Most teachers believe on-screen exams will be possible within the next five years, but warn that school systems will need to be updated first, according to research commissioned by the country’s biggest exam board.
Three-quarters of secondary teachers believe that on-screen assessment will be a good thing if the challenges are “addressed effectively”, according to the survey carried out by Teacher Tapp on behalf of AQA.
The report - On-screen exams: what school leaders, teachers and students think - says that senior school and trust leaders’ support for screen-based exams is dependent upon a national project to overcome challenges that could cause problems with their introduction.
More than eight in 10 (85 per cent) of the 3,816 secondary teachers surveyed believe that on-screen exams could be possible within the next five years, but 87 per cent said that their school infrastructure would need updating for their successful introduction.
Meanwhile, eight in ten (81 per cent) of heads surveyed feel that digitisation of exams is inevitable, and of the heads and trust leaders interviewed in person, 85 per cent considered digital examinations a “positive move” if implemented effectively.
Support for online GCSE and A-level exams
But in the most economically deprived areas, 86 per cent of teachers surveyed believe their students do not have enough access to technology at home to prepare for digital exams.
Responding to questions in the survey, senior leaders called for a government-led, national project to establish clear technology standards and expected levels of accessibility, and nationwide implementation supported by targeted funding.
AQA launched an on-screen assessment pilot at the start of 2022, with its findings due to be published in the autumn.
Colin Hughes, AQA chief executive, said that the report “emphatically demonstrates” that most professionals regard the shift to digital as “inevitable” and “desirable”.
He added: “The move to on-screen exams can’t be achieved merely by heaving on a great technological lever that transforms exams overnight. We need to spend time trialling and piloting on-screen exams.
“We believe the next two to three years could be spent working out the best mode of delivery, which challenges we need to address and how best to move to national introduction of the first GCSEs and A levels to be delivered on-screen.
“That way, we can carefully evaluate whether on-screen exams will be more secure, more adaptable, cheaper in the long run, greener, more easily and accurately marked - even fairer.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Using technology in assessments has significant potential to benefit students, teachers and schools.
“We have already made progress with digital assessment; for example, the multiplication tables check was introduced as a digital statutory assessment for all Year 4 pupils in the current academic year. With Ofqual, we are beginning to consider the opportunities and benefits that further digital assessments could allow in the long-term.
“Schools’ use of technology has skyrocketed through the pandemic and unlocked doors that may otherwise have taken years to open - like boosting connectivity in classrooms and putting over 1.9 million new laptops into the system for schools and pupils to use for years to come.”
An Ofqual spokesperson said: ”We welcome this report, which we will consider carefully. Ofqual’s role is to ensure that where greater use of technology is appropriate, it is undertaken in the interest of students and thereby must improve the reliability, validity and accessibility of qualifications.”
“Our work in this area across the next three years is set out in our corporate plan for 2022 to 2025.”
