NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 08:08 ET
- ACCA said it will hold session-based exams in centres from March 2026 in countries where it has test sites.
- The group cited security concerns as AI tools make remote, online-proctored exams harder to police.
- The shift comes as Britain’s accounting profession faces renewed scrutiny over exam cheating and enforcement.
Britain’s Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ACCA will move most professional exams back into test centres from March 2026, restricting remote sittings as it tries to curb cheating enabled by artificial intelligence tools.
The change matters now because generative AI — software that can produce humanlike text and analysis from a prompt — has made it easier for candidates to get real-time help during exams taken at home. Professional bodies rely on exam integrity to keep their qualifications trusted by employers and regulators.
It also lands against a backdrop of tougher oversight of professional testing across the accounting industry, after regulators and firms have grappled with a series of cheating cases and penalties in recent years.
Helen Brand, ACCA’s chief executive, told the Financial Times that “We’re seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards,” according to a report by The Guardian. The Guardian+1
In a notice posted on its website, ACCA said it is now only offering “remotely invigilated” exams in countries where it has no exam centre provision. “Remote invigilation” is online proctoring, where candidates sit tests at home while systems and supervisors monitor the session. ACCA Global
For session-based exams, ACCA said all exams will be held in centres from March 2026, except in countries where it has no exam centre provision.
The policy applies across ACCA-delivered qualifications, except the Professional Diploma in Sustainability, which the group said will remain available remotely in all countries.
ACCA has almost 260,000 members and more than half a million students, the Guardian reported. On its site, ACCA said it has exam centres in more than 90 countries.
Remote testing spread rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdowns prevented in-person assessments and professional bodies looked for ways to keep qualification pipelines moving.
ACCA said online tests have become too difficult to police as AI tools available to students have advanced. Brand said the organisation had worked “intensively” on anti-cheating efforts, but acknowledged would-be cheaters were moving faster. The Guardian
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) said last year that reports of cheating were still increasing, though it continues to allow some exams to be sat online, the Guardian reported.
Britain’s Financial Reporting Council said in 2022 that cheating in professional exams was a “live” issue at the country’s biggest companies, according to the Guardian. The watchdog’s investigation also found instances involving tier-one auditors, including the Big Four firms KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY, the report said. The Guardian+1
In the United States, EY agreed in 2022 to pay $100 million to regulators over claims that dozens of employees cheated on an ethics exam and that the company misled investigators, the Guardian reported.
ACCA said most students already take exams in centres, but it expects some will be disappointed by the loss of an at-home option. The group said the shift is intended to protect the “rigour and integrity” of its qualifications as technology evolves. ACCA Global+1
Brand said there were now few high-stakes examinations still allowing remote invigilation, as concerns mount about how quickly AI-assisted cheating techniques can outpace controls.
