- New research reveals 70% of UK teachers believe AI is central to students’ future careers, highlighting the need for modernised assessment methods
- Traditional GCSE and A-Levels could face radical overhaul as research reveals demand for new assessment methods
- Nearly two thirds (62%) of parents also want exam reform
- FindTutors offers five better assessment methods for the AI age
London, UK. 22nd May 2025 – FindTutors, a leading UK private tuition service by GoStudent, is calling for education reform as their latest research reveals traditional exams are no longer fit for purpose in today’s technology-driven world.
As the academic year draws to a close for hundreds of thousands of students across the UK, new research found that the traditional examination system is becoming increasingly outdated.
GoStudent’s fourth edition of their annual Future of Education Report 2025 found that 62% of parents believe new ways to assess children are needed because of the increasing prevalence of AI, with 16% of students admitting to using AI to write essays, and 21% using AI to help pass exams.
Nearly two thirds (59%) of parents are concerned that grades are no longer an accurate reflection of children’s overall abilities, while nearly the same amount (58%) feel children are spending too much time memorising information for exams rather than developing critical thinking skills essential for future careers.
The research also indicates that the longstanding GCSE and A-Level examination system in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and the National Qualifications system in Scotland, could undergo significant transformation in coming years.
With 84% of UK teachers believing simulation-based assessments would be more effective, traditional written papers could be replaced by interactive scenarios where students demonstrate practical application of knowledge.
The research also suggests portfolio-based assessment could better prepare young people for university, with students building a body of work throughout their studies rather than facing high-pressure examinations. This shift would align with previous research by the National Bureau of Economic Research showing soft skills are increasingly demanded of business executives, complemented by FindTutors’ findings that 64% of parents believe soft skills will become more important due to AI – competencies that current examination methods fail to measure.
Albert Clemente, CEO at FindTutors, outlines five alternative assessment methods that educational institutions should consider implementing to better measure student talent in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape:
- Simulation-based assessment (74% teacher support): Students demonstrate knowledge by making decisions in real-world scenarios, an approach already widely used in healthcare education.
- Portfolio assessment (69% teacher support): Students build up a digital collection of work over time, allowing for a comprehensive view of progress rather than measuring performance on a single day.
- Peer and self-assessment (67% teacher support): Students evaluate their own work and that of classmates, developing critical thinking skills and deeper understanding of assessment criteria.
- Learning analytics (66% teacher support): ‘Big data’ assesses all student work across digital platforms, providing insights into learning patterns and progress that traditional exams cannot capture.
- AI-based adaptive testing (63% teacher support): Personalised assessment adjusts to individual abilities, providing more accurate measurement of capabilities by tailoring difficulty levels to each student.
“Traditional essays and exams have been the cornerstone of education for more than a century, but our research clearly shows that both teachers and parents recognise the need for change. In particular, with 35% of teachers stating students cheat by using AI and 26% believing technology has made traditional assessments redundant, we need to rethink how we evaluate learning,” Clemente said.
With nearly half (41%) of teachers stating exams rely too heavily on memorising facts and 34% believing they create undue stress, the call for new assessment methods comes at a crucial time for UK education.
The research also found that 71% of teachers believe access to AI should be supervised rather than banned, highlighting the need to adapt assessment methods to the digital reality students now inhabit.
ENDS