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An anonymous survey by Harvard's newspaper has revealed a surprising pattern of academic dishonesty among students entering the US university.

The survey by The Harvard Crimson was emailed to incoming first year undergraduates; 1,600 students responded. Results showed that at least a tenth of the students polled admitted to having cheated on an exam prior to starting at the university, while almost half admitted to cheating on their homework.

Athletes were apparently the most prone to cheating. 20 percent of students who played a university sport admitted to cheating on an exam compared to 9 percent of students who did not. The survey also revealed that men were not only more likely to cheat but were also more likely to admit to it.

The results, compared to a previous survey done on the class of 2013, suggested that cheating may be becoming more commonplace. Of the outgoing seniors only 7 percent admitted to cheating in an exam and another 7 percent said they had been dishonest on a take-home test. 32 percent of the seniors said they had cheated on homework during their undergraduate years.

The surveys come in the wake of a cheating scandal at the university which saw 120 students investigated for sharing answers on an exam in 2012. One recent graduate stated: “Cheating was commonplace when I was at Harvard, especially with students in their first year or two. I would say as many as 60 per cent of students took notes into some exams. No one really cared and the faculty, well some of them at least, seemed to recognise and yet ignore the problem”.

In an email to NBC News, Jeff Neal, a Harvard representative, explained that a committee, made up of faculty, staff and students had been established to tackle cheating, which “is a national problem in American education”.

He added: “While the vast majority of Harvard and other students do their work honestly, beginning this year Harvard College has implemented a new, more robust strategy of communicating with all students, particularly first-year students, about the importance – and the ways to achieve – academic integrity.”

In a rebuff to critics who say university has become little more than an expensive party, 84 per cent of the responding undergraduates fully expected to prioritise their academics over extracurricular activities, sport, employment and their social lives. Not a single student put academics at the bottom of their list. Not content with confining themselves to their degree subject, 59 percent of incoming students expressed a desire to pursue a secondary field of study, and 36 percent hoped to learn a language.