The challenge: Balancing exam security, preparation, and efficiency
GEMS World Academy, Dubai faced several challenges in their existing assessment practices:
Ensuring secure assessments: Teachers struggled to maintain exam integrity in digital environments, with students finding ways around non-lockdown setups.
Preparing students for IB e-assessments: Grades 6–10 students needed exposure to authentic exam conditions, tools, and workflows to build confidence ahead of IB assessments.
Upskilling teachers: Many educators were initially hesitant to adopt digital tools, making professional training and support essential.
Feedback visibility and stakeholder access: Parents, students, and teachers needed clearer, quicker access to performance insights and feedback for timely interventions.
“Families and teachers needed clear, timely insight into performance to guide re-teaching and next steps.” - Zunaira Siddiqui, MYP Coordinator
The solution: A secure, integrated, and supportive platform
Lockdown mode & exam integrity
AssessPrep’s lockdown browser became a game changer. It prevented breaches in exam practice, restoring confidence in digital assessments and ensuring secure testing conditions.
Learn about how you can deliver assessments with confidence and control.
Seamless ManageBac integration
The syncing with ManageBac allowed teachers to connect assessments directly to units, analyze results more effectively, and provide parents with transparent access to their child’s performance.
AssessPrep connects with 10+ other school technologies that you use and not just ManageBac! Learn about it here.
Onboarding & support
Smooth onboarding and responsive support ensured staff adoption. Multiple training sessions built teacher confidence, while fast customer support resolved issues quickly.
Student readiness for IB assessments
By simulating authentic exam environments, complete with calculators, formula sheets, and graphing tools, AssessPrep prepared students for the IB e-assessment player, reducing anxiety and boosting performance.
“We are able to simulate the environment of an e-assessment from an early age for students from 6 to 10.” -Zunaira Siddiqui, MYP Coordinator
Impact and results
Student confidence and readiness: Students transitioned seamlessly into IB assessment environments after practicing on AssessPrep.
Teacher upskilling: Mandatory use of the platform boosted teachers’ digital literacy and reduced hesitancy.
Workflow efficiency: Though teachers still create many questions themselves, the upcoming AI features are expected to save significant time in assessment creation and marking.
Data-driven teaching: Teachers quickly identified learning gaps and adjusted instruction, while parents gained transparent access to assessment data.
“Teachers get a breakdown of how students did on particular questions, a good way of analyzing the data. They are able to visualise which question is the one where the majority of the students didn’t get their answers right… it’s a sign for the teacher to re-teach.” - Zunaira Siddiqui, MYP Coordinator
Next steps: Improving alignment and unlocking advanced features
Future priorities for the school include:
AI at scale: Roll out AssessPrep Max for AI-assisted question generation and auto-marking.
Broader feature adoption: Increase use of anonymized marking, accommodations, and rich media feedback.
Final words from GEMS World Academy
"AssessPrep has given our students the confidence to approach IB e-assessments without fear. The lockdown mode ensures integrity, and the integration with ManageBac helps us focus on teaching rather than logistics."
Read about how you can demystify the IB MYP e-Assessments here and download you free MYP eAssessment success strategies now.
