What a certification board needs from a remote exam
A certificate or license tells employers, regulators and the public that a named person met a standard. When the exam behind it can’t show who sat it and under what conditions, the credential loses its value, which is why credentialing exam proctoring is held to a higher bar than a course quiz.
Boards usually ask four things of a remote exam:
- Identity. The registered candidate is the person who sat the exam, from first login to submission.
- Consistent conditions. Every candidate sits under the same rules, whether they are in one city or many countries.
- A defensible record. If a result is challenged, the board can show what happened, what was seen and who decided.
- A clear incident process. People handle concerns in a documented order, and no penalty applies before a decision.
Proctorly is built around those four needs. It doesn’t claim to catch all cheating (no proctoring product can), and it tells you where its view ends.
The setup we recommend
For certification and licensing, we recommend the Live dedicated assurance level, with photo ID capture and active liveness.
A live check-in before the exam
Each sitting starts with a live check-in. The candidate shows a government or institutional photo ID and the proctor confirms identity, while an active liveness challenge checks that a real person is in front of the camera rather than a photo or a replay. During the exam, Proctorly keeps matching the candidate’s face and rejects photo and video replays. Each identity check is logged separately, and a failed check goes to a person, never to an automatic fail. Read more about identity verification for online exams.
A proctor watching throughout
At Live dedicated, a proctor watches a small group of candidates for the whole session and can step in by chat or audio if something needs attention. Before anything is flagged, gentle on-screen reminders tell a candidate to stay in view, and every reminder is logged.
Our trained proctors work 24×7 during exams, in English. If you have your own proctors, Proctorly supplies the software and your staff review cases in the reviewer console. If you’d rather use ours, see live proctoring.
Monitoring for known threats
Alongside the proctor, Proctorly detects known generative-AI tools from a maintained list, phones and other devices in view, remote-access and screen-sharing tools, known overlay apps and AI browsers, virtual machines, browser extensions and extra monitors. Where an exam needs it, an optional Windows desktop agent checks the computer itself for running apps, overlays, extra or mirrored displays, USB devices, Bluetooth earphones, VPNs, extra browser windows and open office apps. It notes that an app is open and never reads the candidate’s documents.
Each check is a signal for a person to review, not proof. Unusual audio and movement are raised for review in context, never as findings. Our online proctoring overview shows how each threat is handled.
The exam itself
A remote proctored certification exam is only as secure as the delivery behind it. With Proctorly, the exam runs inside the same platform that proctors it, so nothing is handed off between a test engine and a proctoring tool.
- Question types. Single and multiple choice, true/false, numeric with tolerance, short answer, essay, fill in the blank, matching, ordering, hotspot and file upload, with a maths editor.
- Sections and rules. Section timers, locked or free navigation, instructions for each section and adaptive testing.
- Randomized delivery. Questions and options shuffled from item pools, so candidates in the same window don’t see the same paper.
- Self-booking. Candidates book their own slot from the times your proctoring capacity allows.
- Locked session. The exam opens in a locked browser session on a laptop, desktop, tablet or phone, in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Ulaa.
Tell us what your exam permits, such as a calculator or reference material, and we’ll advise on the setup.
A clear incident process
When something happens in a certification exam, the process matters as much as the evidence.
- A proctor or reviewer looks at every flag and records a decision with a required reason.
- One-step escalation moves a case up the review chain when it needs another pair of eyes.
- Confirmed incidents go to a recorded committee decision, and no penalty applies before it.
- Every view, decision and change is logged in a tamper-evident audit trail.
- Each case exports as one evidence pack, with clips, timeline, decisions and audit entries, for an appeal or an audit.
Your board names who makes the final decision and how candidates appeal, and an automated flag never becomes a sanction on its own. Read more about human review proctoring.
Three further steps are planned: a notice to the candidate when a case is opened, a reconsideration step, and evidence labels that keep a technical failure in its own category, outside the integrity score.
Candidates in many places
Proctoring for licensing exams often means candidates spread across many cities or countries. Each candidate needs a laptop, desktop, tablet or phone with a camera and microphone, running Chrome, Safari, Edge or Ulaa, and a connection of at least 512 Kbps download and 128 Kbps upload. Support is available 24×7 during exams from the help link on the exam screen.
Candidates are told what is captured before the exam starts, and we don’t infer emotion, personality or intent from a face or a voice. Data is hosted in the client’s geographic location by default, and boards can choose any AWS region or keep data in their own S3 bucket. You set retention in each exam policy. Candidate recordings and data are not used to train AI models unless you opt in. See proctoring privacy.
Recording accommodations for each candidate, such as extra time and permitted assistive software, is planned. If some candidates can’t use face verification, talk to us and we’ll plan the exam with you.
When remote delivery is not the right fit
Some boards still require in-person sittings for certain exams, under their own rules or a regulator’s, and if remote delivery isn’t right for your exam, we’ll tell you. Bodies that run a mix can use the Proctorly Examination module to run the same exam in a center and online, with one seat plan and one set of results. Proctoring inside the hall itself is not offered yet, so in a center your invigilators supervise.
One platform for every exam you run
Most certification bodies run more than one kind of exam. On one certification exam platform, you set the assurance level per exam:
- Recorded, with your staff reviewing, for practice tests and continuing education quizzes
- Every flag reviewed, for lower-stakes modules or renewal checks
- Live pop-in, where a proctor watches a group and steps in when a signal fires
- Live dedicated, for the certification or licensure exam itself
Practice exams can use record-only sittings, which capture the session without raising flags. That way licensure exam proctoring and a short member quiz run on the same online certification exam platform, with the same evidence and decision process. If you also screen applicants into a program before they certify, you can run an online entrance exam on the same platform.
Frequently asked questions
Is remote proctoring accepted for certification exams?
That depends on your board, your regulator and the exam. Many bodies deliver some exams remotely, while some still require in-person sittings for certain exams, so check your own rules first. If remote delivery isn’t the right fit, we’ll tell you. Where it is, we recommend Live dedicated with photo ID and active liveness, so every sitting has a live check-in and a full record.
How does a live check-in work?
Before the exam starts, the candidate shows a government or institutional photo ID on camera and completes a short active liveness challenge, and a proctor confirms identity. During the exam, Proctorly keeps matching the candidate’s face and rejects photo or video replays. Each check is logged separately, and any failed check goes to a person for review.
Who decides if a candidate breached the rules?
Your board does. AI raises flags, and a proctor or trained reviewer looks at each one and records a decision with a reason. Confirmed incidents go to a recorded committee decision with no penalty before it, and an evidence pack is ready for any appeal. No automated flag fails a candidate or imposes a sanction on its own.
Can candidates outside India sit our exam?
Yes. Candidates sit in a locked browser session on a standard laptop, desktop, tablet or phone, with at least 512 Kbps download and 128 Kbps upload, and proctors work 24×7 during exams, in English. Data is hosted in the client’s geographic location by default, and you can choose any AWS region or your own S3 bucket.
Can we use our own proctors?
Yes. Proctorly can supply just the software, with your trained staff reviewing cases in the reviewer console, which opens each case at the flagged moment with webcam, screen and events on one timeline. Proctorly can also supply the people, reviewing every flag or proctoring live. In both cases your board names who makes the final decision and how candidates appeal.