I don't believe it can be "you can take the test remotely if you let us search the room first" (that judge put an end on this, so it cannot anymore at least in

I don't believe it can be "you can take the test remotely if you let us search the room first" (that judge put an end on this, so it cannot anymore at least in the US). It is impossible to prevent cheating in this context, no matter how hard you try. Their paranoia in your case was foolish. What they could do is letting people take written test in a lightly controlled environment (just a webcam with audio, no 360/scan before tests), and then complement it with a Q&A part. Yes, that's probably more time consuming and more expensive.