Expert calls for multiple choice tests at A-level

Exams that do not require pupils to write anything other than their own names should be introduced in all school subjects, according to a leading expert.

Professor Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education in London, said the government should 'reconsider' using multiple-choice tests, which ask pupils to choose from a selection of answers, more widely. Although the tests have become unpopular, Wiliam will argue they provide more information about pupils, test a broader range of the curriculum and are cheaper to mark.

Speaking at the national conference of the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA) this week, Wiliam will call for multiple choice to be used alongside essay-style papers in Sats exams, GCSEs and A-levels. If they were developed properly, the tests could even be used in arts subjects such as English.

'There is a British antipathy to multiple choice that is unwarranted,' said Wiliam. 'We spend roughly half a billion pounds on testing and most of that is on marking. More money should be put into the development of high-quality, diagnostic multiple-choice. Most studies show that the tests give you more information about students' achievement more quickly and allow you to sample more of the curriculum. It is time to reconsider the use of the tests in key stage three, GCSE and A-level. It is a myth that multiple choice cannot test higher-order thinking.'

Derek Bell, chief executive of the Association for Science Education, said: 'They do have a place, but they have to be carefully thought out. They cannot test some skills, such as putting sentences together and creating an argument.'