Pens away, laptops open – pupils told to type, not write, GCSE exam answers

Examining board AQA says parts of Italian and Polish courses will be assessed digitally in 2026

It's a scene that can still have the power to terrify, even years after the event. Rows of hunched backs, bent over exam papers, with barely a sound other than the chewing of pens or frantic scribbling on scores of sheets of paper.

The way many students sit exams could look very different in future, however, after an announcement from England's biggest exam board that it will begin testing GCSE students on laptops for some courses beginning next year.