There’s something about an exam room that makes Lizzy Deters’ brain switch into gear. The tick of a clock, the nervous hum of her peers flipping through questions, the scratch of pens on paper.

“I just feel that I really perform best under pressure, and if I don’t have that pressure, I don’t feel the need to do as well,” she said.

Year 12 students sitting the International Baccalaureate will soon have the option to do their exams online, with plans for the HSC alternative to go digital between 2026 and 2029.

Students at St Paul’s Grammar School in Cranebrook sat a practice version of an online psychology test this month.

Lizzy said that typing made the exam feel more like classwork and not as “stressful or scary” as a high-stakes test.

Students could change fonts, text size and backgr

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