How to cheat on ALEKS, and what ALEKS can actually see

How to cheat on ALEKS: the short answer

Most students who search how to cheat on ALEKS, or look for an ALEKS hack, want one thing: to get through a long topic list without spending a whole evening on it. That is a fair thing to want. ALEKS can take many hours a week, and a single wrong answer in Learning mode takes a point away.

The honest answer has three parts. First, ALEKS does not watch your screen on normal homework, but it keeps a detailed record of your work and flags students whose pace suddenly jumps. Second, the answer you need is typed math with your own values, so most shortcuts students try are slow or do not match. Third, quizzes, tests, Scheduled Knowledge Checks and placement tests can be locked down and recorded, and that is where cheating gets students caught.

This guide goes through each method students use, what it risks on ALEKS, and where the line is. Every ALEKS fact links to an ALEKS or McGraw Hill source. Where ALEKS does not document something, we say so.

What ALEKS can and cannot see

Your instructor does not see your screen on normal ALEKS homework. They see reports. The ALEKS Reference Guide for instructors describes these:

From the ALEKS Reference Guide and the ALEKS and Respondus FAQs (sources below). "Not documented" means we found nothing in ALEKS's public guides. It does not prove that no such log exists: any web page can notice when it loses focus.

So the real risk on normal homework is not a camera. It is a record that looks unlike you: hours of nothing, then 40 topics in one night, or a Knowledge Check score far above your Learning mode work. The full breakdown, with tabs and screenshots, is in can ALEKS detect cheating.

The methods students use to cheat on ALEKS, ranked by risk

Ask Reddit or TikTok how to cheat on ALEKS and the same methods come up. The table puts each one next to what it leaves on ALEKS and how well it fits ALEKS problems, which are typed into an answer editor. The ALEKS Reference Guide says it plainly: "ALEKS does not rely on multiple choice questions."

"What it leaves" is for normal homework and Learning mode, from ALEKS's own guides. Proctored work has its own section below.

Someone else does it for you

Homework-for-hire sites rank high for "ALEKS answers". They log in as you and work through your pie. On ALEKS this is the method most likely to show up in reports: the Time and Topic Report shows when and how long the account works, and the Unusual Learning alert exists to catch a learning rate that jumps. Then the next proctored test or Scheduled Knowledge Check shows a gap between the pie and you.

Answer keys and cheat sheets

Search results for ALEKS cheat sheets are full of PDFs on unrelated hosts and flashcard sets from past terms. ALEKS Knowledge Checks are adaptive: ALEKS's student overview calls them "adaptive, open-response, and no more than 30 questions". The questions you get depend on your earlier answers, so a list from someone else rarely lines up. A formula sheet for study is a different thing, and a good one.

A second tab with ChatGPT

This works, but it is slow on ALEKS. The problem is math drawn by ALEKS's own editor, so you retype it by hand: a fraction, an exponent, a unit. Then you type the answer back with the editor's buttons. On a timed quiz, the clock keeps running while you are away.

Why cheating on a knowledge check backfires

A Knowledge Check is how ALEKS decides what you have mastered. ALEKS's "All About Knowledge Checks" overview says ALEKS gives credit for mastering a topic when you "answer a practice problem (without help) on an ALEKS Knowledge Check". Every course starts with an Initial Knowledge Check, and most courses add Progress Knowledge Checks after you spend a few hours in the system and learn a set number of topics.

Three things make outside help on a Knowledge Check a bad trade:

• A high score sends you ahead. The Initial Knowledge Check sets your learning path. If it says you know topics you do not, ALEKS gives you harder topics next, and you struggle in Learning mode instead. The instructor guide tells instructors to explain that the Initial Knowledge Check "is NOT a test".
• ALEKS checks again. The overview says you may see problems on topics you already mastered, "on purpose to make sure you still remember it". Topics you cannot do again are taken out of your pie and marked Needs More Practice.
• Your instructor can request one. When the Unusual Learning alert fires, the instructor guide suggests requesting a Knowledge Check "to verify that their knowledge state is accurate".

The smart use of a Knowledge Check is to answer what you know and press "I Don't Know" on the rest. ALEKS's student module guide tells students to choose "I Don't Know" only if they do not know how to solve the problem, instead of guessing. More on how the pie changes, and what students ask about it, in our ALEKS knowledge check guide.

Placement tests and LockDown Browser: the line

Some ALEKS work is proctored, and that is where this guide stops helping. The ALEKS and Respondus FAQs say LockDown Browser prevents students "from accessing other applications, copying, printing, or visiting other websites while taking an ALEKS Quiz, Test, or Scheduled Knowledge Check". Respondus Monitor "uses webcam and video technology to record students", and its dashboard lets instructors view the recordings and flags suspicious behavior. In the student view it is called "webcam".

