In 2022, a partnership with Examity was announced by Password Testing to deliver the Password Skills Plus test.

Founder and CEO Caroline Browne stated to The PIE that after investing in compliance and IT teams, and providing staff with the necessary time and tools to review each test, the worldwide launch is now prepared.

"We have executed our plan to gradually roll out the test during its initial 12 to 18 months, aiming to fully comprehend the 'at-home' test environment and the various behaviors of test takers (both positive and negative) under these conditions before scaling up," she explained.

Over the past decade, scandals and fraud have significantly affected testing providers.

"Organized fraud, systematic cheating, and varying cultural attitudes toward test-taking behavior pose significant challenges for universities annually, as students who have engaged in academic misconduct may be enrolled without sufficient language proficiency to effectively participate in their studies," Browne added.

"To guarantee precise, dependable, and trustworthy test outcomes, it is essential to systematically identify and address academic misconduct. However, this process must be conducted in a manner that ensures innocent test takers are not unfairly penalized at any stage."

Continuing, she explained that the development of the Password Skills Plus test aimed to discourage, identify, and disqualify cheating among test takers.

"Our approach to at-home testing begins with the understanding, drawn from over 15 years of conducting online English language tests, that the majority of test takers are honest."

A three-stage workflow has been established to detect cheating, which includes pre-test session investigations, human proctoring during tests, and post-exam analysis.

Approximately 80 higher education institutions (primarily in the UK and Cyprus) out of over 1000 global partners have already adopted the Password Skills Plus test.

Partnered with Meazure Learning for proctoring, the company conducts invigilation during tests and reviews videos utilizing both human oversight and AI, followed by reassessment by Password compliance teams.

According to Browne, test taker behavior undergoes changes during exams, with many starting nervously and either gaining confidence or not, depending on their English language proficiency.

"It's crucial to recognize that analyzing test taker behavior is pivotal in identifying academic misconduct," she emphasized.

The company's validation portal enables universities to access and authenticate test certificates.

"Our objective is to ensure that every test result accurately reflects the test taker's abilities on the assessment day, thus ensuring that Password Skills Plus test outcomes consistently meet the rigorous standards required for high-stakes university admissions."