I have recieved one of the worst news of my life in the mail, a letter from CFA saying that they are conducting an investigation on my exam for suspected cheating and they wouldn’t release my mark until they finish their investigation.
They cited reports of proctors saying that I looked at the person beside me bubble sheet! I was very suprised when I opened a letter, in the letter there are 4 procters that confirmed I was turning my head occasionally and streched but 2 of them are not sure if I was cheating, 1 of them says I wasn’t cheating and 1 of them says I was giving imoression of cheating.
As I remember I streched couple of times since it is a long exam, and couple of times the person beside me clicked his pen and draw my attention but I absolutely didnt look at his sheets, I am very suprised by this BS.
I studied hours on end for this freaking exam, it is my second try, the first try I failed with band 5 and I had no similar issue, now I am devestated to learn this.
Did any one experience this before, does any one knows what is going to happen to my exam and me?
Not sure if this should qualify as the “worst news of my life”, but yeah, that is unfortunate. The thing is, it’s really hard to NOT catch a glance of other peoples’ papers at some point. You can’t look 15 degrees to the side without having someone’s paper within your line of sight.
Anyway, hopefully, they will decide that you are innocent. Apparently, it’s really hard to overturn the decision once they have decided the outcome. Good luck.
My understanding is that you have the opportunity to defend yourself on PCP related cases, though the outcomes rarely favour the candidate once the investigation has proceeded to that stage.
You may be in a tough spot should CFAI decide to pursue this as it will be your word versus theirs. That being said that only 1 proctor is of the mindset that you gave the appearance of cheating versus 2 unsure and 1 saying they disagree the CFAI may decide that they don’t have enough evidence to pursue this.
In any case my assumption is that they will review your answers with that of the individual next to you to try and identify whether or not there are any distinct patterns - best case scenerio the guy next to you didn’t have a clue what he was doing and none of your answers match up.
Under the CFA’s PCP exam sanctions details it states the following regarding assistance during the exam"
“Sixteen Level I candidates requested a Hearing Panel. After consideration of the evidence in each respective case, the Hearing Panels determined in fifteen of the cases that the candidates looked and/or gave the appearance of looking at another candidate’s exam.”
The silver lining in this is that based on the number of instances where proctors accused candidates of looking at another candidate’s exam (339 in June of 2011) compared with sanctions imposed I assume there are a portion of cases that are not pursued to the point of disciplinary action. With any luch you’ll receive a cautionary letter telling you to be careful as punishment.
Thank you about explaining in detail the outcome, honestly I am very disapointed by these false alligations and if they conclude to void my exam result I will not participate in their program anymore.
I need luck and fairness in this investigation, lets see what happends
I believe the subject of fairness, which ironically, is aggresively advocated by the CFA, is where the insitutue gets it all wrong!
Shoving 300 hours of hardwork plus many sleepless nights, plus time not spent with family and friends, into the bin based on the testimony of a single person who “thinks” a candidate may be cheating, when in actual fact the candidate has merely lifted his head to relieve the stress of sitting in a single position, is not what most sane people will count as fairness. It’s simply madness!
I wonder why no one is smart enough to think “Hey, how about we install advanced, sharp motion sensing cameras all through exam halls just so we can collect evidence, and proctors who are merely having a bad hair day wouldn’t make an unreasonable call that could have a huge impact on a candidate’s career”
Note to self - don’t stretch too much during the CFA exam
Best of luck with this.
I am sure if you weren’t cheating then you will be fine. I imagine you will just get some form of written warning saying to be more careful when stretching during the exam and try not to be distracted by others etc.
I am yet to hear of the CFA Institute wrongfully punishing someone. All I have heard of is them investigating the wrong candidates.
I had one of the proctors repeatedly standing right beside me throughout the exam. It was really distracting and I didn’t dare even glance in the direction to the right of me where the other candidate was sitting just incase it was misinterpreted as an attempt to cheat.
I ended up having to mark those questions and go back at the end of the test and re-do them because I had got most of them wrong due to the distraction.
^ no, CFAI doesn’t have cameras, most likely it was just the building they rented. The US FINRA security exams have cameras for each person.
Realistically, you are likely to lose this battle. I’m sure they have heard every single excuse imaginable at this point and the stats are clear: candidates don’t win in these scenarios.
All you can do is to be overkill, never turning your head, never making strange movements, always eyes down, body position facing forward.
I also have a hunch that the MC awnsers are randomized and you couldn’t directly copy your neighbours test.
Why else would they have you make sure that your bubble sheet and test book are coordinated with the same number?
If they don’t do this already they should, and let us know that there is no way to just copy from your neighbour. I was on an aisle and had a no show to my left but, if I was in between two people I can see how it would screw up your abillity to “stretch your neck”.
I do think that the “conditions” and aggresive proctoring are part of what makes the program such a great challenge.
I believe there are several versions of the test. Like versions 1-4. Each one has a different order of questions. So, you neighbor might or might not have the same pattern as you.
Wow! This sucks horribly! But odds should be in your favor, shouldnt they? They would give you the benefit of the doubt because only one proctor confirmed cheating? Sucks either way! Best of Luck Mate!
