[f0xtrot]

when I think of 'cheap' in that context, the thought of shoddy does come up.

That seems like a negative.

what kind of benefit could the switch have? I'm having a hard time understanding the need. A "cheap" education dosent seem like a good thing unless were talking about cost to the student.

[bsder]

Securing the test papers has a cost. Distributing the test papers has a cost. Having the exam only a small number of times a year has a cost (spiky resource usage which is idle the rest of the year).

There could be some benefits to students--better accessibility for disabilities as well as taking the test at arbitrary times and getting scores immediately spring to mind.

There just won't be because those would require money to develop.