In an article about the upcoming HOELT, Cambridge University Chancellor Chris Smith notes that…
“If you are doing an online test or interview, you can – these days – prop a mobile phone up against the screen, invisible to the assessor, and it will provide you with all the answers. You can share your screen with someone who will tell you what to say. You can use an earpiece that will perform a similar function. You can exploit “blind spots” where a camera can’t reach. You can even claim an internet disruption that closes the session down and gives you a second run at the test. There are a multitude of ways to “game” the system when it is done entirely online. AI-enabled cheating is a mounting challenge. Have ministers really thought this through?”
Nowadays there is an enormous amount of messaging coming from the IELTS partners and affiliated groups about the untrustworthiness of remote testing. If it is true that remote testing is such a cheater’s delight, one is left wondering why IELTS and Cambridge University Press & Assessment still offer a remote version of the IELTS test, which continues to be accepted by universities around the world. When they have conversations with score users about the security and trustworthiness of the fully remote IELTS Online product, how do they go?