Impostors Prosper in Russian Exam Scam

It was something about the girl's chest that did not look quite right when she showed up for the psychology exam at Moscow State University.

It was, well, too big and lumpy, thought the security guards, who decided she might have a sheaf of papers stuffed down her blouse. That was when they noticed the crude makeup, and realised the teenager was actually a boy dressed up as his sister.

As millions of school and university students across Russia sit entrance tests and final exams this summer, a new growth industry has emerged. "Surrogate students" are being recruited to sit exams in place of dim or ill-prepared pupils who are desperate to secure a pass.

A few - like the Moscow cross-dresser - are simply helping friends or relatives. But most are earning hundreds or even thousands of dollars from agencies that act as intermediaries between students and the "dvoyniki"(doubles).

The penchant for cheating is sure to worry universities in Britain as they draft increasing numbers of Russian students, who hitherto have had a good reputation.

Alena Ryabova, 18, a journalism student in Moscow, described how she was recruited as an impostor at her dormitory. "This woman just knocked at the door and said: 'Hello, would you like to earn $150? We're looking for people to take exams.'"

Alena was persuaded to sit a Russian language test after scoring highly in a mock exam set by her handlers.

They quickly matched her in a database of pictures with six similar-looking students from different institutions, all seeking a surrogate to help them clear their exam hurdles.

In the end, Alena pulled out before sitting an exam - and instead wrote an exposé about her experience for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.

However, she says, several others in the dormitory went ahead with the plan. "They all say: 'Why did you refuse? You sit there for an hour and earn a few hundred bucks. It's great!'"

Tanya, the woman who groomed Alena, told her she sat about 70 exams per year as a seasoned surrogate, earning up to $600 (£335) per time. Despite being 28, her young looks, average height and blonde hair meant she matched many female students.

When Alena expressed doubts that she would get through security checks with another person's documents, Tanya replied: 'No problem, it's mostly old grannies and granddads who do the check. They haven't a clue what's going on."

It is not known how many surrogate students are operating, but police and university staff believe the chicanery is commonplace.

"In our school alone this spring we caught four impostors who were attempting to sit the entrance tests in place of others," said Grigory Kantorovich, deputy head at Moscow's Higher School of Economics (HSE), in a recent interview. "Those were not isolated cases; it's a whole, specialised business."

Some commentators say cheating is on the march because President Vladimir Putin has failed to erode the country's vast, corrupt bureaucracy and raise salaries for public workers.

An estimated $170m (£95m) was spent on bribes to enter educational institutions last year. Besides payoffs and the surrogates scam, there is a burgeoning market in coursework and diplomas which can be ordered or bought over the internet.

Teachers' and lecturers' average pay - around £80 per month - is so pitiful that they are forced to collude in cheating. "Without adequate subsidies, the education system has become a wild, open market where everybody is fighting to survive," says Professor Oksana Gaman-Golutvina, a social scientist.

Numerous websites have sprung up offering coursework, diplomas and even PhD theses written to order by teams of specialists, many of them teachers from top educational institutions.

EducationGuardian.co.uk tested the system by ringing one hotline and posing as the relative of a student at Moscow State Pedagogical University who needed a 70-page diploma on reform in the education system within six days.

"That's tricky because there's not much time," said Volodya, who answered the call. "But we have an excellent specialist on hand. It's possible." With a surcharge for urgent work, the diploma would cost $420 (£235), he said.

"It's very easy, lots of people are doing it," said Katya, 25, a student at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations who bought her diploma on bankruptcy law through an acquaintance.

"I started out writing it myself but then I realised I didn't have the time or the energy to complete it," Katya added. She got a five, the top mark.

Cheating has reached such epidemic proportions that some institutes have been forced to crack down. Earlier this year the HSE announced it was introducing automatic expulsion for anyone caught cheating.

In Britain, the subterfuge could be harder to detect. "I translated a diploma from a Russian website for one of my essays," said Maria, 28, a Muscovite who recently finished her studies at University College London. "Obviously, no one had a clue I'd done it."