It depends, better comparison would be the test drive where you acquire your license (sry, can't find the word, not a native speaker). Since it's about exams,

It depends, better comparison would be the test drive where you acquire your license (sry, can't find the word, not a native speaker). Since it's about exams, right? I'd say, at school tolerance is appropriate, but at university deliberate and definite cheating justifies at least being recorded like a triple-fail at that particular exam IMO. Which in Europe, AfAIK would mean being "expelled" from your main course if it's a mandatory exam. Not sure if all the details are right but I am all for harsh penalties for certain kinds or cheating in high-stakes situations. With "high stakes", I particularly mean things like university exams or scientifc publications, not every violation of the ethical and/or formal rule sets of society in general. Another example would be a physician who was caught doing something that intentionally and significantly violates the rule set for physicians, endangering his patients: it's not negligience, it's malicious.