More than 100 Greek university students have been caught in a mass cheating scandal, the state agency ANA reported Tuesday.

The group at the University of Patras, most of them first-year students, submitted the same paperwork in four separate coursework exercises, the head of the business management department said.

"These exercises constitute 30 percent of the final grade," associate professor Yiorgos Androulakis told ANA.

"They are composed of four sets of exercises.

"The students submitted identical paperwork on all four."

The university has banned the 106 students from sitting the rest of their exams in September.

"Of all the possible sanctions, this is the mildest," Androulakis said.

"They can catch up... students fail many classes in their first two years in any case."

Greek universities are ranked among the lowest in the European Union, plagued by student protests, staffing nepotism and poor infrastructure.

Thousands of young Greeks seek higher education abroad after finishing school, mostly in Britain and the United States.

Source: AFP