By Clare Arthurs BBC Hanoi Correspondent

Education authorities in Vietnam say they have disqualified more than 2,000 students from university entrance exams after widespread cheating.

The second and final round of exams has closed, with even more cheats than in the first round.

Cheaters' tactics

Bribe teachers Buy exam papers Pay someone to take the exam Smuggle mobile phone into exam Photocopy textbook in miniature

Most students break the rules because of the pressure to get a university degree, and not because the exams are difficult.

The respect and status accorded to university graduates in Vietnam's Confucian society is the reason many young people want a university degree.

A degree is also almost a guarantee of a job on the state payroll, and gives prospects for advancement.

But competition to enter a degree course is tough.

There are more than 20 applicants for each place on some of the most popular courses, in medicine, foreign studies and economics.

One Ho Chi Minh City university has more than 20,000 candidates for its pharmaceutical course.

Pressures

Teachers say the pressure for places leads many students to cheat.

The most popular measures are bribing the teachers who write the exam questions, or buying a copy of the exam paper.

State television has shown pictures of people selling exam papers in front of the education ministry.

Some candidates pay others to take the exams for them.

In some cases, students smuggle help into the test in the form of mobile phones or photocopied miniatures of their text books.

Beating the cheats

Education authorities have responded with identity card and handwriting checks.

Police also regularly raid photocopying shops.

This year, the number of cheats discovered is half of last year's figure, though more than 2,000 students will be disciplined.

Teachers say the pressures on students are tougher in the more conservative north of the country.

In Vietnam's southern economic hub, young job seekers have more options, and a university degree is not the only way to break into the employment market.