No single tool secures an exam. A paper can leak before anyone logs in, the wrong person can sit a well-protected paper, and a sound sitting can still produce a result that cannot be defended. Each risk needs its own layer, and the layers need owners.
This playbook is written for university exam offices planning the 2026–27 season. It covers hall and online sittings, names the controls for each layer, and is honest about limits: no plan and no product catches every form of cheating. It describes threats in general terms for institutions and gives no instructions for misuse.
What you’ll learn
- The five layers of a university exam security plan, and who owns each one
- How a sealed paper vault with timed release and access logging reduces leak risk
- Identity controls from registration to submission, including face checks, photo ID and liveness
- What a locked browser session, item-pool randomization and known-threat detection can and cannot do
- How human review and a recorded committee decision keep the process fair
- Integrity controls for marking: chain of custody, anonymous marking and variance rules
Who it’s for
Controllers of Examinations, deans, exam office managers and IT heads at universities and colleges, and members of malpractice committees who want to see the whole chain in one place.
Inside the whitepaper
The exam security picture in 2026
How the threats have moved off the webcam toward AI assistants, second devices, overlays and remote-control tools, and why the exam office is often a small team carrying all of it.
Layer 1: Protect the paper before exam day
Blueprints, moderation, a sealed paper vault, timed release and an audit trail of who opened what.
Layer 2: Confirm who is sitting the exam
Hall tickets and attendance in the hall; continuous face checks, photo ID and active liveness online. A failed check goes to a person.
Layer 3: Secure the sitting itself
Locked browser sessions, randomized delivery, known-threat detection and the optional Windows desktop agent, with an honest limit line for each.
Layer 4: Review flags with people, decide as an institution
Why flags are signals, how required reasons work, and how one malpractice workflow can handle hall and online incidents.
Layer 5: Evaluation and results integrity
On-screen marking controls that keep evaluators accountable and results traceable through revaluation.
Exam-day roles and the control room
Who does what on exam day, and what an exam-day control room should show.
A season planning calendar
A month-by-month plan from timetable to results, with checkpoints for each layer.
The download includes the full playbook, a layer-by-layer owner template and the season planning calendar. For detail on the online layer, see online proctoring.