Handwritten exams go against how pupils learn

A teacher who helps others with technology has claimed that paper and pens should become things of the past in school exams to reflect ‘the world we live in’.

WJEC, the Welsh exam board, has said that it is ‘committed to expanding its digital assessment offering’, with a consultation set to take place later this year on how exams work. The exam board had to apologise earlier this year after a ‘technical issue’ affected pupils taking a GCSE computer science exam.

However, Guto Aaron, a technology teacher in Llansannan, said handwritten tests go against how pupils now revise, learn and live their lives, stressing that it is ‘fair to ask now why we are asking children to sit down for three hours with a pen and paper when it's something we would never do in our professional lives’.

Citing the WJEC technical issues in May, Aaron acknowledged that technology has its problems and that it would be ‘a long process’ before exams are fully digital.