Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations board (OCR) is set to revolutionize the examination landscape by introducing the world’s first fully digitally-assessed GCSE in computer science for students embarking on their course in 2025. Jill Duffy, the Chief Executive of OCR, highlighted the decision following a successful pilot of digital exams, where students demonstrated a preference for typing their answers, citing the advantages of features such as word counts and timers during the assessment process.
The introduction of digital exams is seen as a transformative move, bringing “greater clarity to the marking progress” and offering an experience “far closer to real industry and further study experiences,” according to Jill Duffy. While schools retain the option for a traditional paper-based assessment for the OCR computer science qualification, the shift toward digital assessment aims to align educational evaluation practices more closely with the demands of contemporary industries.
In 2023, a notable 12% year-on-year increase saw 88,350 students opting for the computer science GCSE. The new digitally-assessed GCSE promises a dynamic approach where students can actively write and assess code during the examination, providing a more authentic demonstration of their capabilities.
Renowned computer scientist Professor Simon Peyton Jones, engineering fellow at Epic Games (creators of Fortnite), endorsed the move, stating that digital assessment, especially in computer science, brings evaluation closer to the real-world applications of the field, allowing students to showcase their capabilities more authentically.
This groundbreaking initiative is anticipated to be a precursor to broader adoption of digital assessments across various subjects. In England, students have been undergoing digital mock exams in OCR’s GCSE computer science for a year, with GCSE English mocks added recently. Internationally, Cambridge International is already offering on-screen mocks for IGCSE and A-level science subjects, with plans to introduce several other subjects in 2024.
