Random seating announced following cheating article

Canterbury University is introducing a random seating policy in exams after information about cheating was published in a student magazine.

The Press newspaper reported today that the university had emailed students to say it was introducing the university-wide seating policy to deter cheats.

The move meant those doing exams would be allocated seats to minimise the opportunity to sit in a position where they can either copy from an accomplice or at a desk with pre-written exam information on it.

The new move comes after student magazine Canta published an article on June 6 titled "The Completely Unofficial Top 13 Ways of Cheating".

The tongue-in-cheek article said cheats should sit at the back because the supervisors were "selected from rest homes and many cannot see more than 10 feet".

It also suggested getting a better stand-in student to do the exams and arming them with a signed ID card and ensuring they can forge the signature.

Canterbury University Students' Association president Belinda Bundy said the article was not meant to be taken seriously.

"I think we only ever saw it as a humorous thing," she said.

"It was just a light-hearted reaction to all the cheating issues that have been raised recently."

Universities have clamped down on cheating in recent years with some already using the random seating policy.

- NZPA