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Call to end pen and paper exams
2011-02-25 06:37:40
25 February 2011 Last updated at 02:06 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Ofqual head: End paper exams for digital generation Ms Nisbet says students are increasingly learning on computers, so should be tested on them Continue reading the main story Related Stories Exam board errors hit students Timing of A-levels could change Exams system 'is almost corrupt'
Computerised exams should replace pen and paper tests for a generation used to digital learning, the head of England's exams watchdog has said.
Writing in the Times Educational Supplement, Ofqual chief executive Isabel Nisbet said the current reliance on handwritten papers "cannot go on".
Only a few sections of existing exams can be taken on computers.
Two exam boards welcomed her comments, but head teachers said resources would be a problem for a computerised system.
Pupils are becoming increasingly "techno savvy", Ms Nisbet wrote. "They use IT as their natural medium for identifying and exploring new issues and deepening their knowledge.
"Yet we are even now accrediting new GCSEs, due to run for several years, which are still taken largely on paper," she said.
"This cannot go on. Our school exams are running the risk of becoming invalid, as their medium of pen and ink increasingly differs from the way in which youngsters learn," she added.
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