Easy access to artificial intelligence tools is changing how students study, but it is also creating serious challenges for exam authorities.
The UK based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the world’s largest accounting body, has announced that it will stop conducting online exams to curb the rising misuse of AI during assessments. From March 2026, all candidates will be required to take exams in physical centres, except in exceptional cases.
According to a newspaper report, the decision impacts more than 500000 students worldwide and follows growing concerns over advanced AI driven cheating methods. The ACCA currently has 257900 members globally.
Helen Brand, the chief executive of the ACCA, said the organisation is struggling to keep pace with new cheating techniques. She stated, “We’re seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards.”
The accounting body introduced remote exams during the COVID 19 pandemic to help students continue their qualifications during lockdowns. However, as AI tools became widely available, monitoring online exams became increasingly difficult.
Brand added, “The ACCA, which has more than 500000 students, had worked ‘intensively’ to combat cheating, but ‘people who want to do bad things are probably working at a quicker pace’.”
The organisation said technological advances have now pushed the system to a tipping point, making in person exams the more reliable option. Still, the ACCA accepts that cheating cannot be fully eliminated. Brand remarked, “Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s not just the technology. There are other ways formulas up your arm, things down your sock, God knows what mirrors and everything.”
Despite ending remote exams, the ACCA is updating its flagship qualification for the first time in 10 years. The revised syllabus will focus more on AI, blockchain, and data science. According to Brand, AI has “fundamentally shifted” the skills accountants now need.
The wider accounting industry has also faced repeated exam misconduct scandals. Large global accounting firms including PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, and EY have paid heavy fines across the US, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands.
In 2022, EY paid a record $100000000 fine to US regulators after several employees cheated on an ethics exam and later misled investigators. These internal tests were separate from ACCA qualification exams but highlighted the growing scale of the problem.
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