Mexico’s largest university, UNAM, has abandoned the results of its 2026 entrance exam after an AI-monitored remote test drew massive cheating accusations. Nearly 160,000 students sat for the exam in May and June using a lockdown browser and AI-powered webcam proctoring. Now, the school is ordering 58,000 of them to retake it in person. The sudden reversal followed an unusually high number of top scores, which led to a technical commission being formed to investigate.
The commission found the 2026 test results to be an outlier. From 2021 to 2025, just 3.5% of students scored 100 or more out of 120. This year, that number jumped to 16.3%. At the very top end, 0.9% scored 110+ in the past—now it’s 5.5%. The commission concluded that the surge in high scores pointed to a breakdown in the proctoring system.
UNAM’s rector has apologized to those who took the test in good faith, calling the in-person retake necessary to “guarantee equity in access.” The new “control exam” will not only affect this year’s admits, but also anyone who would have been accepted based on scores since 2021. Classes are scheduled to begin on August 10, so the new tests must be organized quickly unless the school delays the academic year.