Placement is the other line. McGraw Hill's ALEKS support page says LockDown Browser can be required for ALEKS PPL Placement Assessments, and its remote proctoring page lists 125+ proctoring centers plus ProctorU and Respondus for placement. Schools learned this the hard way. In 2010, Campus Technology reported that the University of Arizona saw higher ALEKS placement scores when the tests ran without proctoring, and moved to online proctoring.

Cheating on a placement test also hurts you directly: it puts you in a class you are not ready for. Canvas Quiz Solver is off on LockDown Browser pages, Respondus pages and ALEKS placement tests. Read what LockDown Browser records and what ALEKS detects on proctored work before you start one.

The answer shown under the question

Every method above sends you somewhere else for the answer: a tab, a phone, a stranger, a PDF. Canvas Quiz Solver is a Chrome extension that does the opposite. It reads the ALEKS problem on your screen and shows the answer right under it.

• No second tab. The answer is in the tab you are already in.
• No retyping the math. It reads typed math problems on the page: expressions, units, exponents and fractions, and tables too.
• Your own values. It answers the problem on your screen, so adaptive questions and changing values do not get in the way.
• Graphs: for a graph problem, it lists the points or the shape to draw, and you draw it.
• You stay in control. You type the answer into the ALEKS answer editor and submit it yourself.

It works on ALEKS Knowledge Checks, Learning mode problems and assignments, in beta. Some drawing tools, for example structure drawing in chemistry, are not supported yet. Answers come from AI and can be wrong, so check the ones that count. Remember what the Knowledge Check section says: help on a Knowledge Check moves your pie ahead of what you know.

It is the same account and plan as on Canvas and McGraw Hill Connect. You get free answers to try, and Unlimited is $14.99 a month or $48.99 for a 4-month semester. See everything it reads on the ALEKS answers page.

What students ask about cheating on ALEKS

The same questions come up on Reddit, TikTok and Quora. Here are plain answers, checked against ALEKS's own guides.

• "I scored too high on my ALEKS. Am I in trouble?" A high Initial Knowledge Check is not a cheating flag by itself. The cost is that ALEKS now thinks you know those topics, so your learning path starts further on. If your Learning mode work then looks very different, the reports show it.
• "Does ALEKS record you?" Not on normal homework, as far as ALEKS documents. With Respondus Monitor turned on, it records you through the webcam. You see "webcam" on the assignment first.
• "Can I skip the knowledge check?" ALEKS documents no skip. You get up to 24 hours to start it, unless your instructor changes that.
• "Are the answers on Quizlet right?" Sometimes for the method, rarely for your problem. ALEKS problems use their own values, and Knowledge Checks are adaptive.
• "Will my professor know if I use ChatGPT?" ALEKS documents no AI detector. What it does keep is your time on each problem and every answer, and a sudden change in pace raises an alert.

What happens if an instructor thinks you cheated

The instructor decides, not ALEKS. ALEKS gives them the evidence: the Time and Topic Report with every problem and answer, the Unusual Learning alert, and Knowledge Check results. The instructor guide suggests requesting a new Knowledge Check when a student's pace looks wrong.

From there, your school's policy applies. McGraw Hill's blog post on handling cheating tells instructors to talk with the student first. For a first offense, it suggests a zero on the assignment; for a knowingly egregious case, failing the course and a report to the college. Your school's academic honesty policy sets the rest.

Also know the platform rules. McGraw Hill's terms of use, which cover ALEKS, ban any browser extension or AI tool used to "view, complete, answer, or submit" an assessment unless McGraw Hill allows it in writing. Your school's policy decides what counts as cheating in your class, so read your syllabus.

Sources we checked

• All About Knowledge Checks (ALEKS, PDF for students), checked 2026-10-24
• ALEKS Reference Guide (McGraw Hill, PDF for instructors, linked from the ALEKS support center), checked 2026-10-24
• New ALEKS Student Module Reference Guide (McGraw Hill, PDF, December 2016), checked 2026-10-24
• ALEKS and Respondus FAQs (ALEKS, PDF), checked 2026-10-24
• Respondus LockDown Browser System Requirements and Installation for students (McGraw Hill ALEKS support), checked 2026-10-24
• Remote Proctoring and Browser Locking for Online Testing (McGraw Hill), checked 2026-10-24
• U Arizona Addresses Placement Exam Cheating with ProctorU (Campus Technology, 2010-09-07), checked 2026-10-24
• 3 key steps when handling situations involving cheating (McGraw Hill blog, June 2024), checked 2026-10-24
• Terms of Use (McGraw Hill), checked 2026-10-24

Common questions