Plans by all three exams boards to introduce on-screen GCSE exams have been delayed, amid disruption caused by the general election and curriculum and assessment review. OCR, AQA and Pearson EdExcel had ambitions for digital exams in 2025 and 2026, in what was marked as a 鈥減ivotal moment鈥� by board bosses. All require sign off by regulator Ofqual. But OCR has now said July鈥檚 general election and the new government鈥檚 curriculum review means they鈥檒l no longer be able to launch the 鈥減ioneering鈥� digitally assessed computer science GCSE for first teaching in 2025.听 A spokesperson said it has made 鈥済ood progress鈥� on the qualification and wants to make sure it works for school 鈥渋n the long term鈥�. 鈥淥ur development includes taking time to ensure the qualification is in line with any plans for the subject and for digital assessment more widely.鈥� Pearson EdExcel had planned to give students the choice to take GCSE English language and English literature on-screen in summer 2025.听But this is now 鈥渦nlikely鈥� to happen next year. Hayley White, assessment vice president, told a Westminster Education Forum this week they 鈥渟hared鈥� their 鈥渋ntention鈥� with Ofqual to offer the qualification digitally earlier this year, but 鈥渢hose conversations stalled as we worked through the general election, and we鈥檙e picking up that dialogue now鈥�. A spokesperson said they are now proposing English 鈥渋s the first core subject to be available as an onscreen exam to all schools within the next few years鈥�. It has shared its proposal with Ofqual 鈥渇or their initial review and feedback鈥�. However, Pearson said it sees an 鈥渙pportunity for access arrangements to be expanded鈥� next summer to allow for on-screen assessment for students with additional needs. But it did not provide any further details. Pearson said it will also look to introduce on-screen GCSEs in history and business from . If there was 鈥渆nough demand鈥�, then most GCSEs and A-levels would be on-screen by 2030, they added. Ofqual to ensure exams can be ‘delivered securely’ AQA has already confirmed a delay to introduce on-screen exams in GCSE Polish and Italian reading and listening components in 2026.听 Hughes But Colin Hughes, chief executive, said there has been a 鈥減ause, not least because of the pre-election period鈥�. It has been pushed back by at least a year. The board expects to make announcements in the coming months. It wants a large-entry subject like English going digital by 2030. An Ofqual spokesperson said it has not received any formal proposals for on-screen assessments. 鈥淏efore any on-screen assessments are accredited, we need to be assured that they can be delivered securely and fairly for students.鈥� They confirmed the curriculum and assessment review, which is due to report later in 2025, did not affect its work 鈥渨ith exam boards as they develop approaches to on-screen assessment鈥�. Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator who is an observer on the review, told the Schools and Academies Show that the pandemic exposed a digital divide.听 He said: 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 really make sense to put in place the enormous financial investment you would need in schools to equip everybody to do [digital exams] equally, efficiently across the country and not at the same time have a wider project for digitising education. 鈥淪o, our research that we鈥檙e doing has indicated we would get best value for that investment if digitising exams was part a wider digitisation project right across education.鈥� Ofqual and the Department for Education have been undertaking a feasibility study on 鈥渨hat it would take鈥� to make GCSE and A-level exams fully digital. AQA research found teachers’ biggest barrier to digital exams was a lack of infrastructure