Author(s): Alex Oselton, Marketing Manager
March 2024
With school users in both Australia and the UK, we have a unique perspective of both sides of the assessment spectrum.
For instance, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia decided to go online for their assessment submissions. NAPLAN Literacy and Numeracy exams for Year 3,5 and 9 are now completed digitally and results are typically released shortly afterwards – in the same term.
In the UK, exams and assessments are still completed with an old fashioned pen and answer booklet.
There are pro’s and cons to both approaches. With handwritten exams, students are able to jot ideas and workings out on the page and arrive at answers by testing their thinking on the page. Handwritten exams also take a lot longer to organise logistically, marking and grading takes longer and correctly identifying handwriting is often a complex and lengthy task.
With digital exams, logistics and handwriting subjectivity is solved. Marks and feedback can be delivered to teachers and student’s much quicker. Digital exams could be criticised for the restrictions they place on student’s who have special educational needs but they can also be praised for exactly the same reason.
What is the future?
You may think that the future is digital assessments and you wouldn’t be wrong. Our research from the UK market suggests that the move towards digital assessments is well underway. So, what is the delay?
%
of learners in England are now recognised as having SEND and/or having an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
It seems that major exam boards are now well on their way to offering digital exams for all GCSEs. Pearson Edexcel are the latest exam board to state their intent to offer digital alternatives to all GCSEs by 2030. In the summer of 2025, some students will be able to sit an exam in a core subject fully onscreen if they choose to do so.
Accessibility is the driver of digital exams
After assessing several exam boards and their announcements of their digital intent, it seems accessibility is driving the sector towards exam digitisation in the UK.
Highlighting, cutting and paste and even annotating is now all possible on digital exam scripts and ensures students have consistency throughout their school career. Most students are using laptops, desktops and even tablets to complete their homework on a daily basis, so why can’t they do the same with their exams?
students could choose to take GCSE English language and English literature on-screen in summer 2025 *subject to Ofqual approval.
So what role does AI play?
It is clear then, that digital exams are well on their way. The successful implementation of these, nationwide, remains to be seen but it seems like the perception of this move is a positive one.
At Writemark, we are leading the way for educators in two major EdTech markets to analyse, assess, mark and feedback on their students’ written skill. Currently used for English writing, we’re exploring several opportunities for different subjects as the demand for digital exams increases.
Here’s how we view the role AI could play in digital exams:
🎯 Accuracy. Artificial intelligence drastically improves the accuracy of exam script marking. Unlike human marking, the system never gets tired. The system doesn’t have stresses or concerns outside of the marking chair. The system has one role and one role only – to mark every script according to the rubric it has been given.
👏🏻 Consistency. There is no bias in how artificial intelligence marks an exam paper. As humans, we can’t simply ‘turn off’ our ability to agree or disagree with concepts or arguments. Some of us may be better than others but we are often guilty of subliminal bias in all walks of life. Artificial intelligence means there is no room for unwanted bias. Each paper is marked according to the objective stance of the mark scheme given.
🤯 Scale. Artificial intelligence can simply do more in a shorter amount of time. Marking more exam papers in a shorter period will support stakeholders on both sides of the sector:
Exam boards can reduce their expenditure on human markers and reduce their costs when it comes to exam paper remarks due to subjectivity.
Teachers and students are able to get their exam results far quicker with higher standards of mark quality.
The scale of going digital is vast. While the prospect of digital exams is exciting, we’re even more excited by the role artificial intelligence could play in this move. How capable will educational systems become with the power of artificial intelligence fuelling their exam periods?
Be sure to subscribe to our Research Group for updates on our artificial intelligence engine and how this could be helping exam script marking for schools and exam boards in the future.