Exam board says digital exams could reduce teacher workload in the longer term
17th October 2023, 12:01am
AQA has set out its first steps towards digital exams, with GCSEs potentially moving online from 2026.
The exam board has proposed that the reading and listening components of GCSE Italian and Polish should be the first to be sat digitally - with digital mocks from 2025, followed by exams from 2026 if regulators approve the plan.
AQA then hopes students will be able to sit digital exams for a major subject by 2030.
It is not the first exam board to run digital exams: Pearson Edexcel ran a trial for the English language iGCSE last year in a big step for the rollout of digital exams.
Pearson reported the pilot was a success. Feedback from school leaders was that there had been some software problems, but the concept was popular with students.
Today, AQA has put forward the case for digital exams in a report drawing from a poll of parents, Sendcos and students, as well as pilot findings.
