Online exams for schools

Schoolchildren may be taking online national tests, GCSE and A-level exams within five years, it emerged today.

Exam chiefs predict onscreen assessment will soon replace the penandpaper exam. In some cases, under a scheme being tested on the Isle of Wight, pupils could even answer questions about coursework from home using mobile phones.

Children could answer questions on-screen all year round, writing prose as well as responding to tick-box questions and being guided through interactive problems and sequences.

Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, said: "On-screen assessment will shortly touch the life of every learner in this country."