File photo shows students take SSAT in Nanjing.
(ECNS) -- Altogether 357 Chinese students who took the U.S. Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) on September 19 have had their results cancelled because of suspiciously high scores, the Beijing Times reported.
The extra test was only held in Beijing and Shanghai. A parent surnamed Guo said that her son, one of the test-takers, was notified of the decision by the SSAT Board (SSATB) via email on Tuesday afternoon.
The email said the board had sufficient reasons to question the reliability of the test after analyzing the data.
Guo's son logged onto the website of the SSAT afterwards and found that his scores had already been labeled "cancelled."
The SSATB confirmed the email in a call with reporters and explained that many students had achieved uncommonly high scores on the test, raising doubts.
Guo's son scored a 2100, while some students who had attended a training school in Shenzhen got perfect scores of 2400.
It is reportedly not easy for American students to get scores of 2200 on the SSAT, a test required by many American private high schools.
The SSATB hasn't made an official announcement yet, pending further investigation. It has not ruled out the possibility of restoring the scores of some test takers.
A resource from a training school told the newspaper that the SSAT's question bank is not large, and that some training schools have arranged for students to take the test every month in order to get as many questions as possible.
Exam questions were also leaked in Asia last October.
