ACCA Ends Remote Exams Amid Cheating Concerns

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the world’s largest accounting body, will stop administering remote exams to combat rising cheating, as reported by the Financial Times late last month.

ACCA CEO Helen Brand told the FT that online tests have become increasingly difficult to police, with the sophistication of cheating methods outpacing available safeguards. Remote exams were introduced during the Covid pandemic, but AI tools have made it easier for candidates to circumvent controls. One student told the FT that a friend cheated by photographing exam questions and feeding them into an AI chatbot. Brand said technological advances had pushed the system to a “tipping point.”

The move follows major cheating scandals involving PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, and EY. While acknowledging that cheating also occurs in person, Brand said there are now “very few high-stakes examinations” that can be taken remotely.

Starting in March, the ACCA will require in-person exams except in exceptional circumstances, even as it modernizes its qualification to reflect AI-driven changes in the profession.