How to Proctor Exams and Courses on LearnDash to Prevent Cheating

Students cheat on tests.

Every educator knows this, and we have been dealing with it forever.

What has changed in 2026 is the style of cheating. It is less about obvious copying and more about quietly looking things up, asking someone nearby for help, or sharing answers in group chats.

Skeptics still say online exams cannot be trusted.

But if you are using LearnDash, you have more options than most people think. You can tighten quiz design, add smarter checks, and if you really need to, plug in proctoring tools that give you real oversight.

In the next sections, I will break this down by scenario because cheating happens in patterns. For each one, I will show what you can do about it.

A custom LearnDash development company can help give better insights personalized for your course website. Explore today!

Before you add proctoring, do this first (15 minutes)

This part saves you from buying tools you do not need.

1) Decide what kind of exam this is

• Low stakes: weekly quizzes, practice tests
  
  
• Medium stakes: end-of-course certificates
  
  
• High stakes: compliance, paid certifications, career impact assessments
  
  

2) Fix quiz design before adding monitoring
Most cheating happens because quizzes are predictable. If you only do one thing, build a question bank and randomize it.

3) Decide what proof you want
Are you trying to stop cheating, or are you trying to catch it later, the tools and effort are different.

Scenario 1: Ensuring that the student themselves take the exams 

Traditionally, a student takes the exam in a classroom.

There is an invigilator. They check the ID. They keep an eye out.
Online, we do not have that.

Login credentials are the first barrier, but credentials can be shared. A sibling can help. A friend can take the exam.

So, the real goal is:

1. Verify who is starting the exam
2. Verify again once or twice during the attempt, without making it annoying

Solution 1: Security Questions

This is a very simple method to authenticate a student. And it can be easily integrated right into your LearnDash LMS. Security questions can work, but only if they are not the obvious personal trivia type.

Better idea: ask questions that come from the course context, like:

• Which module did you complete last
  
  
• What is the title of the lesson you watched yesterday
  
  
• Which email did you enroll with
  
  

Ask them at the start, and then once again randomly during the exam with a short timer.

If they fail, log them out and ask them to contact the admin. Do not force a full restart every time. That turns into a support mess.

Pro Tip: Keep a bigger pool and pull only a couple randomly, so students cannot prepare answers in advance.

Solution 2: Face Recognition

This is a stronger version of identity verification. Although this method works in a similar fashion, it is a more secure way to proctor your exam as compared to security questions. This can also be added as a custom solution to your LearnDash LMS.

You capture a webcam image before the exam begins, then take snapshots during the exam and match them to the initial image.

This can work well, but it is also sensitive. If you use this, be transparent. Tell learners what you capture, why you capture it, and what happens if something does not match.

For a foolproof plan – add security questions along with face recognition to your LearnDash LMS and effectively deter cheating students.

Solution 3: Keystroke Biometric Authentication

This is more advanced and usually needs a third-party service.

The idea is simple. People have a typing rhythm. You record it at the beginning by asking them to type a short sentence, then compare it during the attempt.

If the typing pattern changes too much, the attempt gets flagged, or the learner is logged out.

KeystrokeDNA and TypingDNA offer this authentication method as a service.

Scenario 2: Prevent them from using the internet to cheat

If the exam is online, internet access is unavoidable.

So you cannot remove the internet.
What you can do is make it hard to use the internet in a way that helps.

Also, even if you block tab switching, someone can still use a second device. So this is about deterrence and good exam design, not perfection.

Solution 1: Screen Capturing and disabling Copy-Paste

Screen capture tools can snap images of the student’s screen at intervals.

If they are on another tab during a capture window, it gets flagged, or they are logged out, depending on how strict you set it.

Disabling copy and paste helps because it forces them to spend more time switching and retyping.

Pro Tip: This mainly reduces tab switching. It does not fully stop second device cheating, but it still removes the easy shortcuts.

