Upper level SSAT scores cancelled in China administration

The Secondary School Admission Test Board (SSATB) has announced the cancellation of all Upper Level SSAT scores from the September 19, 2015 administration in China via email, according to a Beijing Times' report this Wednesday.

The test was taken on that date in Shanghai and Beijing by a total of 357 students. The SSATB says "there are reasonable grounds to question the validity of the test scores from this administration". It said the possibility remained that some of the test scores could still be recognized after an investigation had been concluded.

The Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) is for private high schools in the United States and Canada.

Wang Mengyan, the manager of American Schools Program of the New Oriental School, told the Beijing Times that these so called "Ivy League high schools" only admit about 2% of all American students.

The paper reports the mother of one of the boys who took the test as saying her son had scored more than 2100 in the test. Many scores were very high, and some students even got a full score of 2400. She said her son recalled hearing some students telling their instructors after the test that they'd spotted all the questions they were looking out for.

According to Beijing Times' report, Chinese students' scores are frequently questioned as many Chinese students do better than their American counterparts in the test.

Last October there was a leak of questions in SSAT test in an Asian administration and the SSATB has been monitoring the validity of test scores since then.