English GCSE exams may be 'first of many' to move onscreen - what it means for students in 2025 and beyond

• A major exam board plans to move three core GCSEs from paper to screen within the next few years
• It has plans to offer digital exams for other subjects in the next few years too - and all of them by 2030
• The board says using digital devices for exams offers a number of benefits, from work readiness to ease of access for SEN pupils

The current cohort of GCSEs candidates may be the harbingers of a new, digital era for secondary school exams.

Pearson Edexcel, one of the UK’s major exam boards alongside AQA, OCR, WJEC and CCEA, previously announced plans to offer its core English GCSEs in an onscreen format from the 2025 summer exam season - pending approval by Ofqual. Although education magazine Tes recently reported that these plans may have been delayed somewhat, last month the awarding organisation told the i Paper that it also plans to roll out more subjects soon, including digitising its history and business studies GCSEs by 2027.

Pearson says on its website that its aim is to have onscreen assessment available for all of its GCSE exams by 2030, a move managing director Sharon Hague told the paper was “driven by the students themselves”. Other major UK exam boards, including AQA and OCR have also trialled digital exam formats in recent years.

But what will this mean for 2025’s GCSE candidates, and for young people going forward? Here’s what you need to know:

What will it mean for pupils sitting their GCSEs this year?

Potentially, nothing. Although Pearson had originally said it planned to have onscreen English GCSE exams up and running by 2025, the move would need approval from Ofqual. But chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham said Ofqual has not yet approved any formal proposals for onscreen assessment. “Before any such qualifications are accredited, Ofqual will continue to work with exam boards to ensure that any on-screen exams can be delivered securely and fairly for students.”

Under Pearson’s original plans, from June this year, pupils sitting three GCSE exams in a school with Edexcel as its exam board could end up taking them on computers - with both versions to be available to schools depending on what works for them. These include Pearson’s two English Language papers, and its English Literature course.

English Language - and English Literature, in some cases - are core GCSEs which students have to take, so whether it be this year or next, a large number of young people could end up taking these exams onscreen. Although some subjects like computer science are already delivered digitally, it would be a new experience for many.

Once the format does eventually gain approval, Pearson says its onscreen exams will have the same questions as their pen-and-paper versions, and will be sat under similar exam conditions. In its digital assessment format, the computer screen is split into two sections. For English papers, the text resource will be on the left (with the ability to scroll down to see more), while students will have the question they need to answer and a box to type their response on the right.

Passages from the text can be highlighted, and there are other tools available in an onscreen toolbar - like sticky notes that can be minimised and moved around the screen. The response box will expand to fit candidate’s answers, and they are able to use regular word processor functions like bold text, italics, bullet points, and undo/redo buttons. The exams also have built-in accessibility features, like changing the paper’s colour scheme or making the text larger.

For questions with multiple readings, there are special tabs to switch between them at the top of the screen. Pupils can navigate between different exam questions on the bottom right. For exam questions where you choose only one part to answer, there will be a simple checkbox to click on.

Just like in regular exams, Pearson advises pupils to read each question and any instructions carefully. They will have the chance to review each section of the exam (and see any questions they might have missed) before submitting it - and there is a ‘help’ button they can press to notify the invigilator if anything goes wrong.

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Why go digital?

According to Pearson, working on a digital device is normal for today’s students - and it will be the way they are expected to operate in their future working lives. “Many students already word-process their English exams as part of their access arrangements,” the board says on its information page.

The Edexcel onscreen format had benefits that could be helpful for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and the cohort as a whole, it continued. “[You can] use the split screen to look at the reading text and the questions at the same time (no page flipping); use sticky notes to jot down ideas; change font size/colour to a look that is best for you; or highlight parts of the text that you want to draw on whilst planning your response.”

Pearson said that students had told them they wanted to sit exams onscreen, “and those that have tried it say it helps them show what they can do. Students say that typed work presents their ‘best side’, and allows them to edit more easily”.

But some concerns remain about the potential shift to digital. Ofqual’s Sir Ian Bauckham last year said that many schools had “weak” Wi-Fi systems, with connectivity or security issued, the Independent reports. “Until we’re at the point where we can be assured that all schools are able to offer a digital approach to assessment which is going to be fair for everybody, regardless of the kind of teaching they’ve had, or the kind of school they’re in, or the kind of facilities they have accessible to them, then we’re going to have to exercise extreme caution in rolling out large-scale digitisation.”

*Note: parts of this story have been updated, with guidance from Ofqual.

What do you think about exams moving to a digital format? Will it help young people with work-readiness, or will important skills be lost? Have your say and make your voice heard by leaving a comment below.