TOEIC Cheating: Significant Impact on Admission Process, Employment

Editorial

13:59 JST, July 22, 2025

Suspicions have emerged that cheating has been rampant on the TOEIC English proficiency test. The test results are used for entrance exams and employment; test administrators must make every effort to prevent cheating.

The Institute for International Business Communication, which administers TOEIC, has announced that 803 test takers are suspected of cheating over a two-year period through June this year. The results of all the test takers in question have been invalidated, the institute said.

The incident unfolded when the Metropolitan Police Department arrested a Chinese graduate student at Kyoto University in May for entering an exam venue using someone else’s name.

The man had taken the exam in March using a false name and scored 945 out of 990 points, demonstrating exceptional English proficiency. At the time of his arrest, he was found to be wearing a small microphone inside his mask and in possession of three smartphones and a pair of smart glasses, an electronic device resembling eyeglasses.

The institute had been in consultation with the MPD, telling the police, “There was a person mumbling in Chinese during the exam.” The man is suspected of providing answers to other examinees through the microphone and other methods. It is essential to clarify the full details of the incident, including whether there were intermediaries who facilitated the cheating.

The 803 individuals in question gave addresses identical or nearly identical to that of the arrested man when applying for the exam. It is highly likely that the system of choosing exam venues based on residential addresses was exploited.

The institute checked the identities of test takers during the exam but did not verify their addresses. While the cheating is utterly unacceptable, there may also have been lapses in oversight by the institute, which sent out multiple test vouchers to a single address.

TOEIC scores are not merely an indicator of one’s English proficiency. They are used to exempt candidates from English exams in university and graduate school admissions, or to determine whether someone passes or fails the admission process. TOEIC is also being used to a greater extent in corporate hiring and has become a criteria for promotion, so the importance of the proficiency test is increasing.

More young people in China are believed to be aiming to study or work in Japan, and posts offering to assist with cheating for a fee are circulating on social media. If such misconduct continues, it could erode trust in the test. The impact of this on university admissions and corporate hiring cannot be taken lightly.

The institute will revise its procedures to assign different test venues to applicants with the same address. It said it will also check before the test whether people’s glasses have a camera function and whether electronic devices are turned off.

Organized proxy test-taking by Vietnamese nationals was also uncovered in Japanese language exams required for obtaining the “specific skilled work” residence status. Even if someone passes an exam through cheating, it is that person who will struggle at their educational institution or workplace due to insufficient ability.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 22, 2025)