argumentative essay on examination should be abolished

Should exams be abolished?

F or young people, exams, like death and taxes, were once certainties of life. That was the case, at least, in a society that couldn’t have imagined a pandemic shutting it down and forcing it to adapt as radically as it has. The alterations coronavirus has forced us to make have allowed us to see what is possible that we previously thought impossible, and that includes a world without exams.

Even before the pandemic and the forced cancellation of both GCSEs and A-Levels for two years in a row, there was a growing consensus that the examination system is broken and unfit for purpose. Particular concern has been expressed about the relationship of more rigorous exams, introduced by Michael Gove under David Cameron’s coalition government, to the decline in young people’s mental health in recent years. A recent survey revealed that young people in Britain are the unhappiest in Europe, with only 64% of them experiencing ‘high life satisfaction’ (the happiest young people were found to be Romanians, of whom 85% reported high life satisfaction). More troublingly, research conducted in 2018 revealed that 20% of girls and 10% of boys had self harmed or attempted suicide at some point in their lives. Gus O’Donnell, formerly head of the civil service, blamed this, in a report by The Guardian , at least partly on an “addiction to exams”. 

After the cancellation of exams for the second year in a row, the voices calling for their abolition grew louder. The idea in particular of abolishing GCSEs is gaining a great deal of momentum, especially among journalists, social commentators and teachers. The Times reported in November 2019 that heads from the Girls’ School Association had said that GCSEs “belong in the Victorian times” and are “outmoded and draining” . While government officials have not commented on the dilemma quite to the same extent, Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow and chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, described GCSEs as “pointless”, calling for them to be scrapped and A-Levels to be replaced with a baccalaureate-style system containing a mixture of arts, science and vocational subjects. 

Critics have pointed out that the UK remains out of step with its European neighbours with GCSEs still in place, since it is the only country in the continent to test pupils at 16 and then at 18

Even more significantly, Lord Kenneth Baker, who was Education Secretary when GCSEs were introduced in 1986, has called for them to be scrapped. He has argued that they have become redundant now that pupils must legally stay in school or training until they are eighteen. Critics have also pointed out that the UK remains out of step with its European neighbours with GCSEs still in place, since it is the only country in the continent to test pupils at 16 and then at 18. Adding SATs for pupils in Year 2 and Year 6, they argue, makes British children some of the most over-tested in the world. 

By contrast, the Department for Education has shown no sign of supporting calls for GCSEs to be scrapped. In response to Halfon’s comments, they defended GCSEs as ‘gold-standard exams’ . Similarly, Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of Ofsted, rebuked claims that children are overtested in the UK, dismissing the argument as a ‘myth’ and suggesting instead that examination is good for both students and teachers. 

The outcome of cancelling GCSEs and A-Levels last summer was far from adequate, with an algorithm used for moderation downgrading grades given by teachers by up to three grades, especially in deprived areas. This was taken by some as a reason to rethink criticisms of the exam system, evidence that exams were in fact necessary and the only fair way to determine the qualifications pupils leave school with. 

This is a meritocratic argument, but the flip-side of this is that exams were never truly fair to begin with. The attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers speaks for this, as well as the variation in results from pupils who go to schools in affluent and deprived areas. Pupils from wealthier families are also afforded more support with their exams – their parents can afford to hire tutors or buy expensive revision books. They are also more likely to have sufficient study space and time. 

Recent research from King’s College London found that teacher assessments are equally as reliable as standardised exams at predicting educational success

Many oppose the abolition of exams because the potential alternatives are not up to the same standard. One option could be to make the temporary system of giving pupils grades permanent – teachers would decide, from the performance of pupils in the classroom, their final grade (though obviously without an algorithm to interfere with their judgments). Recent research from King’s College London found that teacher assessments are equally as reliable as standardised exams at predicting educational success. 

The major concern that arises, of course, could be bias. 

Concern has been raised by students over negative relationships with their teachers affecting their grades: an anonymous student writing for the Independent mentioned a friend declaring “My life is over,” after mitigation measures for exams were announced during the reveal of the third lockdown. 

Coursework as an alternative removes some of the stress and anxiety of exams by allowing pupils to spread their work over a period of time

Another option could be to replace exams with coursework. Although not favoured by the coalition government that reformed exams and removed much of the coursework, it potentially removes some of the stress and anxiety of exams by allowing pupils to spread their work over a period of time. It could also be argued that it is better preparation for further or higher education, where coursework is used far more frequently, especially for humanities subjects. It is also much more similar to tasks that would be expected in the workplace, with the obvious expectation that pupils won’t find anything resembling exams awaiting them when they enter the world of work. 

