In recent years, exam cheating has become a major problem in many countries. The traditional method of conducting exams is no longer sufficient to ensure fairness and integrity in the testing process.

In a recent article in the Gurdian newspaper, the regulatory body overseeing accountancy practices in the United Kingdom has issued a warning that cheating in professional exams remains an ongoing concern for the country’s largest audit firms.

A letter from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), Britain’s accounting and auditing industry regulator, said its investigation into the issue had already uncovered instances of cheating at audit firms and professional bodies. These were found in some tier-one auditors, a category comprising the so-called Big Four accountants, KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY, along with Mazars, Grant Thornton and BDO.

Large auditing and accounting firms around the world have faced multimillion dollar fines for alleged cheating in tests that form the basis of professional qualifications.

Enter the blockchain

Blockchain technology provides a secure and decentralized system that can help prevent cheating during exams. By using blockchain, a tamper-proof record of student performance can be created, ensuring that exam results are accurate and transparent.

The use of blockchain technology can help to ensure that every student’s exam results are secure and protected from unauthorized changes or manipulation. This is because each student’s exam result is recorded as a unique code on the blockchain.

In addition to recording exam results, blockchain technology can also be used to create a question bank, generate exam questions, and even take exams. By using blockchain to manage the entire exam process, there is a higher level of transparency and security in the testing process.

Furthermore, blockchain can also provide a way to verify the authenticity of a student’s identity during an exam. By creating a decentralized system that verifies the identity of students, it becomes difficult for someone to impersonate a student and cheat during the exam.

Overall, the use of blockchain technology in the education sector has the potential to significantly improve the integrity and fairness of the testing process. With its tamper-proof record-keeping and decentralized structure, blockchain can provide a secure and transparent system that ensures students are fairly evaluated based on their own merit.

Ensuring exam integrity

Here are some potential ways blockchain technology can ensure exam integrity:

1. Digital identities: Blockchain technology could be used to create a digital identity for each student that is verified through a decentralized network. This would make it difficult for students to impersonate others or cheat by using multiple identities.
2. Immutable records: Using blockchain, exam results could be recorded in a tamper-proof and immutable way. Once an exam result is recorded on the blockchain, it cannot be changed or deleted. This means that students cannot go back and alter their grades after the fact.
3. Real-time monitoring: Blockchain technology could be used to monitor students in real-time during exams. For example, students could be required to log in to a blockchain-based system before starting the exam, and their activity could be continuously monitored to detect any suspicious behaviour.
4. Smart contracts: Smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. They could be used to enforce exam rules and ensure that students follow them. For example, a smart contract could automatically flag any student who tries to access unauthorized websites during the exam.

While these are all potential uses for blockchain technology in preventing cheating during exams, it’s worth noting that implementing these solutions would require careful planning and execution. Additionally, there are some limitations to blockchain technology, and it may not be suitable for every situation.