The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is investigating irregularities in its 2026 undergraduate admissions exam after an unusual concentration of exceptionally high scores emerged among more than 158,000 applicants.
Though UNAM launched online testing this year, it forced 58,000 applicants to retake the exam in person after a technical panel found evidence of widespread cheating.
The controversy has raised urgent questions about artificial intelligence (AI), unauthorized study materials, and vulnerabilities in remote proctoring. The university has not yet determined exactly how the irregularities occurred.
Unusually high scores triggered the UNAM investigation
The first warning sign appeared in the distribution of the results. In previous admission cycles, roughly 3% of applicants scored over 100 correct answers out of 120. In 2026, that figure surged to 16%, while the share scoring above 110 jumped from 0.9% to 5.5%.
When UNAM published its initial results on July 17, roughly 22,000 applicants were selected, while about 3,000 exams were canceled for rule violations. The university had already blocked another 1,117 exams during the May testing window after detecting prohibited behavior.
Administered from May 23 to June 10, the online exam used a secure browser that blocked secondary applications from copying, pasting, and taking screenshots. UNAM backed this with identity verification, camera and microphone monitoring, AI-driven alerts, and human supervision to detect potential violations.
UNAM contracted Mexican ed-tech firm Territorium Life to manage the digital testing platform under an agreement worth 36 million pesos (about US$2 million). More than 158,000 applicants ultimately took the examination.
UNAM faces institutional fallout
On Aug. 1, Secretary General Patricia Davila resigned, turning the exam crisis into a broader institutional fallout. Davila has managed UNAM’s admissions framework since November 2023. Her departure followed the suspension of enrollment and the creation of a 16-member technical commission. The team has not yet determined whether internal procedures, vendor technology, or student cheating caused the breach.
Alongside its internal review, UNAM filed a criminal complaint against individuals and companies selling illicit exam assistance. University officials stressed that the criminal complaint is separate from its investigation into the system breach.
Rather than scrapping the entire exam, UNAM is auditing and validating individual results. This strategy safeguards valid scores for legitimate applicants while re-evaluating suspicious results.
Why 58,000 applicants must take another exam
UNAM will require 58,000 applicants to retake the exam in person. The group includes applicants who initially obtained a place and others whose scores reached or exceeded previous years’ cutoff levels. Fewer than half of those taking the control exam are expected to receive one of the available places.
The decision has generated protests from applicants who say they prepared for the original test without cheating. Frustrated candidates insist UNAM respect their original results, maintaining that honest test-takers shouldn’t pay the price for the university’s technical failures.
UNAM has not yet set a final date for the control examination. The university has also postponed the start of classes for new students until Aug. 31, while other students are scheduled to begin the academic year on Aug. 17.
UNAM is Mexico’s largest public university and one of the country’s most competitive institutions. Its low-cost undergraduate places attract applicants from across Mexico, with some programs requiring scores well above the general admission threshold. The 2026 process involved competition for roughly 22,000 places among more than 158,000 applicants.
What remains unknown about the online exam
Reports that applicants used AI tools have become central to the controversy, but the evidence points to several possible methods of cheating. Investigators have examined the possible use of unauthorized materials, outside assistance, internet access, improper access to answers, and other ways of bypassing remote supervision.
UNAM’s own system had been designed to detect suspicious activity. The university used AI to generate alerts, alongside human monitoring and technical restrictions on the applicant’s computer. The unusual results have raised questions about whether those safeguards were sufficient for an examination with more than 158,000 participants.
UNAM has not yet pinpointed a single cause for the issue. Its technical commission is still evaluating the software provider, internal procedures, platform testing, and potential content leaks. Until the investigation ends, the elevated scores indicate a compromised system — not proof that every top scorer cheated.
AI is changing how schools assess students
BBC recently interviewed Colombian educator Julian de Zubiria about how AI is changing education and the role of traditional assessment. De Zubiria said that examinations centered on memorization and repetition are particularly vulnerable to AI. “Tests based on memory, repetition, and real-time responses — that kind of education will indeed be replaced by AI,” de Zubiria said.
De Zubiria also argued that schools should place greater emphasis on developing students’ ability to think, make judgments, and act, rather than concentrating primarily on transmitting information. He said technology should serve as a tool for challenging and refining ideas instead of replacing the cognitive work students are expected to perform.
That perspective provides a broader educational context for the UNAM controversy. The university is dealing with the immediate problem of validating admission results after an online examination raised questions about how effectively a high-stakes test can measure individual performance when students have access to increasingly capable AI tools.
