Exams 'should be taken on computers'

Pupils should take A-levels and GCSEs on computers rather than using pen and paper, the head of the qualifications watchdog says.

Isabel Nisbet, the outgoing chief executive of Ofqual, wants exams to be made suitable for "digitally native" pupils who are more used to using technology than writing.

If changes are not made soon, the exams risk becoming invalid, she writes in today's Times Education Supplement, adding: "[Students] use IT as their natural medium for identifying and exploring new issues and deepening their knowledge.

"Yet we are even now accrediting new GCSEs, due to run for several years, which are still taken largely on paper. Our school exams are running the risk of becoming invalid, as their medium of pen and ink increasingly differs from the way in which youngsters learn."

Many exam papers are scanned and marked online, but Ms Nisbet said few can be taken using a computer.

Ziggy Liaquat, managing director of exam board Edexcel, said: "Technology has the potential to transform education by making its delivery more personalised, efficient and effective and more transparent."

The Department for Education said that it did not want to be drawn into the debate.