third party to help them produce academic work for money or favour. For more information on contract cheating see the Contract Cheating page.