Is it permissible to cheat on exams in an institute whose certificate the student does not wish to use for work, with the sole aim of passing and working in another field?

Your resolve not to seek employment with the certificate does not permit cheating in exams, for cheating is Islamically forbidden (haram (definition)), and some scholars have considered it among the major sins. Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami said in Al-Zawajir: "The two-hundredth major sin: Cheating in sales and otherwise." Among the hadiths that prohibit cheating is: "Whoever cheats us is not of us." Ibn Hajar mentioned that considering it a major sin is evident from what is stated in the hadiths regarding the negation of Islam from the one who cheats and the severe warning against it.