Solution 2: Secure Browser

A secure browser prevents the student from switching tabs or opening other apps.

This creates a controlled test environment.

This is useful when:

• The exam is high stakes
  
  
• You need strict compliance
  
  
• You can actually enforce “use this browser” rules

Coupled with face recognition to catch the use of mobile devices or help from friends, it can be a highly effective method to prevent cheating.

Scenario 3: Prevent answer sharing among students

Answer sharing happens even when students are not physically together. Shared docs, WhatsApp groups, and Discord servers. Students will always find a way. So, your best defense is to stop giving everyone the same exam in the same order.

The methods discussed below can be put in place by customizing your LearnDash quiz module.

Solution 1: Randomized / Different questions

This is an extremely easy but effective method. And it is probably something you are already familiar with. Shuffling questions on an exam to discourage cheating is quite an old technique.

Similarly, you can have your LearnDash LMS generate the test questions in arbitrary order for each student. This makes it difficult to share and compare answers. Or you could give each student questions that vary from each other slightly. So the answers are different but are of the same level of difficulty.

Solution 2: Add a timer to questions

Add a timer to your LearnDash test, a section, or even individual questions. Set the timer for a time period that is slightly longer than required by an average student to answer the question. What this does is give the test taker very little time to actually ask around for answers.

Solution 3: Restrict order of attempting questions

If your test contains randomized questions to prevent cheating, you also need to enforce that questions need to be attempted serially. So a student will have to answer a question before he can move onto the next.

If allowed to answer questions out of order, it is still possible for students to swap answers. Which this effectively deters.

Pro Tip: For the best results use a combination of the three methods. Talk to us about customizing your LearnDash quiz module.

Scenario 4: Monitor the exam taking

For traditional exams, an invigilator is always present to look for any suspicious activity among the students. The biggest complaint with online exams is that you don’t have eyes on students as they take the test.

But there are also ways to remotely proctor an online exam. And monitor students for any unusual behavior. Here are a couple of such ways:

Solution 1: Video Monitoring

The process itself is quite self-explanatory. The student keeps their web camera on as they take the test. The invigilator logins remotely to see a live feed of the student taking the exam. And reports any suspicious behavior. He/she can view all the students on a single screen and has the power to log a student out of the exam. Services like Examity can help you integrate it into your LearnDash LMS.

However, the pre-requisite for this method is that all students have to take the exam at the same time. For a self-paced course, this isn’t very feasible.

Solution 2: Audit Logging

An alternative to live video monitoring is audit logging.

This is a method where every action taken by the student – from login to pressing the submit button – is documented. This log can be used to flag suspicious activity while the student is taking the exam or even after the exam has been taken by the student.   

Making this method suitable for even self-paced courses.

How easy is your current LearnDash exam to cheat on

If you tick three or more, your exam is currently easy to cheat on:

• Same questions for everyone
  
  
• No timer
  
  
• Unlimited retakes
  
  
• Answers are easy to search
  
  
• No randomization
  
  
• Students can jump around freely
  
  
• No identity checks at all
  
  
• No log or review process
  
  
• High-stakes certificate with low-stakes controls
  
  

If you have three or more, start with randomization, a timer, and serial answering before you buy anything.

LearnDash Exam Anti-Cheating Checklist (2026)

• Use a question bank and randomize questions
  
  
• Randomize answer options where possible
  
  
• Add a realistic timer
  
  
• Limit attempts or add a cooldown
  
  
• Enforce serial answering for randomized tests
  
  
• Add identity verification for medium or high stakes
  
  
• Add a secure browser for high stakes
  
  
• Enable logs and a review workflow
  
  
• Publish a clear learner policy

Parting Words

At the end of it all, I’ll leave you with this cliche line – Students who cheat harm no one but themselves.

But we can do our best to make it as hard for them as possible! 😉

Let us know if you have any more suggestions to add! If you have any questions about adding proctoring methods to your LearnDash LMS you can leave us a comment or reach out to us!

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