A Danish university wants to phase out pen-and-paper exams, opening an internal debate over artificial intelligence, academic standards and the skills future engineers will need. The Technical University of Denmark, commonly known as DTU, plans to make digital assessment the standard in science and mathematics courses from the 2027/2028 academic year.
The university, based in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen, wants examination methods to reflect an increasingly digital labour market and the growing importance of technological tools in engineering.
However, lecturers argue that replacing handwritten examinations could make it harder to establish whether students understand fundamental mathematics and physics. Critics also consider the university-wide plan unusual at a time when generative artificial intelligence has made it more difficult to distinguish students’ knowledge from answers produced by software.
Lecturers oppose the phase-out of pen-and-paper exams
The dispute became public after 35 lecturers from DTU Physics and DTU Nanolab signed a joint statement published in the university’s Academic Council debate forum.
They asked the university management to reconsider the decision and allow individual departments to retain examinations without computers when required by a course’s learning objectives.
According to the lecturers, there is not yet sufficient evidence that digital-only examinations can reliably test fundamental competence in physics. They argue that writing formulas, drawing diagrams and developing calculations by hand are part of the reasoning process, rather than simply alternative ways of presenting a final answer.
“The brain is the student’s most important machine,” the lecturers wrote, adding that teaching and examinations should require students to use it actively.
Physics professor Peter Bøggild told Berlingske that students need the “friction” created by solving problems independently instead of receiving answers from artificial intelligence.
“We need students who are extremely good at physics. We will not get that without the friction in teaching and examinations, where they are genuinely forced to think for themselves and do not simply receive answers from artificial intelligence,” he said.
The disagreement over handwritten examinations was first widely reported by TV 2 Kosmopol.
Opposition at Denmark’s technical university expands
The criticism later spread beyond the physics departments. Seventy-six members of DTU Compute, which covers mathematics and computer science, signed a separate intervention opposing the complete removal of pen-and-paper exams.
They argued that handwritten examinations remain particularly useful in subjects where students must communicate their reasoning through mathematical notation, sketches, formulas and diagrams. Reproducing the same process on a computer can be slower and less precise.
The group also questioned whether the software currently available to supervise digital examinations is sufficiently secure. Tests conducted at DTU Compute reportedly identified limitations in the Observer and Safe Exam Browser systems, including incompatibility with Linux and the possibility that technically skilled students could circumvent restrictions.
According to the lecturers, requiring computers could therefore produce the opposite of the intended result. Instead of modernising assessment, it could make examinations more vulnerable to unauthorised AI tools while reducing the university’s ability to evaluate individual competence.
The university says digitalisation is not an end in itself
The management of the Technical University of Denmark has defended the broader objective of modernising examinations but has since adopted a more flexible position.
In a response published on 3 July, Dean of Education and Student Environment (Dekan for Uddannelser og Studiemiljø) Lars D. Christoffersen acknowledged the academic concerns raised by staff.
He said digitalisation should not become an objective in itself at the expense of learning. Future examinations must continue to reflect the subject, learning objectives and teaching methods used during the course.
Christoffersen maintained that the university’s long-term direction is to reduce its reliance on paper. However, he clarified that paper and pen may still be used in examinations, or in part of an examination, when their use is academically justified.
The university will continue discussing the policy with its departments. The original plan therefore appears closer to a general presumption in favour of digital assessment than an unconditional ban covering every course.
Similar university-wide policies are difficult to find
A search for comparable policies suggests that a general phase-out of pen-and-paper exams remains unusual, particularly in mathematics, physics and engineering.
Many universities have expanded digital assessment, but most retain handwritten examinations or hybrid formats. At University College London, for example, students taking in-person digital examinations may still write answers on paper and insert images of their work into the digital submission. UCL explicitly provides this option when calculations or diagrams are better completed by hand.
The University of Melbourne also offers digital examinations with a handwritten component. Students use computers for part of the assessment while completing mathematical workings, drawings or other suitable answers on paper.
At the University of Oxford, some examinations are completed on university computers, but students sitting digital exams may still receive paper for rough calculations. The format is determined separately for each examination rather than through a general prohibition on handwriting.
A similarly cautious approach is emerging in England’s school system. The examinations regulator Ofqual has proposed a limited introduction of on-screen GCSE and A-level assessments, but pen-and-paper exams would remain central. Its research found significant support for mixed formats and recognised that not every subject is equally suitable for digital assessment.
In some institutions, the trend has moved in the opposite direction. Several universities have restricted laptops during lectures or encouraged handwritten notes because of concerns about concentration, screen use and learning.
The distinction is important. Digital examinations are already common internationally, but a policy designed to remove pen-and-paper assessment even from technical subjects remains difficult to find. Most institutions allow departments or examination boards to choose the format most appropriate for the skills being tested.
Artificial intelligence complicates the shift to digital exams
The dispute at the Danish university reflects a wider contradiction within European higher education. Universities want graduates to understand and use artificial intelligence, but they also need examination systems that can establish what students are capable of doing without it.
Digital exams can offer faster administration, improved accessibility and assessment methods closer to modern workplaces. They can also test programming, data analysis and the use of professional software more effectively than traditional written papers.
However, mathematics and science lecturers argue that some abilities must first be demonstrated independently. Students may need to derive formulas, structure an argument or visualise a physical problem before using digital tools to accelerate the process.
Research comparing computer-based and handwritten calculus tests has generally found that both formats can measure knowledge, but that paper-based assessment can be better suited to showing complex reasoning and high-level mathematical work.
The question facing the Technical University of Denmark is therefore not simply whether engineers should use computers. It is whether every examination must use them, including those designed to test the fundamental reasoning on which later technical work depends.
The university’s revised position leaves room for compromise. Digital assessment is likely to become more widespread, but departments may retain handwriting where they can demonstrate a clear educational need. The outcome could influence how other Nordic and European universities balance digital skills, artificial intelligence and independent academic assessment.
