SecureBrowser

A locked exam window, and proof that it stays locked.

SecureBrowser is a small add-on for Google Chrome that turns the browser into an exam room with the door shut: no other tabs, no copying, no printing, no wandering off to another website. And it keeps telling us it is still switched on, so nobody has to take the candidate’s computer at its word.

In everyday terms

Like a sealed exam room.

In a hall, the doors are shut, bags stay outside and phones are handed in. Nobody can pop out to check a textbook halfway through.

SecureBrowser shuts the doors on the computer. The difference is that the computer belongs to the candidate, so the lock has to keep proving itself. Every ten seconds it checks in with us, in a way a copycat cannot easily fake. If it goes quiet, we notice.

The closed doors of an exam hall, with candidates' bags and phones left in trays outside
How it works

How it works, step by step.

  1. 01

    Install it once

    The candidate adds the extension to Chrome before the exam. Your institution tells them where to find it.

  2. 02

    It locks when the exam begins

    The candidate is told how many other tabs will close, and then they do. Leaving the exam page is blocked, and copying, pasting, downloading and printing are switched off.

  3. 03

    It checks in every ten seconds

    Each check-in is signed, so we know it comes from the real extension on that sitting. If the check-ins stop, the exam notices and the gap is recorded for the reviewer.

  4. 04

    It lets go when the exam ends

    The browser goes back to normal the moment the paper is handed in or the time runs out.

Who it helps

What it means for you.

  • Your examinations office

    Switch it on exam by exam: optional on Lite, recommended on Standard, required on Pro. Where your exams already use Safe Exam Browser, that works too.

  • Your candidates

    One install, a clear warning before anything closes, and a normal browser again as soon as they finish.

  • Reviewers

    A record of whether the lock held from start to finish, including any tab that was opened and closed.

Questions

What people ask us.

Anything else, ask the team and a person will answer.

Ask a question
No. It needs Google Chrome on a laptop or desktop computer. A candidate on another browser is told before the exam starts, before anything is used up.
Plain words

Words you may hear.

Extension
A small add-on to a web browser.
Lockdown
The exam window with everything else shut away.
Check-in
The regular signal that proves the lock is still on.

See it against one of your own exams.

Bring a real paper and a real roster. We will run a sitting end to end, including a deliberate flag, so you can see exactly what a reviewer would be looking at.