Business schools deans say AI weakens written assessments, driving a return to live exams

The deans of ten European business schools have stated that AI weakens written assessments, prompting institutions to return to oral defences and live exams.

The finding comes from The Future of Graduate Management Education Revisited 2026, a new report from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) published on 23/09/2026. It shows that schools face two connected challenges: preserving students' ability to think independently and teaching them to use AI effectively.

As students increasingly rely on AI, business schools are changing how they assess what students understand.

Nova School of Business and Economics, Portugal, has increased the time students spend defending their theses, while Frankfurt School is bringing back oral examinations and final presentations. At HEC Paris, "machine off" assessments completed with pen and paper test students' foundational knowledge, while "machine on" exercises assess how effectively students can use AI.

INSEAD is developing interactive AI-powered case studies in which students engage with an avatar of the protagonist and must ask the right…