Police in Pingyao county, Shanxi province, have detained a high school graduate they say altered a classmate's online college application as a prank, the Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

The student, surnamed Liu, was found out after he tampered with an online list of college choices created by Liang Jipeng, police said.

Liu, who had Liang's exam registration number and password, changed the list on July 1 as part of a practical joke on Liang, police said.

Liang finished the national college entrance exams in June. He then found out that he was given a place at Shihezi University in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, even though Liang had not placed the school on his list.

Liang also discovered that five of his eight school choices had been changed.

Both Liu and Liang had been studying in a school in Pingyao county. School Principal Cheng Linwang said that the school had suggested students set up the same passwords in case they forget theirs.

According to local authorities, the investigation is ongoing.