From crisis to confidence: How IÉSEG delivered high‑stakes digital exams in just four weeks
IÉSEG School of Management is a leading French business school with two campuses in Lille and Paris, hosting approximately 6,100 students across 25 programmes. With nearly 2,000 international students representing around 100 different nationalities, IÉSEG has built its reputation on academic excellence, internationalisation, and a strong student experience.
In March 2020, as the COVID‑19 pandemic swept through Europe, France implemented a sudden lockdown. For Jonas Debrulle, Director of Programmes, and only a few months into the role, the timing could not have been more critical. Final exams were scheduled for May, and thousands of students depended on these assessments to complete their degrees on time.
NAVIGATING LOCKDOWN PRESSURE AND GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENTS
The French government imposed strict rules for how remote exams had to be managed. Institutions were required to:
- Verify student identity visually, ensuring the correct person was taking the exam.
- Prevent cheating by restricting access to digital resources during the test.
- Provide reliable exam conditions for large cohorts.
The existing exam tools at IÉSEG did not support visual identity validation, nor were they widely adopted among professors—particularly the many visiting lecturers who teach courses but rely on administrative staff to set up exams.
Suddenly, the school had to redesign its examination model from the ground up.
CHOOSING WISEFLOW UNDER EXTREME TIME CONSTRAINTS
With May exams only weeks away, IÉSEG formed a rapid‑response team to identify potential digital assessment partners. They evaluated solutions from France and abroad, but none offered the right balance of security, scalability, and speed, until they contacted UNIwise.
“IÉSEG had heard of UNIwise through partner institutions in the UK. At that time, WISEflow wasn’t used by any school in France. But when we spoke with UNIwise in early April, things moved very quickly.”
Over the course of just two weeks, IÉSEG met with several vendors and carefully evaluated each platform’s capabilities. WISEflow quickly distinguished itself as the strongest solution. Its facial recognition feature enabled secure identity verification, while the lockdown browser ensured students could not access files or other applications during the exam. The system also demonstrated the scalability required to support very large cohorts, up to 1,400 students in a single session, without compromising performance. In addition, WISEflow offered flexible authoring tools and auto‑correction options that appealed to both administrative staff and professors. Finally, the strength of UNIwise’s support model, particularly its readiness to assist in crisis mode, played a decisive role in IÉSEG’s choice.
“WISEflow was a very impressive software. In terms of features for professors, question types, auto‑correction, and the number of people who could take an exam, it was all good."
IÉSEG signed with UNIwise in April 2020. The first exams were scheduled for May. That left three to four weeks to roll out a fully operational digital assessment system.
TRAINING, CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND RAPID ADOPTION
To meet the impossible deadline, IÉSEG had to restructure internal roles temporarily. Instead of maintaining traditional processes, administrative staff became flow managers and exam supervisors, professors took the roles of exam authors and markers, and UNIwise trainers guided staff on exam creation, evaluation, and system configuration.
Over the course of April, IÉSEG organised five to six training sessions, each with 20–30 staff members. Some participants attended multiple sessions to gain full confidence. The school also produced short instructional videos, answered countless questions through an internal support panel, and adjusted working hours as needed.
“UNIwise was extremely responsive. Weekdays, weekends, early mornings, late evenings—we always got replies within hours. It felt like both teams were working 24/7.”
PREPARING 3,000 STUDENTS FOR A NEW EXAM REALITY
Between May and June, around 3,000 students were scheduled to take digital exams. To prepare them:
- Students were asked to complete several dummy exams, with some completing all five.
- IÉSEG recruited 10 master’s students to act as “guinea pigs,” testing around 40 exam formats to understand how lockdown browser modes, messaging, and proctor tools worked.
- The school introduced new rules—most importantly, that students must log in 15 minutes before exam start to avoid last‑minute confusion.
The rigorous testing paid off. The faculty and support teams began feeling more confident in the platform’s logic and behaviour, and both staff and students started adapting to the new procedures.
LIVE EXAMS: WAR ROOMS, PROACTIVE SUPPORT AND UNEXPECTED MOMENTS
As exam days arrived, IÉSEG set up a dedicated war room to assist students in real time. A hotline was opened for anyone experiencing difficulties, especially those with unstable internet connections. WISEflow’s dashboard allowed staff to see who had activated their flow. If a student remained inactive, the team acted immediately, sometimes even contacting parents.
“One student had given up and was having dinner with his father. We called him, helped him get online, and he ended up completing the exam successfully. Later he thanked us. He said he never expected his school to support him in that way.”
There were unusual moments too. In one case, a student in China was repeatedly blocked by facial recognition. When Jonas spoke to her via Zoom, he realised the registered photo was of her brother, who had set up the system for her. And when an exam was accidentally deleted by a staff member, WISEflow’s log system helped UNIwise recover it—and taught the school exactly what not to do in future.
LESSONS LEARNED AND LONG-TERM IMPACT
By the end of May, IÉSEG had successfully delivered all scheduled exams, large and small, without postponement or compromising academic standards. Students, parents, and faculty praised the school for its handling of the crisis.
The experience also demonstrated the value of:
- Clear communication
- Intensive preparation
- Proactive technical support
- A willingness to adapt processes rather than force old methods onto new tools
“For us, it’s a success story. The quality of the product was important, but the quality of the service was what really convinced us. We couldn’t have done it without UNIwise.”
What began as an urgent response to an extraordinary global disruption has since evolved into a lasting transformation of IÉSEG’s assessment culture. The rapid shift to digital exams not only solved an immediate operational challenge but also opened the door for new ways of designing, delivering, and supporting assessments across the institution. Today, WISEflow is fully embedded in IÉSEG’s examination model and is used for a growing range of purposes, from alternative exam formats and hybrid assessments to continuous evaluation throughout the semester.
The experience proved that digital assessment could enhance reliability, flexibility, and quality, not just during a lockdown, but in everyday academic practice. Faculty who were initially hesitant have become confident users, and students now expect digital tools to support a smoother, more transparent exam experience. The crisis effectively accelerated an innovation that might otherwise have taken years to implement.
“It’s not a one‑time deal because of coronavirus. It’s the beginning of a long‑lasting relationship with UNIwise, and something we will continue to use in the semesters to come.”
WORTH TO KNOW ABOUT WISEflow
Thinking about switching to WISEflow? Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about functionality, implementation, and why institutions choose UNIwise.
WANT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH AN EXPERT?
Book a demo to learn more about how UNIwise can support you on your digital assessment journey.