SAT Cancelled in Egypt until June 2021

[janesmith]

The August 2020 SAT exam was stolen (again) in Egypt. There are not that many students who come to the US from Egypt (unlike from Saudi Arabia). But Egyptians who attend American-style high schools there, which are known for severe grade inflation, are generally required to take the SAT to provide a more objective measure.

The Minister of Education actually got involved, but a solution was found to substitute the ACT for now.

An on-line version of the SAT will be available in Egypt in June 2021.

https://dailynewsegypt.com/2020/09/05/egypts-american-diploma-students-to-take-act-exams-after-sat-leaks/

[ucbalumnus]

Does The College Board still reuse entire old SATs given in the US for use in other countries at later dates?

[janesmith]

@ucbalumnus It doesn’t sound like it. The article indicates that the specific August exam was stolen/leaked/offered for sale:

Like the College Board statement, Shawky highlighted that SAT examinations were cancelled in Egypt due to the repeated leaks, as well as the ongoing global health crisis.

He continued, ”There is a mafia working on leaking SAT exams and selling them with their answers to students in very large numbers.”

The Ministry of Education added that the leaks, of which this latest incident is not the first, affect the global credibility of the US exam around the world.

Shawky also confirmed that College Board is currently conducting a large-scale investigation into the leaks crisis affecting SAT exams. With the ongoing hassle for students, his ministry has taken the decision to stop the SAT exams in Egypt until they can be transferred from the paper-based system to an electronic system, which will take 18 months.

The situation is serious because seniors at 500 Egyptian schools that require the SAT wouldn’t be able to graduate or go to university in Egypt.

[ucbalumnus]

Leaking the SAT is likely easier if it was an already-used exam, due to a longer time frame where it exists to be leaked and the large number of eyes that have already seen the exam, although it is possible that a newly made exam could be leaked in the shorter time between production and use at its first testing date.