Hamilton Secondary College's Maths coordinator, Peter Searle, expects a smooth transition: "I'm not expecting this year's exam to be very different to the past. However, this year has helped us get organised with arrangements for hiring, buying and short-term loans," he said.

Mr Searle said the main advantage this year would be "a check or support for students doing the questions. By entering the function and drawing the graph the students can predict answers they are aiming at algebraically".

As for the future use of personal computers in exams, Mr Searle said many issues would need to be resolved, ruling it out at Hamilton "for some time".

Hamilton's Year 12 Maths teacher Kathy Minge says most students have been using graphics calculators for two years.

"They allow students to concentrate on applications and understandings - rather than spending lots of time doing repetitive calculations. In an exam they will be useful to check answers," she said.

However, some, she believes, are less comfortable with the technology, "...particularly adults who are less familiar with the calculators than students who have been using them for four or five years."

Ms Minge said despite the difficulties that come with adapting to change, similar concerns have been dealt with in the past.

"Just as the move from log books to scientific calculators proved successful, the move to graphic calculators or PCs will work," she said.

The top adult student in her Year 12 class this year, Floyd Elmes, 66, has reservations about the need for change.

"Frankly I find the effort of learning and remembering how to use them not worth the trouble," he said. "They're useful for graphing a complex function. Apart from that, a good scientific calculator is sufficient." (SSABSA conditions for using calculators allow students to take 2 pages of handwritten notes into the exam room, as memory-joggers for the more complex keystrokes.)

Michael Lyas, 17, says graphics calculators "can be helpful and get through some problems quicker. They're good to visualise graphs so you understand what's going on. But you still have to know the maths. If you don't know what you are doing you can still mess up."

But Michael has concerns about future generations using personal computers in exams, which he believes could be an "unreliable way" to assess knowledge. He believes "people who are good with computers could use them to cheat".

SSABSA Chief Executive Dr Jan Keightley says concerns raised about using computers during exams will be addressed through even more thorough consultation with all parties.

"Already, computers are used in school-assessed work. Half of last year's results involved no restriction on the use of computers," she says. "In many subjects where writing is involved, word-processing is the norm, and Geographic Information Systems are used in Geography.

"SSABSA must provide curriculum that balances the inevitable demand for computer competency with the interests of the student."