Discovery of UTBK-SNBT Cheating: From Impersonators to Hearing Aids

The National Student Admission Selection Committee (SNPMB) 2026 discovered several cheating practices carried out by participants in the Computer-Based Written Exam for National Selection Based on Tests (UTBK-SNBT) on the first day of implementation, Tuesday, 21 April 2026. The General Chairman of the SNPMB 2026 Responsible Team, Eduart Wolok, explained that instances of impersonation were still found in this year’s university entrance tests.

Impersonation practices were detected at the UTBK Centre of Universitas Sulawesi Barat. Test participants replaced their attendance with someone else. “So, the same person who took the UTBK last year participated again this year with a different name,” said Eduart at the UTBK Centre of Universitas Negeri Jakarta, East Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Impersonation practices in the UTBK-SNBT implementation were also found by the committee at the Universitas Negeri Surabaya test location. He stated that there were participants who took the UTBK in two consecutive years but with different names.

“After we traced the list of participant names to the original school, it turned out that the school did not issue a graduation certificate for the individual,” said Eduart.

Besides those two locations, cheating by test participants hiring impersonator services was found at the UTBK locations of Universitas Negeri Malang and UPN Veteran Jawa Timur. He explained that the perpetrators attempted to modify the participant ID photo to avoid detection by the system.

In addition to impersonation practices, the SNPMB 2026 committee found participants bringing assistive devices. One of them was the use of a hearing aid found on a UTBK participant at the Universitas Diponegoro test location.

Eduart explained that the hearing aid was installed in the ear canal of the UTBK participant committing the cheating. “By the committee (the participant) this one had to be taken to an ENT doctor to have the device removed,” he said.

He emphasised that UTBK participants who cheat during the test are guaranteed not to pass. “We will not tolerate these aspects of cheating,” he said.

The UTBK-SNBT 2026 implementation has been carried out simultaneously today, 21 April 2026 until 30 April 2026. In terms of material, the UTBK-SNBT 2026 has not undergone significant changes. The exam still covers scholastic potential tests (TPS), mathematical reasoning, Indonesian language literacy, and English language literacy.