Our obsession with exams (From York Press)

Our obsession with exams

9:35am Tuesday 17th August 2010 in

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I RECENTLY awoke panicking from a dream which found me sitting in an exam hall, staring at blank sheets of paper I had to fill, knowing I had done absolutely no work whatsoever for the challenge.

“How am I going to get out of this?” I cried, before realising there was nothing to get out of. I’ve had dreams like that before, which is odd, because I can’t remember ever actually turning up to an exam in such a state of disarray.

This week, however, there may be plenty of justified exam anxiety around, prompted, if reports are true, by the very different dilemma faced by thousands of students who have worked hard, have excellent grades, and yet can’t get on the course they want.

The reasons for this are many and complex, but I am reminded of some possibly relevant points I made in a column a year ago.

These were, briefly, that even if youngsters today were brighter and harder-working than in my time, the upward trend in GCSE and A-level results every single year since they started rising in Mrs Thatcher’s time struck me as distinctly fishy. However, even if the trend was entirely genuine, so-called “grade inflation”, or increasing numbers of students getting the highest grades, would inevitably cause confusion because it would be more difficult to judge who the best candidates were.

Looking at the questions being raised this week about A-levels, ranging from acclaimed theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn testing the highly prescriptive marking system by doing an English paper, to claims many universities are refusing to recognise the new A* grade which was brought in specifically to identify the very best students, I’m not inclined to significantly revise my points of concern.

However, another issue has come to mind, partly inspired by a criticism of last year’s article, and partly by an unrelated comment in defence of ever-rising A-levels, both from local politicians. The first challenged me to take an A-level and see how I got on, with the obvious suggestion I was simply deriding today’s youth (I wasn’t) and would come a well-deserved cropper.

The second, rather oddly to my view, said the average person would struggle if they had to suddenly do a specialist A-level. My response was I should jolly well hope that was true. Equally, I wouldn’t expect even A*-grade students to easily grasp the technical aspects of my job without a bit of training.

But it strikes me these responses shared an attitude which may partly explain the situation we now face. Both seemed to promote exams and associated qualifications to the point where they became ends in themselves.

Exams are important, and for some people specific grades in specific subjects are vital. But for many – I would suggest most – they are hurdles, or better stepping stones, to be negotiated to find a way to further study or a career. The actual grades are not, in reality, as absolutely important as we are making out, particularly in a system where often now the most crucial ability is to understand the marking procedure rather than the actual subject.

With a different system, two Bs might get you where you want to be better than a cupboard-full of A*s. It would also perhaps better serve a wider purpose of exams, the aforementioned one of giving those such as universities and employers a relatively clear and straightforward means of judging the quality of students.

Another, related problem with our exam obsession has been that instead of asking tricky questions about whether students are more numerate or literate, or better prepared to face 21st-century challenges, we have simply pointed to the higher grades and said everything in the garden must be lovely.

Meanwhile, there is compelling evidence our society is becoming more polarised and, far from helping to break this trap, education is increasingly a part of it. Maybe it’s finally time to stop congratulating ourselves about grades and do something about improving educational opportunity.