Cambridge IGCSE Going Digital: What Does It Mean for Schools and Teachers?

In a transformative move that aligns education with the rapidly digitising world, Cambridge International is shifting its key assessments from traditional paper-based formats to digital exams. Scheduled to launch globally beginning in June 2026, this substantial change reflects students’ daily digital interactions, improves the assessment experience, and unlocks unprecedented educational opportunities. Here’s an in-depth look at what this means for educators and schools.

Why the Digital Shift?

Cambridge’s decision is driven by several interconnected factors, reflecting a commitment to relevance, improved experience, and leveraging the power of technology. The broad understanding of why Cambridge IGCSE is moving digital is to:¹

1. Reflect the Digital World: Today’s learners are digital natives. Their daily lives, studies, and future workplaces are increasingly digital. Digital exams mirror this reality, ensuring assessments remain relevant to students’ experiences and future skills.
2. Improve the Assessment Experience: Digital platforms offer potential for a better assessment experience for students. This includes unlocking new opportunities like more varied question formats that can assess understanding in richer ways than traditional paper, improved accessibility, and quicker, more efficient marking systems.
3. Enhance the Accessibility and Inclusivity: Digital platforms offer built-in accommodations and can better accommodate diverse learning needs by offering extra time and adding features such as spell-check, significantly enhancing accessibility and inclusivity. All of this makes assessments more inclusive for a wider range of students.
4. Improve efficiency and consistency: For the examination process itself, digital offers tangible benefits. Faster marking cycles are possible, and digital processes can reduce the potential for human error. Cambridge is also exploring how AI-powered marking could potentially enhance consistency in grading.
5. Bring in Richer Data Insights: Digital assessments can collect valuable “process data” – information about how students interact with the test, such as time spent on questions, answer changes, or keystrokes. This data provides deep insights into student strategies and engagement, helping to improve assessment quality and reliability.
6. Enable New Forms of Assessment (Transformation): This is a crucial point. The vision isn’t simply putting existing paper tests on a screen (a “migratory” approach). The long-term goal is “transformational,” developing new curricula and assessments designed for the digital environment. This allows for assessing skills – like collaboration, online research, data handling, and communication – in ways not feasible on paper, aligning

As Rod Smith, Group Managing Director for International Education at Cambridge, puts it, “Our world has become digitised, and education is no exception.” Cambridge is taking informed steps, drawing on research and feedback from teachers and industry, to build digital-first qualifications that go “beyond paper limitations.”

Migratory vs. Transformational Approaches

Cambridge International has outlined two key approaches to digital exams:

1. Migratory Approach: Initially, Cambridge will digitally replicate existing paper exams with minimal curriculum changes. The first digital subjects available in June 2026 include MCQ papers for Accounting, Economics, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics in specific regions like Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the US.
2. Transformational Approach: The future goal involves entirely new digital-first assessments, specifically designed to assess competencies crucial for higher education and workplace readiness—collaboration, research skills, data analysis, and communication skills—that traditional paper exams cannot fully capture.

Initially, Cambridge will use a migratory approach for some qualification, adapting existing paper exams for digital delivery. However, the long-term focus is transformational, developing entirely new digital assessments designed from scratch to leverage technology and assess skills in innovative ways.

Cambridge’s Approach and Timeline

Cambridge’s transition is evidence-based and iterative, involving rigorous research and collaboration with schools.

1. Pilot Phase (Digital Mocks Service): An important step was the 2023 trial, the launch of the Digital Mocks Service. The pilot offered digital mock exams in GCSE computer science, IGCSEs in English, and AS-level history under the OCR and Cambridge International exam boards. Thousands of students in the UK and globally sat digital mock exams based on real past papers. This service, which has seen over 20,000 learners in over 50 countries participate across 16 subjects, provides a like-for-like experience of a digital exam in a practice setting. It helps schools prepare operationally and students familiarise themselves with the digital format, including features like the highlighter tool, digital note-taking, and embedded audio/video files. Auto-marked MCQ results are often available within two hours, with examiner-marked results provided within 14 days, offering valuable and timely feedback. The 2023 trial and the launch of the Digital Mocks Service were part of Cambridge’s approach to incrementally develop and test digital assessments in collaboration with schools and learners globally
2. The Rollout Begins – The Early Adopter Programme: Cambridge International announced the launch of digital examinations across six subjects in June 2026 in specific regions, including Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the US. The first subjects available digitally in 2026 will be MCQ papers in Cambridge IGCSE Accounting (0452 Paper 01), Economics (0455 Paper 01), Biology (0610 Papers 01/02), Chemistry (0620 Papers 01/02), and Physics (0625 Papers 01/02), along with Cambridge International AS Level English General Paper (8021 Paper 01/02). This phase will be available to schools wanting to participate in an Early Adopter Programme (EAP) in specific regions (Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the US). Participating schools receive exclusive access to an innovative digital examination platform.
   1. This platform incorporates features aimed at enhancing the exam experience, such as a highlighter tool, digital note-taking, and embedded audio and video files.
   2. Security and integrity are critical considerations, and the platform is designed to run on various devices like computers and laptops (Windows and Mac) and centre-owned Chromebooks running supported operating systems.
   3. The EAP allows Cambridge to work closely with schools, gather feedback, and refine the platform and processes before a wider launch.
3. Global Expansion: Following the limited launch in 2026, the global rollout across the full Cambridge IGCSE and International AS & A Level curricula is scheduled to start from June 2027. By this time, any Cambridge school worldwide that meets the technical requirements should be able to opt in for available digital subjects.
4. Long-Term Vision: Looking further ahead, the ambition is that by 2033, a digital option will be available for 85% of Cambridge’s high-stakes IGCSE and International AS & A Level qualifications.

