58,000 students must retake entrance exam after AI-proctored remote test goes wrong

Earlier this summer, nearly 160,000 applicants took the entrance exam for UNAM, Mexico's largest university. For the first time, the test was administered entirely remotely, with a lockdown browser and AI-powered webcam proctoring, over several weeks from late May through early June. The results were dramatically different from previous years, especially among high scorers.

Between 2021 and 2025, 3.5 percent of test takers scored 100 or more out of 120 questions. This year, 16.3 percent did so. The gap widened even further at the top: 0.9 percent of test takers scored 110 or higher in previous years, compared with 5.5 percent this year. The unusual spike prompted accusations of widespread cheating.

UNAM set up an expert commission to investigate. The commission has now issued its recommendations, concluding that the best way forward is to hold a "control exam." Applicants will have to take the test again, but this time in person. The requirement applies not only to candidates who secured a place at UNAM based on this year's results, but also to everyone who would have been admitted since 2021 based on the minimum successful scores in their chosen program. Approximately 58,000 people could be affected, and admission to UNAM will now depend on the outcomes of the new test.

The university rector has apologized to honest applicants, who must now prepare and retake the exam despite having done nothing wrong. Nevertheless, the rector said the control exam is "necessary to give certainty and guarantee equity in access." Because classes are currently scheduled to begin on August 10, the university will have to move quickly unless it decides to delay the start of the academic term.