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Exams vs Coursework

Poll

Which do you prefer?

2

Which do you prefer?

I personally tend to do better in exams than in coursework but a lot of the people I've talked to said they prefer coursework and tend to do better in it.

What do you think?

Reply 1

psychocustard

18

I like a bit of both. Coursework gives me the opportunity to prop up my grade, in case my exam goes wrong, but I find exams easier to cope with :smile:

Reply 2

BrightGirl

15

Exams all the way, I work so much better when under pressure.

Reply 3

cdoyle

2

Neither..
Coursework- why I don't get full marks when others less smart do...
Exams- why people with poor attendance A grades too.

Reply 4

rapha

OP

2

psychocustard

I like a bit of both. Coursework gives me the opportunity to prop up my grade, in case my exam goes wrong, but I find exams easier to cope with :smile:

I agree to an extent, but coursework can be so stressful and hence bring your other grades down.

Reply 5

cdoyle

2

so probably exams...

Reply 6

BrightGirl

15

cdoyle

Neither..
Coursework- why I don't get full marks when others less smart do...
Exams- why people with poor attendance A grades too.

Just focus on what YOU get in exams/coursework, and not what others get.

Reply 7

caroline147

14

Exams.
I can never be bothered to do coursework properly, always brings my grade down.

Reply 8

LearningMath

14

Exams actually test your ability and knowledge. Coursework is just a petty boring pointless pathetic idiOTIC ANNOYING drag to help slow people pick up their grades.

In short, exams.

Reply 9

cdoyle

2

ok... i have 100% attendance 1st year to U6th

Reply 10

Bluebird92

8

I hardly ever turn up to my classes but I have all of the stuff I need to pass a given exam and the coursework can be redrafted to full marks to give a better chance of getting higher marks! If you place a great deal of effort into both who knows how high the mark you get at the end might be? I think a mix of exams and coursework is very easy to cope with because you feel so much better heading into a two or three hour period knowing you already have a certain amount of marks, or a certain grade, behind you already. This means that there's not that much pressure on you compared to a subject without coursework, because then you would know that it all hinged on one or two papers - and it's not a very nice experience!

So clearly it's down to personal preference but coursework is easier in my opinion. I've just finished a first draft of one piece of CW and got a good mark so maybe that's bias talking!

LearningMath

Exams actually test your ability and knowledge. Coursework is just a petty boring pointless pathetic idiOTIC ANNOYING drag to help slow people pick up their grades.

In short, exams.

Coursework definitely isn't pointless, it tests your knowledge in a different way - of course, there is less pressure involved and it does help those who are not so good at a subject pick up a few extra marks (although in my experience those who aren't so clever face horrid struggles facing deadlines and therefore not doing anything that well), but in a syllabus of a certain subject they look for certain things and there is work involved in coursework that they are not able to fit into an exam (such as the sciences, where you do experiments and practical tests, etc). But yes, the main focus of a course is exam based and that is obviously how it ought to be and should stay.

Reply 11

jonny23563

12

Exams, I'm lazy when it comes to doing big pieces of work so I'd rather just get it out the way.

Reply 12

psychocustard

18

rapha

I agree to an extent, but coursework can be so stressful and hence bring your other grades down.

I dunno. I've had to do a piece of history this year, and I didn't find that too stressful. I just did a bit at a time, and that made it quite easy, for me. That should boost my grade up my a whole grade now :smile:

Reply 13

DaneCook

13

Exams...coursework is ****, my teachers hate me so they give me B's...Then i laugh at them when i end up getting A's in the exams anyway and overall.

Up yours lady.

Reply 14

Jazmine

17

cdoyle

Neither..
Coursework- why I don't get full marks when others less smart do...
Exams- why people with poor attendance A grades too.

I can sometimes have poor attendance - but on behalf of me and people like me - I study at home a lot. That's why I get my A grades. It's not like I sit at home doing nothing for those times I'm not in college. I even communicate with my teachers via e-mail =P

Although, I advise going into college for everyone! Don't skip classes, xx

I have to go with exams. I don't like coursework.. I get more worried about doing coursework than I do about doing exams 'cause I just don't like the thought of having to do long pieces of work over time, for some reason it really puts me off. Even though I probably write just as much in an exam =P

ALSO, I hated it more because three of my teachers lost my coursework pieces. All of them for science (but then they found one of them), all from English and one from History. I had to do them all over again, I was not happy that they were so careless and only told me extremely close to the deadlines - I found out they lost my maths one two hours before the deadline..

All in all, I think coursework (in my history - I've only done coursework in GCSE though) brings me down more than anything.

Reply 15

PSmith23

I prefer coursework because you can take you time and you have more time to research to improve the grades. Some exams require a bit of luck.

Reply 16

bluebubbles

I'm in the IB and I absolutely HATE INTERNAL ASSESSMENTS WITH A PASSION. I would actually enjoy the IB if it weren't for these effing annoying buggers. So yea, I'm gonna have to go with preferring exams...BY FAR.

Reply 17

becky.fm

18

I tend to better in coursework, when i can take it home and spend as much time as i like on it. If it's under supervision, i do terribly. And as most of it is now, i prefer exams.

Reply 18

Nick_000

16

Definately coursework.

In an exam, there are so many variables that can go wrong. You can have a bad day in general, you could have revised the wrong subjects by accident, misread the question, time constraints lead to you not getting all your points across and so on.

With coursework, you can put real effort in and its much easier to hit a particular target mark you have set yourself as you can check it against a marking scheme.

Reply 19

misslaurabee

Coursework seems to be more reliable. With exams sometimes they can just be hit or miss and you never really know why, coursework gives you a chance to actually build yourself a grade with a lot more confidence. That said, I'm currently putting off doing a piece of coursework, so what do I know...

Exams vs Coursework

Which do you prefer?

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