UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The UK’s accounting body will scrap remote exams from March amid rising AI-assisted cheating, requiring students to sit assessments in person except in rare cases.
As reported by Mark Sweney of The Guardian, the world’s largest accounting body, ACCA, will no longer allow students to sit exams online to tackle a growing problem of cheating in tests that support professional qualifications.
What did ACCA say about ending remote exams over AI cheating?
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which represents nearly 260,000 members, announced that from March, students will be restricted to taking online exams only in exceptional cases.
During an interview, Helen Brand, the chief executive of the ACCA, said,
“We’re seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards.”
She explained that the ACCA, which has more than half a million students, had worked “intensively” to tackle cheating, but
“people who want to do bad things are probably working at a quicker pace.”
According to her, the increase in AI technology has pushed cheating in exams to a “tipping point.”
Ms Brand added,
“There are very few high-stakes examinations now that are allowing [remote invigilation].”
According to the ACCA, it has concluded that remote assessments have become too difficult to police due to the growing availability of artificial intelligence tools for students.
Remote exams were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow students to complete their qualifications despite lockdown restrictions on in-person assessments.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which is responsible for training accountants, said last year that reports of cheating were still on the increase.
Despite concerns, the ICAEW still allows some exams to be completed remotely.
What did the FRC reveal about cheating among the big four accountants?
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Britain’s regulator for accounting and auditing, reported in 2022 that cheating in professional exams was still a pressing concern at major UK firms.
Several large auditing and accounting companies have faced multimillion-dollar fines following cheating scandals in professional exams.
According to the FRC, cheating involved some tier-one auditors, a group that includes the Big Four, KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and EY, as well as Mazars, Grant Thornton, and BDO.
In 2022, US regulators received a $100m (£74m) settlement from EY over claims that employees cheated on an ethics exam and that the company misled investigators.
How many students take ACCA exams worldwide each year?
According to the latest figures, in a single session in 2025, 111,639 students entered ACCA exams, with an estimated annual total of over 400,000 students.
A total of 128,651 exams were completed in one session, with the annual number estimated to exceed 450,000 exams. In a single session, 4,527 students became new ACCA affiliates, with around 15,000 to 18,000 joining annually.
ACCA holds four main exam sessions per year (March, June, September, and December). The numbers for the first three sessions of 2025 add up to roughly 301,000 student entries and 343,500 exams completed.
The December session typically has high attendance, the estimated annual number for 2025 is likely to exceed 400,000 students and 450,000 exams.