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Should exams be banned?

AM1

Are there better, less stressful ways of testing ability?

Reply 1

randdom

20

AM1

Are there better, less stressful ways of testing ability?

I don't agree with exams like sats in y2, y6 and y9 I think that these are unecissary and teacher assesment is better . I also think that there are too many exams in Y11, Y12 and Y13. it puts alot of stress on people. But I can't really think of a viable alternative

Reply 2

LaZyGaL

ne method of testing ability would soon become stressful in the current over-ambitious society

Reply 3

Everdawn

13

meh, Exams are a necessity, Youve got to deal with them, as much as I hate to say it.

Reply 4

EconLou

12

There are many faults with the exam system, but you have to learn the stuff somehow.

Reply 5

happysunshine

8

Getting rid of exams, shouldn't that be coursework?

Obviously there needs to be a way of testing and exams are the best way.

People who attend good schools will have better coursework, simple. This is because of better teaching standards and the environment they are in. In the schools which aren't so good, the teacher will collect the coursework in and the pupil will unlikely see it again, so there's no chance to improve it. People who go to the better schools are given an unfair advantage. In some subjects upto 60% of the marks are for coursework. Not fair.

Exams however allow everyone to go in with a fair chance. Their fate hasn't already been decided by coursework and those that have slacked may still have a chance of doing well.

Reply 6

happysunshine

8

piginapoke

I never liked coursework. Coursework involves putting some effort in, I much preferred to be lazy 99% of the time then put in a good performance in an exam. Obviously people don't seem to like the 'stress' and the 'one shot' nature of exams, and would prefer coursework. But coursework can be cheated on quite easily, its much harder to cheat in an exam; at the very least parents can help out with coursework.

Some kind of continuous assessment seems to me to be the order of the day for subjects that lend themselves to this (e.g. maths, where one set of knowledge is built on another).

Or alternatively, A levels have been broken down into AS and A2 and are mostly modular; why not do the same for GCSE - GCSEs are generally studied over 2 school years, why not have G1 and G2 exams?

For some of the science GCSEs and maths GCSE, it is modular and this is much better. As much as I feel I shouldn't be sticking up for the lazy fucks who can't be arsed to do their coursework, they have to turn up to this exam and are more likely to be successful.

Reply 7

blissy

15

I don't think it's right when my 7 year old niece says to me on the phone "I had my zams today. I hate zams."

My mum is primary school teacher (year 6). Christmas term they spend learning for sats, spring term they spend revising for sats and summer term (when the sats are over) they do bugger all. Not exactly what I call a productive year.

My mum says "You don't fatten a pig by continually weighing it". She hates exams just as much as the children!

Reply 8

kirbz

10

I don't think that exams are a productive way of testing ability, it's basically testing your memory more than anything, how much you can remember, not your knowledge hardly at all. I think ability should be tested over the period of the whole year.

Reply 9

blissy

15

piginapoke

What's with exams at age 7 then? I can't remember having 'exams' at that age, only short tests. These Sats and all the beaurocracy surrounding assessment seem to be counterproductive (I'm working on something related ATM actually).
Kids shouldn't have to be revising all the time surely; if they'd been taught well they wouldn't have to revise much; at least only a small amount of time should be spent revising, otherwise what's the point as its eating into teaching time?

Those would be year 2 sats.

My mum gets a bollocking from the council if she does not meet the quotas for the amount of children who have to pass their sats at level 4 or above. Luckily, my mum's class got the best results of the borough - 97% :smile:

Oh, and yes they do need to revise. Children can't really retain that information in one sitting - how many times were you taught something like long division before you could remember how to do it yourself? They can "get it" in a lesson, but ask them to do something two months later and you get blank faces.

Reply 10

blissy

15

I agree. But it's the government's, not the teachers', fault. The teachers have to fulfil the stupid curriculum and try and get them to pass the exams - these two goals are incompatible as they stand.

Reply 11

Don Quixote

Then you'd have to be examined individually, in class by someone from OFSTED or one the the other OFST's.

Reply 12

Lithium

13

i hate exams, every one does, but there is nthn nicer than when you get ur results and u did good, and like it has been said before, there is no over reliable and feasble way! :rolleyes:

Reply 13

Windsinger

Exactly what KOH just said.
They are annoying and i hate having to take them, but how else could we possibly get our qualifications? :confused:

Reply 14

Howard

5

AM1

Are there better, less stressful ways of testing ability?

I don't think they should be banned. Sadly, stress is a part of life and so is failure.

Reply 15

NDGAARONDI

16

I remember something on the news that they said that it's too much tick the box in SATs or something. I just believe that the national curriculum needs a big change.

Reply 16

Alexander

12

At my school there are exams in all subjects each year in the Summer from year 3 to year 6, and twice a year (Christmas and Summer) from year 7 to year 10, and after that, of course, public exams (and mocks for them) kick in. That's twelve lots of exams between years 3 and 10, so think about how tough it is for those who don't do SATs!

Reply 17

me!

8

Coursework is FAR more stressful than exams, if it hadn't had been for the coursework I wouldn't be constantly fed up and tired now

Reply 18

Jonatan

13

AM1

Are there better, less stressful ways of testing ability?

I live in Norway, and here exams are used to a much lower extent than in Britain. As a result, Norwegian grades are so subjective and unreliable that most British universities will ask for interviews or written tests when considering Norwegian students. Oxford and Cambridge will ask Natural Science students to take a year at a Norwegian university before applying. Also, Norway has suffered a major decline in Mathematics results, and so called "alternative methods of education and evaluation" has been blaimed for causing this. I conclude that Britain should at least be very careful when considering to move away from the examination system.

Reply 19

Jonatan

13

randdom

I don't agree with exams like sats in y2, y6 and y9 I think that these are unecissary and teacher assesment is better . I also think that there are too many exams in Y11, Y12 and Y13. it puts alot of stress on people. But I can't really think of a viable alternative

I live in Norway and here grades are primarely determined by teacher assesments. Let me just say this TA SUCKS! Your grade can fluctuate up and down with about 15% depending on what teacher you get. I had a old grumpy science teacher who refused to ever give me more than a 5 (Out of 6). Then I was lucky to get a young wommen at my graduation year and immediately I got 6 on every test instead. Trust me, teacher assesment is about as objective as throwing a dice. I can understand if you want it in subjects such as English or Anthropology, but when it comes to Maths and Sciences TA should be banned. I had an Oral examination in Maths once, and the examiner gave me a 4 out of 6, beacuse he thought I sounded to arrogant (He told me so afterwards). I vote for a system where the examiner gets your test without knowing more about you than your student number. Thats the only way to get some sort of objectivity out of it.

Should exams be banned?

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