Carmen Lim

Lim, C. H. J., Vidal Rodeiro, C. L., & Gill, T. (2026). Mode effects in digital versus paper-based exams and their relationship with item characteristics. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, 41, 52–71. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.127732

Digital exams, which are becoming increasingly common, are sometimes offered alongside traditional paper-based assessments. Exam boards may adopt several approaches to implement a digital exam, including transferring paper-based assessments to an on-screen format. Regardless of the taken approach, it is essential to maintain comparability across assessment modes for fairness.

This article examines, using Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis, whether 795 items from 31 exam components (in a range of qualifications and subjects) show an assessment mode effect. These exams were delivered via the Cambridge University Press & Assessment Digital Mocks Service and were based on previous live exam papers (that is, digital and paper-based exams asked candidates the same questions). All items were also coded using an item characteristics framework to investigate whether items with certain characteristics (e.g., heavy reading demand) were more likely to exhibit DIF.

About one in five items showed DIF. While the presence of DIF does not necessarily imply that a mode effect exists, it does indicate that the item is not functioning as expected. Furthermore, our findings suggest that DIF was unlikely to be systematically associated with particular item characteristics. There were two exceptions. Firstly, DIF was more common among items requiring numeric or mathematical entry as their answer than among items with other characteristics – with more items being harder on paper. Secondly, items requiring text entry as their answer also had disproportionate numbers of DIF items being harder on paper.

Lim, C. H. J., & Kreijkes, P. (2026). Gaming and social media browsing: Evidence of links to wellbeing among girls and boys based on data from PISA 2022. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, 41, 9–31. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.127730

Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, this article examines how time spent browsing social media and gaming relates to seven aspects of adolescent wellbeing: school belonging, body image, general wellbeing, feeling of safety, life satisfaction, psychosomatic symptoms, and stress resilience. Descriptive statistics and regression modelling were used to examine these associations. To evaluate their practical significance, we also calculated relative risks and compared the correlation coefficients with those between being bullied and wellbeing. Firstly, we found that psychosomatic symptoms, such as anxiety, sleep difficulties, and headaches, showed a consistently negative association with time spent browsing social media, even after controlling for student background characteristics. The strength of this correlation was equivalent to 63 per cent of that between bullying and psychosomatic symptoms among girls and 48 per cent among boys. Adolescents who browsed for more than three hours daily were about 50 per cent more likely to fall within the top quartile experiencing psychosomatic symptoms compared to same-gender peers who browsed less. Negative associations were observed with time spent gaming, though to a lesser extent. Secondly, browsing social media for more than three hours a day increased the likelihood of scoring in the lowest quartile for body image, wellbeing, and life satisfaction by about 20 per cent for girls, but not for boys. Lastly, while some positive links were found between social media browsing and sense of school belonging, these instances were rare, and their strength was outweighed by the negative associations with other wellbeing aspects.

• Foreword Jane Mann
• Editorial Victoria Crisp
• In This Issue Victoria Crisp
• Gaming and social media browsing: Evidence of links to wellbeing among girls and boys based on data from PISA 2022Carmen H. J. Lim and Pia Kreijkes
• The impact of A Level exam scheduling on performanceTim Gill
• Mode effects in digital versus paper-based exams and their relationship with item characteristicsCarmen H. J. Lim, Carmen L. Vidal Rodeiro and Tim Gill
• Predicting success in vocational education and training: Insights from literatureAnnaliese Micallef Grimaud
• How does examining influence teachers’ assessment literacy?Victoria Coleman and Martin Johnson
• Research NewsLisa Bowett and Jackie White

Vidal Rodeiro, C.L., & Lim, C.H.J. (2025, November 5–8). Assessment mode effects and their relationship with item characteristics [Paper presentation]. Annual conference of the Association for Educational Assessment – Europe (AEA-Europe), The Hague, Netherlands. https://2025.aea-europe.net/

Vidal Rodeiro, C. L., & Lim, C. H. J. ( (2025). Highlights from research on the progression of Key Stage 4 and 5 cohorts impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Research Matters: A Cambridge University Press & Assessment publication, 40, 50-71. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.121936

The Research Division at Cambridge University Press & Assessment has an ongoing programme of research that tracks the Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 cohorts of students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from this work can help inform us regarding whether these students were negatively affected by the pandemic and whether they might require any further support while in education.

In this article, we present a summary of findings from research conducted to date using data from the June 2020 student cohorts, drawn from the National Pupil Database, a longitudinal dataset maintained by the Department for Education in England. We examined various progression outcomes and compared them with those of a pre-pandemic cohort of students to assess whether, and in what ways, these outcomes have changed for students affected by the pandemic. Findings from the research have suggested that the students from the June 2020 cohorts were not disadvantaged in their transitions to post-16 study or to higher or further education. However, there was some evidence suggesting that different subgroups of students had progressed slightly differently. This implies that while overall the pandemic cohorts were not disadvantaged, the actual experience of different groups of students may have differed.

• Foreword Gill Elliott
• Editorial Victoria Crisp
• Wanted dead or alive: Canonical authors for literature in English curriculaJude Brady, Dominika Majewska and Jackie Greatorex
• Comparing open-book and closed-book exams in international literature in English assessmentsEmma Walland
• Highlights from research on the progression of Key Stage 4 and 5 cohorts impacted by the COVID-19 pandemicCarmen L. Vidal Rodeiro and Carmen H.J. Lim
• The ethics of deploying Large Language Models in high-stakes automarkingFrank Morley and Emma Walland
• Filled with skills: An analysis of four International AS and A LevelsIrenka Suto, Sarah Nelson, Judith Roberts, Aman Sidhu and Lesley Spence
• Research NewsLisa Bowett

Lim, C.H.J. (2024). Tracking the June 2020 Key Stage 5 cohort: progression to further and higher education. Cambridge University Press & Assessment.