Press Release
Date: Monday 7 August 2000 (NR/110/00)
STUDENTS SITTING PAPERLESS EXAMS BY 2006?
Imagine a future where pupils take their GCSEs sitting in front of computer screens instead of desks. At the click of a mouse their answers are sent to examiners to be marked on-line. That future has come a step closer with the announcement today that Northern Ireland’s exam body, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) is to undertake a pilot project in paperless examinations.
CCEA is in the process of appointing a Project Officer to drive this pioneering initiative forward. In partnership with one of the main English exam boards, Edexcel, CCEA hopes that, if development work is successful, they will be in a position to conduct major examinations on-line by Summer 2006.
Commenting on the plans, CCEA’s 14–19 Development Manager Roger McCune said:
Pupils are becoming increasingly computer literate and the use of the new technologies is increasing in our schools. Although some work has been done before in using technology in small scale tests, no one as yet has tried to apply it to ‘high stakes’ exams such as GCSEs. Our development work will test the feasibility of providing exam papers to schools on-line, candidates undertaking exams on computer, having their work marked electronically and exam boards reporting results back to schools and pupils electronically.
Development work begins this September and a small on-screen pilot exam, designed along GCSE lines, is scheduled for next Spring. Further development work will follow with the aim of a small number of candidates taking a live GCSE exam by 2004/2005.
Background to paperless examinations project
The Education Technology Strategy for Northern Ireland recommended that CCEA should explore the potential for the use of ICT in examinations. In response to this recommendation CCEA initiated a study to look at the work already done in this area and to highlight the work that could be taken forward by CCEA.
A review of current ICT developments in exams shows that most of the work done has been concerned with using Optical Mark Readers to mark multiple choice responses. Little work to date has been done nationally or internationally where marking requires professional judgement.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
