Thousands of students to get their GCSE exam results via a digital app this summer

Thousands of students will find out their GCSE exam results via a digital app this summer. Schools Minister Stephen Morgan said a pilot of the new Education Record app would "bring exam results into the 21st century”. He branded current school record keeping as “horribly out of date” and signalled his plans to digitise further. In a sign of Labour ’s drive to expand tech in the education sector, he left the door open to teachers’ school reports or termly assessment grades being included in the app in the future. Asked if they would be, Mr Morgan said: “Through the pilot, we will learn the benefits of the current programme, but also learn lessons for future development. The government's been really clear in its Plan for Change that we want to use technology to modernise public services and to grow the economy. So I'm open to ideas on what the future holds for this.” Ministers have encouraged the use of artificial intelligence in schools to aid teachers in planning lessons or doing other admin tasks. But they face calls to go further including pledging investment to digitise the exam system, with tests still largely done via pen and paper. This summer’s pilot will see more than 95,000 young people in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands receive their results digitally, with a national rollout to follow. Youngsters will be able to use the app when applying for further education, apprenticeships or employment, saving them the time and stress of scrabbling around for documents. The government estimates the move could save schools and colleges up to £30million per year once the full roll out is complete, enough money to pay the salaries of more than 600 new teachers in further education. Speaking to the Mirror , Mr Morgan said: “We're bringing exam results into the 21st century. I think record keeping in our schools is horribly out of date. Paper files are often stored in dusty old cabinets, creating a sort of needless admin for teachers and school support staff and, frankly, wasting public resources. "I took my GCSE results when the internet was relatively new, long before smartphones allowed access to information at your fingertips. And of course, that just simply isn't the case for children and young people anymore, nor does it reflect the kind of work that they will be going into in the digital systems that are available, and that's why this new app is going to capture qualifications in one place.” The education minister, who was speaking on a visit to Hathershaw College in Oldham, which has been trialing the app, said the key benefit teachers and students noted was “how simple the technology is”. “I think it reduces some of the stress, but also sort of just improves the transition from school and college,” he added. “I think that's a really exciting thing, so that children can focus on what they need to do, which is about planning their future careers.” Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the app was a “positive step forward”. “Up until now, the development of education technology has tended to take place in a frustratingly piecemeal fashion – essentially led by the market rather than via a cohesive national approach. “We would like to see a much more strategic vision. This should extend to exams themselves which continue to be largely conducted via pen and paper, creating a massive burden in terms of secure storage and transportation of papers and scripts. A digital exam system would improve matters for everyone involved and we urge the government to invest in creating the infrastructure schools and colleges need to make this a reality.”