However, part of the reason that coursework has been removed for the most part from exam syllabuses is concerns about cheating, through copying another student or even through the use of essay mills. By contrast, there are far fewer possibilities to cheat in an exam, and invigilation remains incredibly strict to prevent this from happening. 

Scrapping exams permanently would also have implications for schools. These could be positive, on the one hand, especially from a financial perspective. Exams are expensive for schools, especially for subjects that are less popular, and without them schools could be afforded a greater budget – potentially vital as ten years of austerity have left them overstretched. If only GCSEs were scrapped, a question mark hangs over the schools that don’t have sixth forms, which would mean they would not offer any exams at all. University admissions would also potentially be affected without GCSEs, as universities will have no record of a student’s exam performance if they have not taken any AS-Levels in Year 12. 

With the government preoccupied by the vaccine rollout and decisions over lockdown measures, it is unlikely that any more radical reforms to the exams system will be implemented in the short to medium term, especially not when barely half a decade has passed since the last ones. Regardless, though scrapping A-Levels is harder to justify, the calls in particular for an end to GCSEs are unlikely to go away. Unless the school leaving age is lowered, which is also unlikely, there will always be an argument that they are no longer relevant and thus the stress they cause both pupils and teachers is unnecessary. 

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Blog post – Should we ban final exams?

For centuries, exams have played a central role in assessing student competencies. However, as the higher education landscape changes, there has been an increasing divide between educational practitioners about the benefits and drawbacks of exams. 

In the first debate from UQ’s Higher Ed Debate series , we examined this controversy and invited staff and students to present their views on the topic That we should ban final exams . We followed the common debate style of having two teams of three members, with one team supporting (affirmative) and one team opposing (negative) the topic.

Debate recording

Debate summary

Affirmative team – arguing in favour of banning final exams.

The affirmative team argued that exams under the status quo are not an effective means of assessing student knowledge or employability as they prioritise breadth over depth, test students’ ability to recall facts rather than prepare them for future employment, assess students by their penmanship and ability to write neatly rather than deep knowledge and assess students under time pressure without access to world knowledge (i.e. Google search), which is rarely the case in the real world.

They further argued that exams provide a poor learning experience as they encourage cramming which is an ineffective way of studying, carry an excessively large weight of the final grade which introduces a harmful level of stress and anxiety, lack inclusivity as they unfairly disadvantage those who are neurodivergent or have disabilities and lack accountability in terms of quality of marking and providing feedback. In addition, they argued that proctoring online exams introduces data privacy concerns that students should not have to bear. 

As a strategy to address concerns raised by the use of exams, they suggested the use of low-state, authentic, bite-size assessments that assess content at the end of each week or a short module.

Negative team – Arguing against banning final exams

The negative team responded that most of the points raised by the affirmative team relate to poorly developed exams rather than exams by nature. For example, it is possible to create open book exams that test your ability to authentically solve problems and apply knowledge, use oral exams to test employability factors beyond recalling facts or use a digital assessment platform to avoid issues related to poor handwriting and to increase marking accountability and provide feedback. Additionally, they outlined the importance of testing breadth in relation to recall-based questions. They also argued that even though industry-specific knowledge is widely accessible, as the expert in a domain, you're expected to know the content when you meet with a client rather than having Google open in front of you to search for answers. They highlighted two benefits that exams carry over bite-sized assignments:

• Final exams can critically assess your ability to apply knowledge from across all parts of the course rather than content related to a specific module.
• Exams enable students to develop the ability to work under stress under tight timelines, which gives them an employability advantage.

The team further argued that the affirmative team failed to provide any evidence of why alternative assessments to exams are any better. For example, if their argument is that academics are creating poor exams, why would the quality of alternative assessments they make be any better? In terms of anxiety and stress, turning exams into bite-sized assignments means many more overlapping deadlines across courses for a student, which itself is a source of anxiety. Accountability of marking is also a problem with assignments as tutors might be under time pressure to read and provide feedback on a long essay with very little given time. The use of team-based assessments may disadvantage students that are stuck in a bad team or might give an unfair advantage to free-riders. Oral presentations may also introduce stress and are unscalable, plus they take up a lot of students’ contact time. Work-integrated learning may introduce overhead funding for travel and attire and raise fairness concerns as the quality of the experience may vary significantly depending on the placement. 

Finally, they raised the important point of academic workload and viewing academics as a finite resource. Exams are a time-effective way of establishing how well a student has achieved learning outcomes, which have academic integrity embedded into them. While it is possible to replace them, alternatives would generally require significantly more time commitment, which maxed-out academics would find challenging to achieve.

