Digital exams

Let us guide you on our journey towards including digital exams into our qualification portfolio.

We want to produce digital exams that are authentic to the way students learn which have the potential to unlock new opportunities and improve the assessment through:

• improving student engagement and control
• improving accessibility and inclusivity
• reflecting the method of classroom teaching and learning more authentically
• streamlining administration for schools
• offering varied question formats
• improving practicalities of audio/video assessment.

Our approach to assessment has always been evidenced-based and digital exams will be no different – informed by strong research, the latest technological developments, and working in partnership with you.

We’re committed to understanding teachers’ and students’ needs and aspirations with exams and that’s why we have been working together with our Cambridge colleagues to define the future of digital exams.

We recognise the scale, complexities, and importance of this shift and therefore every step in our digital exam journey is supported by thorough research, testing, trialling, and piloting with you. 

What teachers have to say

As part of our in-depth research, we offer a mock service for digital exams for a small selection of qualifications. This allows students the experience of taking a past paper on screen, that is then marked by Cambridge examiners.

So far, we’ve found:

• 92% of students preferred typing their responses to writing them with a pen and paper
• surveyed students found an on-screen timer and word count facility useful during their mocks
• most students and examiners preferred typed over hand-written responses

Participants of the Digital mock service are helping to steer the shape and future of our work. Schools and colleges told us:

• the service saved them time by not having to mark the mock assessments delivered to their students
• they valued the accuracy and reliability of the marking by Cambridge examiners
• that the service provided an opportunity for their students to have more practice.