Exam board launches on-screen assessment pilot

The AQA exam board is launching a pilot of on-screen assessment, with up to 2500 students from 100 schools and colleges set to take part trials this year. These will include pilots in GCSE English, maths and science – however they will not lead to students receiving their grades via on-screen assessment. Instead the pilots will run alongside the existing ‘pen and paper’ assessments.

The pilots will involve one test for maths, one for English and two for science – with each assessment lasting 45 minutes. AQA will work with the teachers and students involved in the pilot to understand their experiences. The pilot will also include the use of adaptive – or ‘smart’ – assessments, which adjust in difficulty depending on how students are performing as they progress through the test. Such an approach could ultimately remove the need for students to sit either a ‘basic’ or ‘higher’ paper at GCSE.

Colin Hughes, AQA’s CEO, commented: ‘Digital assessment is only a matter of time, and, as the largest exam board, we at AQA are determined to play a key role in making it a success. We strongly believe there are real benefits, for learners and teachers. Teachers and students are emerging from the pandemic having learnt a huge amount about online learning, and how it can be best delivered. They are now wondering when digital assessment will follow: heads are asking us not whether it's going to happen, but when. Digital assessment can help better prepare students for future learning and work settings, and deliver a more personalised experience. It can even enable improved fairness, along with richer data on learning and achievement, and potentially faster accurate marking. Moreover, the pandemic has highlighted the need for resilience in the system which digital can also help provide.’