Do you think final exams should be banned?

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All members of the UQ Teaching Community are welcome to contribute a blog to be published on the ITaLI website and shared in our UQ Teaching Community Update newsletter. Contact [email protected] to contribute or for more information.

Associate Professor Hassan Khosravi

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Persuasive Essay Example on Should Exams be Abolished?

What is your opinion on exams? Many people may agree with exams, but many more people disagree… including a lot of teachers- An article by the guardian states “60 percent of teachers… said they did not think exams were necessarily the best indicators of a pupil's ability.” So really, what’s the point in exams? Well, examinations were invented to check student’s overall knowledge in subjects, though they have since become more of a memory game, which the world has become obsessed with… So much so that you are allowing children to suffer over them. We need to change that.

Examinations put so much pressure on pupils, it’s truly shocking. I believe the pressure comes not only from the actual exams themselves, but often a lot more… think of all the pressure these poor students must feel, from all the studying and preparation, to actually sitting in the exam hall participating in their many exams, to awaiting the exam results. Students are expected to do too good which is causing them to suffer. “Child Line results from the past few years show that 11% more students have been coming to them for counselling sessions (information from the NSPCC website) because of exam stress and pressure that is put on them from their parents and schools.” Earlier in this paragraph, it also states “statistics show that students facing exams in 2019 are likely to face over 9 hours more of exams than in 2016 (information from the Independent).” (williamfarr.lincs.sch.uk). Shocked? Of course, you are. This shows the appalling amount of pressure students face every year, the stress it causes not only leads to more students attending counselling sessions but also may affect many of their mental and physical health. The second quote, although from 2019, tells us the eye-opening, surprising amounts of time that the pupils spend simply sitting exams. We are now in 2022, so how many more hours do you think have been added since? In my personal experience, I am sitting around 12 hours of exams this year. That’s half a day, plus that’s not counting any study time. I think it’s about time we do something about this.

Sadly, students are often forced to deal with a range of mental health problems, which are commonly caused by these loathsome examinations. So, how can exams cause mental illness? Well, the stress, pressure, and worry of exams can all lead to extreme anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and many, many more. “Over half of mental health issues in the UK are in students from the age of 14 onwards, and that 75% of mental health issues will appear by age 18.” This is the time where students are likely to be preparing for, and eventually sitting, exams. We can clearly see from this, that exams are affecting students’ mental health, yet nothing is being done about it. Think about how many people sit exams each year, and how many people are burdened with a mental illness of some sort because of it. I think this is totally unfair. We should at the very least be offering more support to struggling students.

Now, not only do exams cause mental illness in students, but they can also cause physical illness and pain. From vomiting to self-harming, all sorts of physical sickness and suffering can be caused by exams. “More extreme reactions to exam situations included headaches, insomnia and vomiting.” (theguardian.com). Another website, independent.co.uk, states “The poll carried out by the National Education Union (NEU), found that more than half (56 percent) of school staff said youngsters had been self-harming or thinking of self-harming.” Although many people will only experience problems such as having ‘butterflies in their stomachs’, others end up becoming ill. Although things such as vomiting and headaches aren’t extreme illnesses, the fact that students are still forced into sitting exams when it is known that they make people physically (and of course mentally) unwell is appalling. Plus, on top of this, some students cause suffering for themselves as they feel like they need to hurt themselves… do you really think this is acceptable?

Exams affect some pupils so badly, that they decide to take their own life. Imagine feeling the need to kill yourself because of exams. People are quite literally dying because of exams and yet, we still do nothing about it. “Almost half (49%) of education staff say secondary school pupils have been suicidal because of the stress they’re under.” (markinstyle.co.uk). Information from another source states “With 29% of the 201 teen suicides in 2014 taking place whilst waiting for exam results, or the exams themselves, (information from a report on the BBC website)”. In the first quote, we are warned by teachers that exam stress is causing students to become suicidal. I don’t know how it can become any clearer. The second quote may be from 2014, but, I believe, exams are only becoming harder and more stressful, and so it is likely that the numbers have increased since then. Now let’s talk about the 2nd quote… in 2014 there were roughly 58 suicides caused by exams (29% of 201=58). 2014 was around 8 years ago now, so if we assume that there are roughly 58 exam related suicides per year, we would get 464 teen suicides caused by exams. 464 suicides in the past 8 years. That’s actually frightening. And unnecessary... by simply putting an end to exams, we can quite literally save lives!