Sarah Hughes, research information manager, emphasizes that while migrating paper tests has benefits, the “opportunities presented by digital are too great to miss,” highlighting the importance of moving beyond simply lifting and shifting paper exams.

What This Means for You, the Teachers: Preparing for the Digital Transition

This transition is more than just a change in exam delivery format; it’s an opportunity to adapt and enhance your teaching and assessment practices. The Schools and educators will play a critical role in the success of Cambridge’s digital shift. Preparation will involve:

1. Operational Familiarity: You and your students will need to become familiar with digital assessment platforms, understanding how to navigate them, utilise digital tools (like highlighters or note-taking features), and interact with various question types. Digital assessment platforms like AssessPrep provide mock exams replicating Cambridge’s digital exams to ensure readiness and reduce anxiety.
2. Technological Readiness: Schools must audit their technological infrastructure, ensuring devices, software compatibility, secure testing environment, internet connectivity meet Cambridge’s digital assessment requirements.
3. Adapting Pedagogy: As Cambridge moves towards transformational assessments, teaching might need to evolve to focus more explicitly on the competencies being assessed – collaboration, digital literacy, data analysis, etc.
4. Leveraging Data: The richer data available from digital assessments can provide unprecedented insights into student performance and thought processes, informing your teaching strategies and student support.
5. Preparing for New Question Types: Get ready to work with and prepare students for a wider variety of interactive and multimedia question formats.
6. Professional Development: Teachers will need comprehensive training on digital assessment methods, analysis of data insights, and adapting instructional strategies to the richer feedback available from digital exams. This will happen since as Cambridge explores AI-assisted marking, teachers will find themselves focusing more on reviewing the AI’s output rather than manual grading.
7. Administrative Tasks: Educators will have to be equipped to manage software installations and updates across multiple devices will become a new administrative task

Overall, schools will have to anticipate potential financial considerations. The transition to digital exams may necessitate investment in new devices, software licenses, and upgrades to network infrastructure. This could pose a significant challenge, particularly for schools with limited financial resources. Hence, finding cost-effective solutions will be critical.

Navigating this transition effectively will be crucial for schools and teachers. This is where digital assessment platforms can play a vital role in preparation. Platforms like AssessPrep offer features that align closely with Cambridge’s goals for digital exams.

The Role of Digital Tools like AssessPrep

While the full global rollout is scheduled for 2027, schools don’t have to wait to start preparing. Engaging with digital assessment tools now can provide a significant head start and will prove to be instrumental in this transition. Platforms like AssessPrep are designed to support digital assessment practice can help schools and students:

1. Familiarise Students: Practice with digital interfaces and varied question types in a low-stakes environment. And schools can easily create assessments mirroring Cambridge’s exam formats, choosing from extensive question banks.
2. Prepare Operationally: Trial running digital assessments helps schools test their technical readiness.
3. Gain Insights: Utilise AssessPrep’s AI-powered tools auto-grade interactive questions and evaluate typed and handwritten answers, significantly reducing marking time and offering instant feedback.
4. Bridge the Gap & Transition Digitally at Your Own Pace: AssessPrep’s Paper Mode offers the flexibility to create digital assessments and deliver them on paper initially, allowing for a gradual transition while still building digital creation and analysis skills.
5. Ensure Security with a Secure Testing Environment: AssessPrep’s lockdown mode on multiple devices, including Windows, Mac, iPads, and Chromebooks, ensures exam integrity by preventing cheating and distractions.

Conclusion

By 2033, Cambridge plans to offer digital options for 85% of their qualifications, reflecting a profound shift in educational assessments. This transition promises enhanced learning experiences, improved inclusivity, and advanced analytics-driven teaching strategies and ensuring qualifications remain relevant in a digital age. For educators, this transition presents both challenges and exciting opportunities.

By understanding Cambridge’s vision, timelines, and approach (both migratory and transformational), and by proactively exploring and utilising digital assessment tools, schools and teachers can effectively prepare their students to navigate and succeed in the evolving landscape of international assessments. The future of exams is digital, and preparing now will pave the way for a smoother and more successful transition for everyone involved.

¹ As per media reports, press releases and AssessPrep’s conversations with Cambridge IGCSE educators.

assessments more closely with higher education and workplace demands based on competency.