Inside the changes to GCSE and A-Level exams

Technology
11 Dec 2025 • 2:32 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

image is not available

  • Ofqual, the exams watchdog, has launched a consultation on proposals to move some GCSE and A-level exams onto screens by the end of the decade.
  • The plans suggest smaller-entry GCSE subjects, such as German, and most A-level exams, excluding maths, could be taken digitally.
  • Exam boards will be invited to propose two new specifications for on-screen assessment, but subjects with more than 100,000 entries will not be eligible at this stage.
  • To ensure fairness, devices for on-screen exams would need to be provided by schools rather than students using their own personal equipment.
  • The consultation runs until 5 March, with the earliest on-screen exams not expected until the end of the decade, following further technical consultations and specification approvals.

IN FULL