So why should exams be abolished? Well, clearly some students seriously struggle because of them, for many reasons: they add way too much pressure; they cause both mental and physical illness; they cause people to self-harm; and most importantly, they cause people to die. On top of all of this, there are many more which weren’t covered in this essay… But yet we are still forced to sit exams. So yes, exams may have some benefits and are good in a way, but the bad seriously outweighs the good.

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Why we should abolish the university exam

Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University

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I do not have affiliations that would create conflits of interest in the context of the issues raised in this opinion piece.

Macquarie University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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The time has come to abolish university examinations. Just because something has been around a long time there’s no reason to assume it’s outdated. But in the case of exams that assumption would be right.

We’ve all been through it. You sit down in a room for two or three hours and answer questions from memory. Now we’re wedded to the idea that’s how you should test someone’s knowledge.

But research shows that examinations don’t develop questioning, self sufficient learners. So why have universities, by and large, chosen to retain them?

The case for examinations

People deploy a number of arguments in defence of examinations: they represent a gold standard of assessment to combat grade inflation; they guarantee the requirements of professional bodies; they provide a sea wall against the rising tide of plagiarism.

These reasons have varying degrees of merit but none of them, in themselves, provide a complete defence of the examination system.

It’s true that grades have apparently been improving for a few years now. As the content of degrees has remained relatively stable during that time I assume that degrees have not got easier but that it is easier to do well – and maybe the students simply work harder and do better.

But the improvement is really down to offering students alternatives to examinations. When tested in other ways students get better marks. So the “gold standard” argument comes down to a choice to test a student in a way that depresses their capacity to get a high mark. I am not sure why any teacher would want to do that.

Highlighting that exams can ensure a common professional standard has some merit, but what is a university for if it is simply delivering the requirements of a third party?

The case that exams save us from academic malpractice has most merit, albeit as a counsel of despair. And is the problem of plagiarism really as big as people fear?

Most experienced university lecturers would agree that there seems to be more plagiarism around than there used to be. Whether this is because of improved detection via software like Turnitin or more malpractice is hard to tell, probably a bit of both.

A different era

We have to remember that students today face different pressures to those of previous generations. They have to balance study and work in ways that most of us didn’t.

They are entering a mass higher education system designed for an educated citizenship not an elite system for a small number of professionals, managers and intellectuals. Their schooling is different. They have computers.

Gen-Y doesn’t have a mystical relationship with the virtual world but it is probably true that the difference between physical and virtual reality, between face-to-face and mediated communication, is less marked for a 20 year old student than it is for a 50 year old professor.

One symptom of this blurring is different attitudes to the idea of originality. It’s clear that many of our students genuinely don’t know when they are plagiarising because they don’t recognise originality as necessarily privileged.

OK, I know this looks like post-modern ideology but nothing could be further from the truth: what I am saying is based on my experience as a teacher.

Don’t be afraid of changing the culture

Can universities address all this? Can they guarantee standards without grade inflation? Can they encourage good study habits without using examinations as a policeman?

They can and do. Many parts of many universities already assess imaginatively and creatively and the world has not come to a standstill.

Much of our academic culture is driven by an anxiety-based conservatism. Students are not like academics: they work and achieve in different ways. We should celebrate this difference not fear it or try to compensate for it.

Students coming to university give us a great gift of trust: we should repay that trust by trusting and giving the opportunity to develop the knowledge, the skills and the opportunity to excel. Scrapping examinations is just one step towards that.

Should universities abolish exams? Leave your comments below.

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Argumentative Essay on Grading System in Schools Should Be Abolished

It’s the middle of the school year. You have been gone from school for almost 2 weeks because you are dealing with the death of a loved one. You come back to attending school hoping to get the stress of the past month off your mind, only to find out that you need to make up 4 tests, do 10 homework assignments, and read 5 chapters of a book. Then, you check your grade book and see you are now failing every class. Your stress has now been needlessly increased. Unfortunately, this issue can be the harsh reality of our current grading system. Students can get flooded to the brink of exhaustion with tests and other school work while trying to balance real-life issues. And the main reason students feel the need to stress over schoolwork is because of grades. Students work to get good grades to feel accomplished and productive. This idea can put students in a terrible mindset and an unhealthy work ethic. The current grading system in schools should be abolished because it is harmful to the health of students and impacts the way students comprehend the material they are taught.

