MARKING students' undergraduate essays might be about to get quicker, easier ... and even more environmentally friendly.

Computer software that goes beyond marking multiple-choice questions is to be offered to the sector. A spin-off company of the University of Manchester has developed a system called Assess by Computer, known as ABC. It promises to lighten the load for academics.

Many of the university's departments use the software for final-year exams and coursework marking already. Students sit exams at the computer and get electronic, hence paper-free, feedback.

Gerard Lennox, director of the spin-off company, Assessment21, tells Times Higher Education (March 20): “The spark of genius behind this is that it looks at what can be taken away so that the marker can concentrate on what the marker is good at.”

Cities need freedom to choose

Bureaucrats take note: from Vancouver to Hong Kong, a new report concludes that it pays to let cities think for themselves.

Background

• A portion of chips or a shiny apple?

• Light touch to get lighter

• Tighter belts on the way

• Mental health patients and staff face problems

It highlights key words in student answers and makes it easy to compare submissions against model answers.

One academic who has used the system, says: “It can help [to] detect plagiarism because it can order students' responses in similarity to each other, so you can see if there is any collusion going on.

“It has made life a little bit easier, especially with the large number of students that we deal with.”

So can we expect a brave new world where all exams are electronic? No, says René Meijer, head of the centre for interactive assessment development at the University of Derby. “I consider myself a digital native, but my desk is still cluttered with paper and my shelves cluttered with books. I don't expect this to change any time soon.”

Explore Public Sector

• How to get a job

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO