The future as you report it is already here (“Qwerty skills revival as exams go online”, (TES, November 16). Students at my school and a handful of others in England have entered students for the CCEA’s Moving Image Arts A-level exams for the past two years, with students in Northern Ireland accessing the course for a couple of years before that. The written exam for this course is taken online, with students typing three free-text essays in response to film extracts also displayed on screen.
Many of the same students also take media studies A-level in which they complete a similar analysis of film extracts using pen and paper. They universally prefer the online version. A few pointed out this year that they hardly ever use pens outside the exam room and they felt hampered by having to do so under timed conditions.
Steff Hutchinson, Faculty Leader for Expressive Arts, Caludon Castle School, Coventry.