The first reason why the grading system should be forgotten is that grades can damage a student’s mental health. I believe this because as a student, I have had many times where I am constantly thinking about how I can improve my grades. I feel as if I must have an A to “pass” the class. This ideology has put me in many bad mental states before and has made school a burden rather than something I look forward to. According to education reporter Amelia Harper, “Ditching traditional letter grades reduces stress levels and competition among students'' (Harper par. 1). This quote tells us that students are being put under unnecessary stress because of grades. Students are competing against each other to have a better grade instead of learning together. Next up, students have a harder time learning the material because of the grade book. We’ve all said or heard the infamous quote, “Is this going to be on the test”. While it seems silly at first, it is a sad reality because many students are only willing to learn and memorize things that they will be tested on because they think getting a good grade is more important than learning the material. According to an article published by think.org, “Grades force students to memorize those details necessary to pass a test, often disregarding true comprehension of the subject matter. In this process, the student’s personal development is becoming a footnote, overshadowed by the imperative significance of grades” (3 Reasons Grades Are Bad For Education par. 11). This quote shows that the grading system forces many students to only care and memorize material that they know will be on a test. Because they are so focused on only learning tested materials, it costs them the ability to fully understand the things that they are being taught. This shows that true understanding of concepts is secondary to letters that students see as crucial to their success.

Some others may disagree and argue that grades are a good way to keep students in check and make sure they get their work done on time. They think this way because they believe that students will be more motivated to do work and complete activities on time if they have a bad grade. The supporters of this idea could believe that the risk of having a low grade is beneficial to students so they know they have responsibilities. According to thebestschools.org, “Supporters argue that grades hold students accountable for their work, and provide a simple frame of reference for their standing in class” (Thompson par. 4). I disagree with this view because there doesn’t have to be a grading system to make students feel accountable for their work. A simple pass/fail system works just as well as a normal grading system. It still motivates students to keep up in class while also giving students breathing room and not having to worry about “their standing in the class”. Students shouldn’t need to know their “standing” in class because a grade does not properly resemble the student’s true ability to learn.

Overall, the grading system is no longer needed in schools. As a student, I get a first-hand look into how grades affect me and others. I know that I have had many instances where I get overwhelmed with school because of my grades. I overwork myself because I feel like I have to get a good grade to be successful. I also know many other people who struggle with school because once they see they have bad grades, they feel as if they might as well give up. We can all help this issue, however. We can attend school meetings and talk to higher-ups in the district about these issues. By supporting this cause, we can help so many who feel useless and lose interest in education based on a simple letter.

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Why Exams Should Be Abolished? Argumentative Essay

Abstract: Since its official occurrence in the 19th century, school exams have been the only known and approved way to test students’ knowledge and evaluate their performance. The word exam” generally means a test, which can be administered in almost every aspect of one’s life. In my opinion, human beings are meant to be tested until their death. The results of these tests will be revealed on Judgment Day, where individuals will be either rewarded or punished according to their performance.

Many people believe that exams are the most suitable and equitable method for assessing students’ progress and determining their intelligence. However, others advocate for the elimination of exams in favor of more practical and skill-based evaluation methods. I strongly support the idea of abolishing exams, and this paper will present my reasons.

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The school exam is a set of questions that students take throughout the school year to test their knowledge and evaluate their progress. Passing or failing exams determines whether students will move on to the next year or repeat their courses. In my opinion, examinations in general have existed before humankind. Allah tested his angels, Adam, and Eve before they came down to earth and produced humankind. The whole point of our existence is to be tested, and if we succeed, we go to paradise; but if we fail the test, we go to hell.

Therefore, the principle of exams existed before education itself. The current form of examination appeared in the 19th century. Before that century, education was solely for pure learning and no exams were administered. In England, boys in school took their first exam in 1858 and girls were introduced to the concept of exams in 1867 (Cambridge Assessment, 2008). Questions at that time revolved around religion and history. Students were also tested on mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry; however, questions in those subjects were easy and straightforward.

There are some people who support exams and believe in their importance when it comes to evaluating students’ progress in a specific subject. However, others think that there are other effective methods to measure students’ progress rather than relying solely on exams. In my opinion, exams should be abolished from school systems as they can be more harmful and meaningless to students than beneficial.

Those who support exams argue that students need external motivation to perform better. They claim that grades serve as a form of external motivation which can enhance the existing internal motivation of the student.

In other words, if students are awarded grades for doing well on exams, they will be motivated to learn more as they self-evaluate their progress. This is true to some extent. However, what would happen to their internal motivation and learning if they were over-awarded externally? Could too much external motivation diminish their internal drive? Twain’s hypothesis states that if a person is rewarded for an activity they love and enjoy doing, they may become less interested in that activity than before (Cited in Kassin, Fein & Markus, 2011).

