Faking the Grade

There is a cheating epidemic going on around the world. Faking the Grade is a one-hour documentary that examines the issues surrounding the pervasive cheating in high schools, colleges and universities around North America. 

It is estimated that at least 75 percent of university students cheated at some point during their high school years. Many continue to do it (and few get caught) once they move on to post-secondary education. Research shows those who cheat in school go on to cheat in life. ‍

Faking the Grade examines the ingenuity of the young minds who turn their intelligence to cheating to win. Scientists say that we’re born to cheat and they’ve recently shown that dishonesty is contagious. Teachers argue that when it comes to honesty, integrity and equality, our universities and colleges are our culture’s ‘canary in the coal mine’ for the rest of society.

Included in the film are examples of student cheating, interviews with students and some of North America’s leading researchers and academics in the field of academic integrity including Francesca Gino (Associate Professor, Harvard Business School), David Callahan (Senior Fellow, Demos), Heather Vogell & Alan Judd (Investigative Reporters), Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Parenting Expert), Julia Christensen Hughes (University of Guelph), and Don McCabe (Professor, Rutgers University).

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Andy Blicq, Faking the Grade takes a hard look at this phenomenon and asking the crucial question: who wants to go to a dentist, doctor or to drive over a bridge designed by someone who rented someone else’s brain to get their degree?