AI cheating, leaked papers and marking errors: how exam protests went global

<p>Student unrest sweeps India, Portugal and Mexico as grievances and pressure for good grades in tough job market collide</p><p>Families with teenagers in education know the private, hidden pain of exam season. But this year, what might have been a summer of quiet family anxiety has erupted in several countries into public unrest.</p><p>Exam-related turmoil has led to mass student protests in Mexico after nearly 60,000 university applicants were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/05/mexico-top-university-unam-resit-entrance-exam-cheating-scandal">forced to resit tests amid suspected cheating</a>, while Portugal’s disastrous attempt to digitise school exam marking sparked the country’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/31/portugal-education-minister-exam-marking-fernando-alexandre">worst education crisis</a> in decades.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/aug/16/ai-cheating-leaked-papers-marking-errors-how-exam-protests-went-global">Continue reading...</a>