Over-justification of learning by giving too many exams can be dangerous and may undermine students’ intrinsic motivation instead of enhancing it. Therefore, the idea of supporters of exams mentioned above cannot be generalized because it may work for some students over others depending on their motivational orientation. For intrinsically oriented students who do not care about their exam scores but only about how much they learn, external motivation would decrease their internal motivation.

On the other hand, students who are focused on achieving a specific goal and do not prioritize learning tend to be more motivated by external factors (Kassin et al., 2011). Those who disagree with the idea of abolishing exams argue that exams are crucial for monitoring and evaluating students’ performance, identifying areas of weakness, and providing them with the necessary support to improve.

It is important to know where students stand throughout the course to help them improve their weaknesses as early as possible. However, exams are not the only way to do so. In my opinion, schools should perform a set of small tests several times throughout the course to evaluate progress instead of having only one comprehensive exam at the end of the course. These small tests should not be purely theoretical and should include questions that test students’ actual knowledge.

Paul Black and Dylan Williams (2005) introduced the concept of Assessment for Learning” or AFL, which emphasizes the need for multiple formative assessments to help students improve rather than relying solely on one summative assessment at the end of a course. Some proponents of exams argue that replacing them with in-class projects or formative assessments would lead to an increase in plagiarism. However, this is not accurate as cheating during exams is more apparent than plagiarism, which can be detected by programs such as Turnitin. Therefore, plagiarism is more manageable than cheating during exams.

According to Simons (2011), teachers can eliminate the problem of plagiarism by trusting their students and teaching them how to do things correctly. Exams typically test students’ memorization skills, which can lead lazy or forgetful students to cheat in order to pass and move on to the next grade. In a survey I conducted, 99% of students admitted to cheating on one or more exams without being caught, even though they knew it was unethical (Exams Abolishment, 2012).

I support the idea of abolishing exams because, in my opinion, final exams primarily test students’ memorization skills rather than their actual knowledge. During revision periods before an exam, teachers often provide students with the questions and ideal answers. As a result, students cram their heads with information they may not even fully understand just to pass the exam and receive a good grade. But are they really learning anything? And do they even remember what they wrote on the exam once it’s over?

The answer to both questions is no. According to Gaita (2004), Examinations test the ability to memorize large amounts of information for short periods of time” (p. 21). Some students have a greater ability to memorize information than others, making it unfair for those who studied diligently throughout the semester to be placed on the same level as those who did not attend classes and simply memorized everything a day or two before the exam (Gaita, 2004).

In my opinion, exams should be abolished because they put students under an enormous amount of pressure, which could lead to serious psychological and physical health problems. Most students do not perform well under pressure, although they study and perform well in class. These students are more likely to get poor grades or even fail their exams because they are unable to control their stress during the exam caused by their fear of failure. Do these students deserve to fail the course or get a low overall grade just because their nervousness in the exam caused their minds to go blank? Meanwhile, other students who are able to work under pressure pass exams despite insufficient school work. Wouldn’t it be fair for all students to have a stress-free learning environment and receive fair grades?

In a survey that I conducted, 99% of students forgot answers during exams despite studying them due to stress. Only 1% of students reported feeling excited about exams (Exam Abolishment, 2012). Additionally, some students experience nervous breakdowns during exams, such as in the Sanawya Amma exams in Egypt where some students faint, cry, go into a depressive state or even commit suicide. In fact, a 15-year-old girl in the United Kingdom committed suicide because she was worried about her GCSE exam and did not want to disappoint her parents (Jackson, 2004).

Suicide cases due to the inability to cope with exam pressure are rising, averaging 140 per year (Bentham, 2000). Exam anxiety can also lead to repeated failure, causing school dropouts and feelings of hopelessness. In conclusion, the current examination system has failed. Just because something has been around for a long time does not mean it is useful and cannot be abolished. In my opinion, abolishing exams would have positive effects on students’ school performance and health. One suggestion would be replacing exams with frequent assignments and projects.

Assignments and projects are more beneficial for students as they help them understand what they learn. In their professional life, employers do not solely rely on exam results but also ask for portfolios to assess the candidates’ ability to perform the job. Hence, students require a better system than exams to test their knowledge, improve their skills and preserve the purpose of education.

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Should exams be abolished argumentative essay.

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Should examinations be abolished?

