What are the penalties for cheating in an IOE examination?

Cancellation of that examination plus expulsion from sitting any examination for one to four years, publicised through the media. Impersonation can also be referred for criminal prosecution.

The published penalties are considerably heavier than most candidates assume, and they reach beyond the paper you are sitting.

Misconduct towards examination staff

Abusive behaviour, rowdiness, assault or beating towards anyone deployed on examination duty is prohibited. Where it occurs, the central examination conduct committee may cancel that examination and, in proportion to the act, expel the candidate from sitting any examination for one to four years. The notice of expulsion is publicised through the media.

Copying

Copying is prohibited whether individually or collectively, and whether it is your own work or someone else’s being used. A candidate doing so may be handed to the local administration for action.

Impersonation, which carries the heaviest terms

A candidate must sit their own examination and must not have another person sit it for them. Where that is established, the examination conduct committee may expel the candidate for up to four years, refer the matter to the local administration for criminal prosecution, and bar the candidate from any university examination for up to four years.

The procedural rule that is easy to breach by accident

Hand your answer sheet to the invigilator before leaving the examination hall. Walking out with it is a breach in its own right.

Read this against the completion window

A four-year programme has to be finished within eight academic years and there is no re-examination provision after that. A multi-year examination ban does not pause that clock, which is what makes these penalties degree-ending rather than merely serious.

Section 14.17 of the booklet, page 24. Penalties are set by the central examination conduct committee and are discretionary within the stated ranges.

Last reviewed 19 August 2026 by Ram Raj Thapa, Admissions Officer, Imperial College of Engineering. Every figure on this page is cited to the document it came from.

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Related answers

• What is the IOE student code of conduct, and what are the penalties?

  Students must follow university rules, wear the prescribed uniform, carry their ID card, pay dues on time and clear library books. Penalties run from a warning to expulsion from the university.

• Is there a time limit to complete a BE at IOE?

  Yes. A four-year programme must be completed within eight academic years, and a five-year programme within ten. There is no provision for re-examination after that.

• What attendance do I need to sit IOE semester exams?

  At least 70%, and you must also pass the Internal Assessment in every subject. Fail the internal assessment and you are barred from that subject’s semester examination.