The Education and Youth Board (Harno) is conducting its biggest test to date on ninth graders. This gives them an insight into how the digital exam will look in the coming years.

The biggest change is that students must interact with the computer instead of the teacher during the oral exam.

"For a student, interacting with a computer is not very typical. And unfortunately for them, the computer does not provide that feedback. And most of the students after the exam said that they could still communicate with the teacher, it's much easier," said Monika Ellakvere, head teacher at Tallinna Südalinna School.

Alexander, a ninth-grade student at the Ehte Humanities High School, told Tusday's "Aktuaalne kaamera" about his experience.

"A bit harder, yes. I think when you communicate with a person, it's a bit better, you think a bit faster. /.../ It was also uncomfortable because I had really bad headphones. And I don't know if the microphone was working or not working and that's a problem," he said.

The exam is still split into four parts and tests students listening, reading, writing and speaking abilities. The oral exam must be taken one-on-one, and during this time the teacher can assess the writing and speaking tasks.

"The oral should still be done with a school staff member, it does not have to be the subject teacher. That's because there is no substantive help needed for the student. Rather, the facilitator is in the room so that if there is a technical need to ask something, or something is not working, the student has the fastest possible help. But it doesn't have to be the subject teacher at all. They can be somewhere else for the oral part, already assessing the written part or something else, and then once the students have done their oral, be the assessor," explained Liisbet Eero, Harno's chief English specialist.

But teachers think the current arrangement is not a full e-exam and so its purpose is questionable.

"The question is what it actually shows. Whether it is how well the student copes with the device or how well they know the language," Ellakvere told AK.

The ministry said the exam aims to measure students' abilities as objectively as possible and to save teachers' time in the long run.

More than 5,000 students tested the written section of the English language digital exam. Over the next two weeks, similar tests will be held for Estonian and mathematics exams.

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