Sunday, 14 Apr 2019

Many of us managed to have enjoyable school experiences, develop skills, and learn a lot more about life besides what was formally taught to us in the classrooms. — File photo

SHOULD examinations be abolished? Decades ago, this was a popular and almost mandatory essay topic in secondary school. Every book of “Model Essays” had this on its list of essay topics and many passionate arguments around this theme were heard on the student debate stage.

Interest in this topic has remained steadfast throughout the decades in our school system although the lines between different forms of assessments, tests, and evaluations are not always clear. We don’t see the word “abolished” used very much in this context anymore.

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Exams should be abolished speech

Exams should be abolished

Exams – a word that many students dread to hear, a word that many students fear of, a word that seems to have the magical power to transform a happy and cheerful person into a frustrated and nervous wreck.

What are exams and should they been done away with entirely?

Exams are longer and more comprehensive versions of tests held every term. Initially created to monitor and check how a student was performing academically, they now have so much more pressure on them that students are burning the midnight oil to study for an exam. This results in some students becoming ill due to stress and lack of sleep. They have become more and more stressful and, even worse, a constriction to the ideal of learning.

It is a well known fact that when it comes to exams, students compete, not only with themselves, but with other students. They no longer want to see an increase in their knowledge, but want to beat other people to the top of the class. Even parents take exams as a race to see whose children are more intelligent.

Students shouldn’t be judged on their performance on one day when they might be ill. The exams might not be completely representative of the student’s skills as everyone can have a bad day.

They are a poor method of assessment as they don’t reflect the use of knowledge in a practical environment. They don’t reflect how well you’ll be able to use your knowledge in real world occupations.

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Many successful individuals are bad at exams but can perform well under other methods of assessment such as essays and oral presentations which still prepare students in coping with pressure. Some people would argue that exams are not a fair assessment of intelligence and aren’t favourable to those with poor memory skills, those who suffer under pressure, and those who get so nervous in such situations that they shut down in exams. It’s very easy to know content but to completely fail an exam because you are nervous. They aren’t an accurate representation of a student’s knowledge as some people are just better at taking exams than others. If you happen to mess up in your exams due to stress or panic then your goals can disintegrate leaving you unable to reach your full potential and having to settle for second best. SATs are taking the pleasure out of learning for many students and pressurising teachers to ‘teach the test’ rather than teaching for meaning, understanding, critical thinking and pleasure. Should schools become exam result factories or institutions which create well-rounded human beings? This problem must be addressed to reduce the number of pupils who suffer from forms of neurosis or depression due to this country’s narrow minded approach to education.

Those students cramming in last-minute study will have to put aside their social lives, have to sacrifice their sleep and will be under great pressure and tension. Coursework is also a problem when you have exams and should not collide with exam revision.

In humanity subjects such as History, Geography and social sciences, analysis and application of what has been learned is important and cannot be assessed through exams.

If exams were abolished then students would have more time to learn new material instead of being tested and revising. Testing can be performed in many other ways than a 3 hour exam which decides your fate. The vast majority of exams are based on the student’s ability to recall, in the space of 2 or 3 hours, details of a subject which is generally vast in its scope.

The vital point is that those students who enjoy greatest success are not necessarily those who have the best grasp of the subject, but most often those who have successfully anticipated the questions which will appear on the paper. This is, of course, not the only problem. Exams create unnecessary pressure and the poorly planned exam schedules only add to this. Who would deny that they would rather have 5 exams spread over 2 weeks rather than 5 exams in the space of 4 days, leaving little time to readjust?  Furthermore, exams aren’t adequate preparation for working life and test only your memory of a subject rather than all-round knowledge that properly conceived coursework can afford. It is undoubtedly important to test knowledge as well as all round skills, but this can be done much more fairly through methods such as essays and the appropriate use of coursework than through the traditional hellish world of end-of-year exams.

Fairer forms of assessment include more coursework, oral presentation, continuous assessments throughout the year and term papers as well as project work.

Education should be more about what is drawn out of people that what is drummed into them and this is not done through examinations.

In modern day education, familiarity with word processing, desktop publishing and powerpoint is a valuable asset and whilst essays and oral presentations allow the student to demonstrate these skills, traditional exams require students to write essays with a pen and paper – a very unnatural endeavour in the 21 st  century.

Are exams a valid form of assessment of simply a memory test? You decide.

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There are some attempts to include persuasive devices in this piece of writing and these points are creative and imaginative. The piece needs a very clear plan so points move fluidly from one to the next without repetition. 4 Stars

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Examinations Should be Abolished. Essay on Exams and Its Necessity

An examination is commonly debated by many because some boasts of its many great purposes while others say it is too stressful, a waste of time, and anachronistic. Many argue that exams define our growth, it motivates students to study rigorously, and it’s a great way to test their knowledge and growth. 

