Assignments involved actual coding but exams were generally pen and paper when I got my degree. If a question involved coding, they were just looking for a general understanding and didn’t nitpick syntax. The “language” used was more of a c+±like pseudocode than any real specific language.

ChatGPT could probably do well on such exams because making up functions is fair game, as long as it doesn’t trivialize the question and demonstrates an overall understanding.