Decision follows scandals at Big Four and comes as AI tools make it easier to circumvent invigilators
The world’s largest accounting body has decided to scrap remote exams to combat a rise in students cheating when sitting tests remotely.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which has 257,900 members, will end its online exams from March, requiring candidates to sit assessments in person unless there are exceptional circumstances, its chief executive Helen Brand told the Financial Times.
Remote invigilation was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow students to continue qualifying into the profession during lockdowns.
But the ACCA has concluded that online tests have become too difficult to police, particularly as artificial intelligence has made cheating more difficult to combat.
“We’re seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards,” said Brand.
The accounting profession has been hit by a series of cheating scandals, involving thousands of staff, with firms such as PwC, KPMG and Deloitte fined millions of dollars in the US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands.