Exam Integrity & Monitoring

Overview

SafeExam Platform monitors exam sessions for signals that indicate a student left the exam context — primarily tab switches and window blur events — while the attempt is active. Events are logged server-side and surfaced to educators in Live Control.

This is practical deterrence and evidence collection, not biometric surveillance. Integrity logs support educator judgment; they do not alone prove misconduct.

Three layers

• •Frontend — detects visibility, blur, and fullscreen changes during an active attempt
• •Backend — validates session ownership, debounces duplicate events, updates violation counts
• •Database — stores activity logs tied to session_id for review and export

Events tracked

• •TAB_SWITCH — student navigated away from the exam tab
• •WINDOW_BLUR / WINDOW_FOCUS — exam window lost or regained focus
• •EXAM_START / EXAM_SUBMIT — session lifecycle boundaries
• •Fullscreen exit warnings when fullscreen is expected
• •Inactivity signals where configured

Event flow (simplified)

Browser detects tab switch or blur
        ↓
POST /api/v1/monitoring/log (session-scoped)
        ↓
Backend validates user + session
        ↓
Activity log stored (session_id, event, timestamp)
        ↓
Violation count updated (debounced, no mid-exam reset)
        ↓
Educator sees update in Live Control

Violation policy (typical deployment)

• •1st tab switch — on-screen warning to the student
• •2nd tab switch — flagged; educator may see elevated attention in Live Control
• •3rd tab switch — exam auto-submitted; student cannot continue the attempt
• •Violation count does not reset during a single attempt
• •Other blur events may warn without incrementing the hard tab-switch counter

Educator visibility (Live Control)

During active exams, educators open Live Control to see session progress, violation counts, and recent activity. Clicking a student row shows an event timeline for that attempt.

Post-exam, educators review attempts, integrity signals, and export CSV reports aligned with registration fields configured for that exam.

Camera & proctoring posture

• •Optional deterrent camera may show a local browser preview — not uploaded by default
• •No always-on video recording unless your institution configures a custom deployment
• •Monitoring is scoped to the exam session, not general device surveillance

Honest limits

• •Cannot detect a second device (phone) beside the laptop
• •Cannot prevent determined circumvention by advanced users
• •Should be combined with clear policies, question design, and proportional consequences
• •Not a substitute for enterprise biometric proctoring when your risk model requires it

Related resources

For the browser-native integrity model, see our Browser-based exam integrity guide. For authentication and CSRF, see Security architecture. For system design, see Architecture overview.