Now taking EXAMS is bad for the environment: Research reveals one GCSE test has the same carbon footprint as five washing machine cycles

They say you can't put a price on good education, but it turns out you can calculate the carbon cost.

Research by Ofqual revealed that it takes 5.6kg of CO2 to prepare, print, sit and mark a GCSE English test.

This is equivalent to running the washing machine five times at 140°F (60°C) or driving 1.13 miles (1.82 km) in a gasoline car.

Most of the overall emissions come from the arrival of pupils and staff to the exam venue, but heating and lighting of the venue are also important factors.

This year, around 780,000 pupils took the English GCSE exam, producing 4,368 tonnes of carbon dioxide for this paper alone.

In the first study of its kind, Ofqual looked at all the emissions sources that go into creating a single GCSE exam.

They looked at every step of the process, from developing qualifications to disposing of exam papers.

While paper exam papers may seem like the biggest climate concern, the research actually found that access to the exam hall for pupils and staff was the most important factor.

More than 50 percent of all emissions from the exam are produced by transportation to the site.

Another 30 percent of energy use on exam day comes from heating and lighting the hall.

The remaining 20 percent consists of clearing and grading exams, training staff, and transporting and storing papers.

However, when pupils and staff are taken out of the equation, other factors become much more important.

By this measure, printing paper accounts for 53.8 percent of all carbon emissions, while scanning and indexing text represents 21 percent.

“We all have to do our bit when it comes to climate change and sustainability, and this is something students across the country care deeply about,” says Dr Joe Saxton, chief regulator at Ofqual.

“This study is the first step in helping us understand the impact of the qualifications system, and I hope that exam boards will use this research to guide their thinking, research and development in this area.” Dr. Saxton told The Times.

This report comes as a number of exam boards are considering moving some exams online.

Last week, the OCR, one of the big three exam boards, announced that it would offer the first fully online GCSEs.

From 2025, students with a computer science degree will be able to take their exams on a computer instead of using pen and paper.

The AQA, another major exam board, has also announced its target of having GCSE pupils taking at least one key subject digitally by 2023.

The first to be digitized are the listening sections of the Italian and Polish GCSEs in 2026.

In its report, AQA says: “We will not do away with traditional pen and paper tests in a hurry and expect a system in which some components of some courses will be delivered in paper and other components will be digital.”

Some groups have raised concerns that online tests could lead to increased instances of cheating.

Christopher McGovern, head of the Campaign for Real Education, says: “There is a real risk that exam cheaters will qualify for courses and jobs that should be done by people of higher rather than lower intelligence.

“Online exams may have a role to play in assessing some areas in some subjects, but they should come with a warning about the risks that could arise from the increased potential for cheating.”

When universities moved to running exams mostly online due to coronavirus, exam boards faced a rise in fraud rates.

Minutes from a University College London (UCL) Education Committee meeting in October 2021 show that the move to online assessment “appears to have led to a significant increase in instances of academic misconduct”.

University College London found 57 cases of collusion and 42 cases of contract fraud, where students paid companies to complete essays or take exams on their behalf.