Exams are good for you or are they?

How would you feel if schools stopped conducting the exams? Would you be relieved or
dumfounded at the thought of it? Like many of you, I am of the opinion that schooling would be
meaningless if our academic performance is not tested every semester.

First of all, examinations test students on their knowledge, as well as give them a purpose to study
and compete with each other. Consequently, students are encouraged to work harder and to make
good use of their time in order to perform better in exams.

Another important argument in favour of exams is that they test vital skills like handling pressure and
time management. In exams, students must make good use of their skills in a given time frame.
Hence, skills that are particularly important in daily life are rehearsed and those high-flyers are often
more successful later in life.

To sum up, I firmly believe that examination should stay as the cornerstone in every school as it
assesses how much knowledge students have acquired. For me, it gives the sense of purpose to
studying without which schools will become desultory. (185 words)

Should Exams Be Abolished?

How would you feel if schools stopped conducting the exams? A lot of students would surely be
relieved, while others would flame for their lost chance to prove themselves. Like many of you, I
tend to agree that exams fail to acknowledge the true potential and skills of students.

The foremost reason why I support the abolishment of examinations is that they test a limited range
of skills like reading, listening and writing. What about fluent speakers of language or creative
artists? This means that, countless talents are discouraged when too much emphasis is put on
performing well in exams.

Secondly, examiners take different approaches in grading papers. Although there are international
marking schemes, marks are rarely given uniformly as expectations differ from examiner to
examiner. Thus, a lot of marks are lost unfairly or sometimes marks are inflated depending on the
examiner who marks the paper.

In conclusion, it is my contention that formal examinations fail to take students’ varied level of skills
and ability into consideration and their results are often subject to assessor bias. I would love to go to
a school where I can harness my skills and not get judged based on a summative assessment. (200
words)