[News] Exam season

[essbee1]

Just done my penultimate A-Level exam - the tests are challenging, but then again, that's how they should be
Having said that, what really grinds my gears is when an exam board f*ck up a test (for instance, when the audio tapes for the Eduqas French exam were mixed up, rendering it near impossible to complete the exam on time). Here's hoping all the hard work pays off

I learnt Julius Caesar all year and found out in the exam it was Midsummer Night's Dream. I kid you not.

 

[Perkino]

Snowflakes!

 

[bluenitsuj]

Snowflakes. Kids today eh.

 

[Doonhamer7]

D7 jr just completes his last two gcse yesterday - his complaint was they were spread over too many weeks, he’d have preferred it more compressed. Like everything in life the ones he worked hard at we’re easy enough - otherwise they were hard. My uni exams one year was two 3hr exams a day for a whole week so everything else looks like a piece of cake.

 

[Washie]

Bound to be loads of snowflake analysis on mental health.

It cannot be any more stressful than when I did my O levels in the 80s. Or A Levels for that matter.

And for my degree I did 15 exams in 2 and a half weeks.....

Only 15?

 

[Saunders]

This. Except they were O-Levels and over 35 years ago.

Same for me but I do remember at least one person crying over doing badly and that was only the ones we saw in public. I also remember how anxious i was before getting my results. Thankfully I passed all of mine but it was one of the most terrifying times of my life.

 

[StonehamPark]

Too many exams on too many subject in too short a space of time. I don't believe this is the best way to measure intelligence (or more accurately, subject-specific intelligence). However, it is a great way to measure both short and long-term memory capacity.

But finding the right balance in a tight schedule is impossible.
And changing the methods entirely will likely displease and confuse the average person.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Exams are far too easy these days

 

[GOM]

Exams are a terrible way of testing people's intelligence. Always under completely unnatural conditions and in reality, a test of how people cope under pressure......
What I would say is that they act as gates to the next stage of your life.

Too many exams on too many subject in too short a space of time. I don't believe this is the best way to measure intelligence.

Exams aren't all about measuring intelligence. They are about demonstrating application, concentration, planning, time management, discipline and managing pressure. Showing your ability to articulate your thoughts to someone else written and orally.

In fact abilities that you will need for the rest of your life.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I did my GCEs 42 years ago and don't remember them being particularly pressured. But I think a certain amount of pressure helps prepares you for working life.

I have had to change Financial Institutions core corporate systems a number of times while I was working and that was far more stressful. Running a large implementation team Thursday night to Tuesday morning over an Easter Bank Holiday was fun. Add in three lots of 6 hrs kip in the Hotel opposite the office where we had taken over a large proportion of their rooms and that was good for some real pressure.

Having said that, my kids took A levels a few years ago and I can't understand why they have cut the AS level as it did allow the exams to be spread over 2 years

 

[astralavi]

I did my GCEs 42 years ago and don't remember them being particularly pressured. But I think a certain amount of pressure helps prepares you for working life.

I have had to change Financial Institutions core corporate systems a number of times while I was working and that was far more stressful. Running a large implementation team Thursday Night to Tuesday morning over an Easter Bank Holiday was fun. Add in three lots of 6 hrs kip in the Hotel opposite the office where we had taken over a large proportion of their rooms and that was good for some pressure.

Having said that, my kids took A levels a few years ago and I can't understand why they have cut the AS level as it did allow the exams to be spread over 2 years

The gov seem to have a thing for 'hostile environment' policies

 

[BLOCK F]

Did my O Levels 54 years ago and my A Levels two years later.
Exams are a stressful time, but that is life.
Worst thing I can remember is suffering from shocking hayfever. That was a real problem during exam time and in those days all hayfever treatments sent you to sleep!

 

[Beanstalk]

Exams aren't all about measuring intelligence. They are about demonstrating application, concentration, planning, time management, discipline and managing pressure. Showing your ability to articulate your thoughts to someone else written and orally.

In fact abilities that you will need for the rest of your life.

These are abilities that you need, completely agree!
However, there is not a situation I've ever been in where I've had to remember all the work I've done without reference, in silence, in exact timed conditions.
My point was that there are far far better ways of testing those qualities. In terms of transferable skills, coursework (which is being phased out) ticks the boxes of all of those things and is far closer to the experience needed in the working world.

As I previously stated, exams do a great job of seeing how people manage intense pressure. I am yet to be in a situation where I am not taking an exam in "exam conditions" so to speak.