Saudi Arabia - Moving High-stakes Examinations Online

When Saudi Arabia’s schools closed on March 9, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) rapidly brought forward plans to convert its high-stakes Standardized Achievement Admission Test (SAAT) – the Attehseeli, from a paper-and-pencil format to an online format. This move was possible due to investments made over previous decades in infrastructure and expertise for assessments, plus careful planning and communication for the new system and its roll-out. In addition, the switch to online examinations was enabled by new investments in some of the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The announcement to move the SAAT online was received with apprehension by students and universities, mostly because they were concerned about potential unfairness, cheating, and technical problems. ETEC put in place measures to (1) prepare students and universities, including a mock SAAT one week before the final SAAT; (2) provide options for every student to sit the SAAT including online or in QIYAS computerized testing centers; and (3) guard against abuses of the system with automated proctoring through AI technology. ETEC’s communication of these measures was wide-reaching and pre-emptive, leading students and universities to feel more assured of the new processes, and enabling successful administration of the SAAT on June 8-9, 2020, just 4 weeks behind the usual schedule. At that time, around 218 000 students downloaded the SAAT at home on their computers, completed the examination offline with camera monitoring, and uploaded their responses within the required time, with AI technology flagging potential violations for human review. A further 117 000 students went to an ETEC computerized testing center or mobile testing unit to sit the online version of the SAAT. This experience has encouraged ETEC to accelerate its previous timelines for moving other tests and assessments online, making better use of latest technologies, and thereby bringing efficiency savings in the long term. In the short turnaround time brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, much has been learned by ETEC and by the students and universities in Saudi Arabia affected by this switch to online assessments, which will help to further enhance the online examination system in the future.