Cheating in the JLPT on Test Day

I have taken the several levels of the JLPT. I took my first JLPT in Melbourne, Australia. The thought of  cheating never entered my mind. When I took level 2 for the first time in Japan I was shocked to find many students begin the exam before they were told to. I saw several students read several pages of the test being very careful not to get caught as the test organizers walked around the lecture room. I was one examine circle answers on his test sheet almost completing half of the exam before it even began

This happned again a year later when I took level 1. I was quite angered and temptetd to let the test organizer know what was going on. The Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services go to great lengths to protect the content of the JLPT every year. It seems ridicuols to me that examinees can get away with cheating on the day.
The test centers are very large in Japan. It can take up to 20 minutes for the tests to be handed out. Also, everyone’s id must be checked with their application details. So on test day you could find yourself looking down at the test paper with the temptation to take a peek and get a head start on the answers. The wait to begin is frustrating and agonizing.

So if you are taking the JLPT in a large test center this year the opportunity to look and test questions and work out answers will be there. You probably have a very good chance of getting away with it, too.  I don’t recommend you risk it.  If you get cuaght you will fail and most likely never be able to take the test again.