Poll The Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) exam board wants pupils to be allowed to use Google to search for answers in exams.

The proposal has been put forward by Mark Dawe, the OCR exam board chief executive, who claims that using Google is akin to using a calculator in mathematics and that there should be Google and non-Google papers for an examination.

He argues that in everyday life, pupils will be free to use Google and that this “open book” approach should be extended to examinations, arguing that examinations are about understanding and interpretation

The proposal comes on the back of a talk given by an OCR mathematics expert to an internal team at the exam board. He cited a Danish example which promotes the concept of the “extended mind”. The 2010 experiment was hailed as success.

Denmark's board of education told The Register that it is cautiously progressing the project and it is possible to use the internet in some exams over there.

We asked OCR how they would lock down internet access to prohibit individuals taking exams from typing in the questions while an external team worked out the perfect answer, or the possibility of pranksters posting false answers. OCR said it would look to the Danish example.

Even in The Apprentice candidates are not allowed to use Google. Do you think students should be able to grep for answers?

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We'll publish the results shortly, and if you think it's more complicated than a yes/no answer we know you'll comment below. ®