Commenting on exam watchdog Ofqual’s three-year plan and the use
the technology in assessments, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of
the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“We are delighted that Ofqual is going to look at new approaches
to exams, including the use of technology, and that it intends to
work with the awarding organisations to this end.
“Our current reliance on a pen-and-paper exam system, organised
at an industrial scale with Fort Knox-style security arrangements
around the transportation and storing of papers, is hopelessly
outdated and ripe for reform. The recent experience of the
pandemic has shown just how vulnerable it is to unexpected
events. If online assessment had been available, it might not
have been necessary to cancel all summer exams for two years in a
row.
“It will clearly be necessary to carefully test and integrate new
online systems to ensure their reliability and validity, and we
look forward to working with Ofqual and the awarding
organisations on how this may work.
“On the wider aspects of the shape of exams in the future, Ofqual
is obviously constrained by government policy, but our view is
that the use of technology in assessment is only one part of the
picture, and that exams themselves need to change.
“We would like to see a range of assessment methods used, less
emphasis on a huge and relentless set of terminal exams, and
reforms to English and maths which build confidence and progress
rather than consigning massive numbers of students to a sense of
failure. The exam system needs to work better for all students
and give every young person the dignity of qualifications of
which they can be justly proud.”