Examinations should not be abolished because research has shown that exams encourage participants to be highly competitive with each other. It pushes them to their limit to gain a competitive advantage over the other participants. While some may be highly motivated by this method, there is a small percentage of others that argue that constant failure in an exam is demotivating, and lowers self-esteem. For, this reason participants eventually just give up without putting in much effort. However, statistics show the majority of opportunities are given to highly competitive or top performers in examinations.

Exams give Feedback. An examination shows where improvements need to be made. It identifies the individual’s strong areas of interpretation and where more emphasis needs to be placed. Assessing a student’s skills and their progress with feedback prepares them for the future. As well as their knowledge, aptitude and physical fitness.

Some may say it’s an unfair evaluation of the ability but how can you evaluate a student if this method is removed? It is important to measure how well a student understands the material they were given. The evaluation based on grades helps teachers understand what students don’t understand and will try their best to make them have a better understanding of that specific topic. 

Exams may not be the best way possible for students to retain information since they may end up cramming pages of information last minute for their exams and forget it afterwards, but it encourages most students to study hard. Without exams, most students will tend to lose interest in school work and studying because they won’t have anything to work hard for. Getting good grades are rewards. This reward will motivate students to study and therefore they will properly learn. 

Examinations should not be abolished because it shows students their weak points, it evaluates the student’s abilities and encourages them to study. In conclusion, exams should not be abolished because they encourage competition amongst students, which increases the level of knowledge of the student. Without these competitions, students would feel independent and would not study hard. These competitions also enable students to compete for future competitions. 

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Argumentative Essay Topic – Should Competitive Examinations Be Abolished?

Should Competitive Examinations Be Abolished? You can find Previous Year Argumentative Essay Topics asked in ICSE board exams.

Introduction: What is competitive examination?

• Need for competitive examinations
• Competitive examinations act like an imperfect sieve; it does not test a candidate’s suitability.
• Only knowledge tested, other important attributes are overlooked.
• Competitive examinations being highly subjective
• Need to augment by considering attributes, like personality, character and will power

Conclusion: Need to augment the existing system to make it realistic and objective

All examinations are competitive in nature, as each Candidate tries to secure the maximum marks. This is prevalent in studies as well as in every sphere of human activity and is the secret of our growth and development. Hence competitive examinations should not be abolished.

Competitive examinations are held to select candidates for civil services, banks or for admission to reputed colleges. Such examinations are considered an egalitarian way of choosing worthy applicants without favouritism, influence or any other consideration. The selection process therefore, uses the procedure of elimination, and selects candidates purely on the basis of their performance in the written examination. It tests candidates on specific subjects, knowledge, traits and analytical reasoning. This is necessary because a large number of candidates apply for limited vacancies which make the competition tough.

Such a selection process is purely subjective and faulty. It tests a candidate’s knowledge on a certain subject, mental ability and awareness, but does not judge other essential traits that are necessary for a particular job. Take for example the Indian Civil Service examination for recruiting people to the Indian Administrative Services. Every year lakhs of candidates appear for the examination, which evaluates their knowledge on certain subjects, quite oblivious to the fact, that there are more essential attributes required for a civil servant, like administrative ability, man management, tact, diplomacy and quick decision-making.

Thus competitive examinations act like an imperfect sieve, through which candidates are selected subjectively, without analysing their suitability for the job. There is need for a proper form of evaluation, whereby an applicant’s potential can be objectively judged, taking into account his/her suitability for the job.

Competitive examinations being highly subjective, candidates pass them by selective cramming. This knowledge is therefore, superficial and hence, easily forgotten. It defeats the very purpose of selecting people with real knowledge and skill. This is proven by the fact that toppers in schools or colleges are not always successful, while mediocre ones, deemed by the present competitive examination excel in life.

There is therefore need to augment the present system of examination. Other important attributes, like personality, character and will power also need to be evaluated. These are essential qualities for any responsible position, especially for a civil servant.

Despite all its anomalies there is need for some form of examination to select candidates from the teeming millions. Perhaps the existing system could be augmented with psychographic tests, group discussions, group tasks and personal interviews to get a more realistic and objective assessment of the candidate’s other qualities beside knowledge. This would enable it to achieve the purpose for which it was intended.

Assignments

• ‘The ills of the present examination system.’ State your views on the subject.
• ‘Too many examinations are of little value.’ Discuss the statement.
• ‘Examinations work like an imperfect sieve.’ Discus the statement