On the International Baccalaureate (IB) website, a robust defence of high-stakes, end-of-year exams is mounted. While both internal and external assessments are used in diploma courses, exams “form the basis of the assessment for most courses” because of their “high levels of objectivity and reliability”.

Enthusiasm for external exams is also fuelled by the challenge of artificial intelligence (AI). Exams are being seen by some as a more dependable form of assessment than coursework - after all, how do you know if an essay is the work of a student or of ChatGPT?

In May, however, students sitting IB exams showed that they, too, could be compromised by technology when time-zone differences were exploited to leak the content of some question papers online. Often referred to as “time-zone cheating”, the IB has been clear that this is forbidden and that the stakes are high for any student who gets caught.

It has also now - in an update issued in August - set out how it plans to tackle the problem.

Maintaining academic integrity

Students sitting hour-long exams will be kept under supervision for at least two hours to “help maintain academic integrity”; exam start times will be adjusted to prevent students taking exams in earlier time zones from sharing topics ahead of later time zones; and schools will have to wipe calculator memories at the end of each exam.

The changes were announced in time for the November exam series, but Tes understands they will be in place in some form on an ongoing basis.

The international school community’s response has been mixed; a number of school leaders point out that the changes will hit them in the pocket.

• Background: IB unveils new exam rules to tackle time zone cheating
• Context: What the International Baccalaureate is and how to teach it
• Headteacher view: 6 reasons why the IB works for our staff and students

Liz Free, director of International School Rheintal in Switzerland, says the changes will have “implications for supervision costs, time and space”.

Chris Seal, head of the senior school at Tanglin Trust School in Singapore, says they will bring “more unbudgeted cost to all exam centres”, given that “invigilation teams are paid by the hour”.

He adds: “Leaving students in exam halls for longer than is required based on the behaviour of a tiny minority seems like a rather draconian measure.”

Seal suggests “a more elegant solution would have been to follow the example of other examination boards and carry our rigorous inspections at short or no notice to ensure procedures are followed”.

School leaders’ views

However, there is an acceptance among school leaders that protecting the integrity of the IB is paramount - and that this is in the interest of not just the IB itself, but also of schools and students.

Free says it is “critical” that international schools “support IB’s measures in ensuring that the examination process is valued and trusted”.

Meanwhile, Dr Saima Rana, deputy chief executive officer of GEMS Education, which has 46 schools in the Middle East, says GEMS “fully supports the IB’s proactive approach”.

Simon Herbert, who leads a GEMS school in Dubai, says it is “crucial” that schools support the adjustments “to ensure the rigour of the exams is maintained”.

IB says it has “taken extensive steps over the years” to ensure secure examinations, with the changes to the November series part of an “ongoing commitment” to safeguarding “fairness and integrity”. However, one school leader privately told Tes that such measures have been “the norm for years” with International A levels and GCSEs.

Cambridge International and Pearson Edexcel both deliver International GCSEs and A levels. For well over a decade, Cambridge says it has maintained the security of its exams by allocating every country to one of six administrative zones and specifying a “key time” for each one according to a strict timetable.

A Cambridge spokesperson explains: “Our ‘key time’ rule means that candidates around the world taking the same exam must either be in the exam or under full-centre supervision at the appointed time for that exam, so that students can’t access or share the exam material until everyone has finished the exam.

“Incidences of cheating are extremely rare, and we continuously review all aspects of our security arrangements to minimise risk.”

The spokesperson adds that “candidates in different parts of the world take different versions of the paper”.

Pearson Edexcel, meanwhile, talks about having similar mitigations in place for a similar period - with “students in different time zones sitting exams simultaneously and in-room supervision at the start or end of exams to ensure there is no risk of malpractice”.

A spokesperson also adds that when it comes to International GCSEs, sometimes exams with different content are produced to allow start times to vary in different regions.

The bigger question for many in the sector, however, is not whether high-stakes external exams can be delivered securely; rather, they are keen to discuss whether such exams remain the best way to assess students.

Recent problems with cheating aside, international schools come up against other issues during exam season, says Daniel Jones, chief education officer at Globeducate, a group of more than 60 schools.

If they use qualifications from different providers, there are often timetable clashes, for example, which means students can have several critical exams on the same day. Some may be in school all day and still be sitting exams into the evening.

“It’s not fair to make kids do three or four exams in one day - that’s not a level playing field with those who are just doing one exam in one day,” says Jones.

He adds: “What I’d love to see in the future is less of a focus on high-stakes, end-of-year exams and a wider range of alternative assessment introduced.”

Alternative forms of assessment

Jones accepts that some forms of coursework, such as essays, may be less reliable now because AI can be used to complete these tasks.

But Jones is positive about the potential of “micro-credentials”, which would be acquired throughout the year as students build their skills and knowledge, akin to the way Cubs and Scouts collect badges. Students could also demonstrate their knowledge through orals or interviews, or collaborate on a project with peers, he suggests.

“That’s much more akin to real life, rather than sitting them in an exam with pen and paper when we don’t even use pen and paper any more,” Jones says.

Rana and Free are also in favour of a more wide-ranging conversation about assessment. Of course, for international schools delivering the English curriculum and qualifications, that conversation is set to get underway later this month when the call for views is launched by the government’s curriculum and assessment review.

Already, one exam board - OCR - has published its own review calling for an overhaul of GCSEs, including reducing the length and number of exams and the amount of content.

Digital innovations ‘reshaping’ knowledge

Rana says the situation with exam security “raises the need for a broader conversation about the impact of new technologies on learning and teaching models”.

She adds: “The rapid evolution of tools like ChatGPT, AI and other digital innovations is reshaping how knowledge is acquired, processed and assessed. These technologies offer incredible opportunities for enhancing education, but also pose significant challenges to traditional methods of teaching and assessment.”

Free says the development of machine learning and AI bring “an opportunity to think deeply about what we assess, how we assess and what these mean for the rigour of the process itself”.

“There needs to be a full review, by examination boards, of what exactly examination means; what and how are we examining and how do we ensure the rigour, equity and legitimacy of this process for every student in every corner of the globe.”

For these school leaders, then, shoring up traditional assessment is an essential short-term measure - but not necessarily the long-term solution.

IB says it welcomes discussions “around how emerging technologies, such as AI, are reshaping education”. It says it is “constantly evaluating how innovations in technology can enhance learning and teaching”.

But it adds that it is “confident” its current blend of internal and external assessments “maintains a thoughtful balance between rigour and fairness, offering students diverse opportunities to showcase their knowledge and abilities”.