Morocco’s Education Minister said Tuesday that the anti-cheating devices deployed during this year’s national baccalaureate examinations detected an average of just two cheating cases each, suggesting that stricter monitoring discouraged students from bringing prohibited electronic devices into exam halls.
Speaking before the House of Councillors, Mohamed Saad Berrada said the ministry expanded the use of advanced anti-cheating technology during the 2026 regular session of the national high school diploma examinations.
“Last year, we tested 12 devices, and each detected around 150 cases of cheating,” Berrada said. “This year, we deployed 2,000 devices, and each detected only two cheaters.”
The devices, known as T3-SHIELD, detect hidden cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals and sparked public debate ahead of the exams over whether they could interfere with students during testing.
Berrada said the results indicate that students largely refrained from bringing mobile phones into examination rooms.
“The figures show that students did not bring phones into the exam halls and did not cheat this year. Everything went smoothly,” he said.
The Ministry of National Education reported 4,126 cheating cases during the 2026 regular examination session.
Digital grading planned
The minister also announced plans to further digitize the grading process beginning next year.
More than 3.3 million exam papers were corrected this year by 31,622 graders, while 283 supervisors monitored grading quality.
Students who wish to challenge their results can submit requests through the ministry’s online platform, Berrada said, adding that all requests are reviewed.
According to the minister, grading errors affect less than 1% of exam papers, with approximately 0.5% containing mistakes, most of which involve errors in totaling scores rather than evaluating answers.
“When we find an error, we correct it,” he said.
Beginning with next year’s examinations, the ministry plans to introduce digital tools that will automatically calculate final scores to eliminate arithmetic mistakes during grading.
Pass rates and honors increase
Morocco recorded a 64.8% pass rate in the 2026 regular baccalaureate session, with 262,444 students passing the national examination.
The pass rate reached 73% in humanities streams, 63% in scientific streams and 69% in vocational programs.
More than 57% of successful candidates earned honors.
The number of students receiving the “Good” distinction rose from 43,000 in 2025 to 48,000 this year, while those earning the highest distinction, “Very Good,” increased from 18,700 to 23,000.
Overall, the number of students graduating with honors increased by 5% compared with the previous year.
Reducing overcrowding and school dropout
Berrada said classroom overcrowding has declined from 11.6% during the 2021-22 school year to 4.6% this year, with the ministry aiming to reduce the figure to 2% next year.
He also announced plans to expand Morocco’s second-chance education program for students who leave school early, increasing enrollment from 23,000 students this year to 70,000 next year.
The ministry is also preparing to launch a digital guidance platform to help students plan their academic and university pathways.
The platform will allow students to begin exploring higher education options as early as November and apply directly to institutions after making their choices, Berrada said, adding that Morocco must improve its career guidance system.
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