Nothing has been confirmed but new allegations of cheating on the SAT are being made by school counselors in Asia after the November administration of the exam, ones similar to those made in October when scores in two countries were withheld.

In October, the Educational Testing Service, which administers the SAT for the College Board, said it had withheld SAT scores from October for students in South Korea and China because of allegations of cheating; school counselors reported other examples of cheating in Japan, Thailand and perhaps other countries as well. The SAT was given in Asia again on Nov. 8, and almost immediately the same kinds of accusation surfaced.

Asked about the investigation into allegations about October’s administration of the exam and about new concerns about the November test, Tom Ewing, ETS corporate spokesman, said  in an e-mail:

We do not have results yet from the review of October scores but continue to complete our work. There are always rumors after every administration and we take them all seriously.

In Asia, the College Board and ETS use versions or partial versions of the SAT tests that were previously given in the United States  That’s why the ETS in October denounced organizations that obtain copies of the SAT in advance and then pass them on to students for a profit.

Last year, there were two episodes of suspected cheating, one in October involving allegations in South Korea that questions from earlier tests were obtained by “cram schools” and given to students before they took the exam. In May 2013, the College Board canceled the May 2013 administration of the SAT and SAT Subject Tests throughout South Korea because of a leak of the exam.

This issue has plagued the SAT in Asia for years. Despite the constant concerns, the College Board and ETS have continued to use tests or test questions in Asia that were previously used.

Bob Schaeffer, public education director of the nonprofit National Center for Fair & Open Testing, known as FairTest, said that his organization had received several e-mails from sources in Asia alleging that the SAT given on Nov. 8 was circulating among students before it was administered. One message included a screen shot of what appeared to be an entire SAT exam in Chinese. He said:

The failure of ETS and the College Board to provide prompt, candid answers to widespread questions about the security of SAT administrations in Asia undermines the credibility of their test. This situation is particularly troubling because of the documented history of admissions exam cheating in China and Korea, which has led to multiple arrests and test cancellations in the recent past….
The test-makers’ pattern of delay and non-responsiveness is disturbingly similar to their initial reaction when concerns were raised about an alleged SAT cheating-by-impersonation ring on Long Island several years ago.  That case was not broken until the county District Attorney conducted an investigation uncovering a long-standing conspiracy.  Many local educators believe that the test-makers did not aggressively pursue cheating claims to protect the reputation of their flagship product, the SAT.

Schaeffer also said that “more than enough time has elapsed” for the College Board and ETS to “tell the truth about what really happened” in October.