When the dust settles on party conference season, it’s usually time to reflect on the differing policy announcements.
This year it was interesting to note that both major parties have opened up the debate on the core skills and knowledge they want our young people to learn.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak built on his maths-to-18 plans with the unveiling of the new Advanced British Standard, broadening the education offering post-16 and making some form of maths and English compulsory.
Labour talked about “real world” maths as well as developing oracy, creativity and other core skills. And at AQA we also dived into that debate, publishing a report that looks at fundamental numeracy and literacy skills.
Digital future for exams
So, a much revived focus on “what” young people should learn: but what about how they should be assessed? Getting that right could pay real dividends, too.
That’s why we at AQA have today set out how digital exams will help young people develop the skills they need for the future. We’ve also announced that, subject to regulatory approval, the reading and listening components of AQA GCSE Italian and Polish will be assessed digitally in 2026.
More than that - we plan to move the exam for at least one component, in one large entry subject (for example, GCSE English) entirely digital by 2030.
While most subjects will continue to be pen and paper for some time to come, moving certain topics in some subjects to be examined digitally is a real opportunity to deliver benefits to students and teachers, and the education sector as a whole.
Digital exams better develop digital skills in young people; they are more environmentally sustainable; and are more authentic to the digital world that young people are growing up with and will work in.
Planning ahead
As an exam board committed to assessing everyone equally, we think digital exams also have the potential to be more inclusive and fairer.
Above all, we know that any change to assessment must be fully researched and understood, and command outright public confidence. That’s why we’ve spent years trialling and piloting digital exams - and why we’ll continue researching and testing all the way.
As part of today’s report, we polled more than 6,000 teachers, 2,000 members of the public, 1,000 young people aged 11-18 and around 1,000 parents of secondary school-aged children to ask them their views on digital exams. We found that:
- 68 per cent of young people agreed that digital exams would be better preparation for future work, education or training.
- 63 per cent of 11- to 18-year-olds felt comfortable using a computer for longer than an hour, whereas only 36 per cent felt comfortable using pen and paper for more than an hour.
- 68 per cent of parents agreed that exams need to move with the times.
- 71 per cent of teachers said that two to five years would be a sensible lead time for the introduction of the first digital GCSE or A-level exams.
Small steps
Technology has always been part of education, and the move to digital exams is the next logical step.
But changing the way we conduct exams cannot, and should not, happen overnight. We intend to roll out digital exams over a period of years, learning along the way, taking small steps at first and bigger steps as we go along.
We will continue talking with teachers, school leaders and exam officers about how they want to see these changes made. But we know already that the benefits of digital exams are not only clear, but they also have wide support.
We look forward to hearing from as many people as possible from right across the education sector, and indeed the political divide, to ensure we can make digital exams a reality and a success.
Colin Hughes is the CEO of AQA
