A new report recommends that from 2025, exam assessment should be digital rather than pen-and-paper-based.

The report, produced by JISC, provides five principles to advance assessment digitally in further and higher education, so that the education sector can make use of emerging technologies. The targets set out in the report are:

1. Authentic: skills need to be assessed in a more realistic way and transferable skills gained.
2. Accessible: the same assessment needs to be delivered in multiple ways depending on the needs of the student.
3. Appropriately automated: a balance between automated and human marking and feedback needs to be established.
4. Continuous: data and analytics must be in widespread use to assess effectiveness and impact.
5. Secure: there needs to be an adoption of authoring detection and biometric authentication.

JISC acknowledges that such an infrastructure overhaul will take time but believes that the time has come for assessment to evolve.

The report contains advice and guidance aiming to help organisations improve assessment.

JISC is a membership organisation, providing digital solutions and research for the UK post-16 and higher education sector.