Exams aren't fit for purpose

[littlequestion]

I have two DC and both are doing exams - one A levels and one GCSEs. The older only had a few, low-key exams for his GCSEs so this is the first time for proper exams in my house.

I honestly can't believe how dreadful, stressful and ultimately pointless these exams are - they are not fit for purpose.

The amount of content they have to learn is insane. What on earth is the point of learning 15 poems almost off by heart? What skill does that teach? Most importantly, how is it useful for life?

My other bugbear is that the exams just don't give them enough time. If you've studied a subject in massive depth for two years, why not give candidates enough time to write a considered essay instead of having to rush it and decide what are going to leave out? Why not give them enought time to check their work?

That's what I do in my job - I don't just dash something off and hope for the best. I don't mean exams shoiuld take half a day, but an extra half-hour of planning/ checking time built in would make the world of difference.

This has been proven wrong many times. It's just old people wanting to believe they had it worse. Just like the while 'it was harder in my day to buy a house' nonsense.

How is it “top 50%”? Many technical trade apprenticeships and BTECs require the same GSCE grades as do A levels. The number taking A levels is largely due to preference for certain courses of academic study rather than ability or being “the top”.

@Natsku They're module exams so spread out over the year, though there was a higher concentration of them over the last few weeks as we get to the end of term but I don't think at any point there was more than 3 in a week. But these are 11 and 12 year olds, I expect exams will get more frequent and longer over the next few years (this year has been a big step up on 4th grade for instance, last year she only had 32 exams over the year)
You've said they are shorter. Not 43 2 hour exams right?
We call those ones 'tests'. Dc in the uk have tests all the time. End of modules, end of term etc they are nowhere near the stress of exams

No I'm not saying that.
Given that GCSE grades are set up such that around 1/3rd have to fail maths & Eng Lang, I would enable those pupils to attempt a functional skills paper first to see if they can get a level2 qualification in those before putting them through the GCSE.
I certainly wouldn't have a rule that says anyone who just scrapes into a 3 has to resit the GCSE in college rather than doing L2 Functional Skills first.

In general I would go back somehow to enabling schools to offer more BTECs to lower ability pupils so they would have a lighter revision and exam load come the summer of y11.

5 is the minimum number of exams total, how many exactly depends on what you're studying. Only one exam a day, you can't do more than one 6 hour exam in a day of course, and a lot of exams are on the same day so there's a limit to how many you can do, if you study subjects that conflict then you'll have to sit some at the next exams session (they're held twice a year). No idea if they get a break or not though, seems a bit harsh if they don't!

@powerrangers - DS is doing Digital Technology, which has a sizeable coursework component, and the (compulsory) Welsh Bacc, equivalent to two GCSEs, which is all coursework. He also had Controlled Assessments for English Lit and Geography. All the rest is exams-based. Thankfully in Wales they do English Lit, maths numeracy and 40% of the three triple science options in Y10, so he has those in the bag. He has to pass maths and English Language to get onto his college course, though, which is going to be tough with an entire term's worth of teaching/guided revision missing :(

No not 2 hours long, longest a lesson can be is 1.5 hours so can't be longer than that and at this age they won't be that long, but the amount of studying that DD does I'd say they consider them more than just tests, she studies more than I did for my GCSEs

None of my students learn poems by heart. A couple of quotes, sure. Not many though.

I suspect I'm the only person here thinking, 'Ah, what a shame not to have learned whole poems that could remain with you for life.'

My 15-year-old analysis of Wilfred Owen is lost in the mists of time, but I still recall the poems we learned then.

@Natsku yes it sounds like what you are describing is what we would call 'tests' not exams.
In some subjects (and especially primary school) 'tests' are done weekly - spelling tests, time tables tests or a small quiz on what has been taught that week.
Exams are different.

Not so small tests like spelling (except for in foreign language, which has regular vocabulary tests) or times tables or pop quizzes which aren't counted in the list (I'm only counting the ones they get a grade on that goes towards their final grade) more like 2-5 pages of questions, perhaps essay questions in history, or practical exams in music.

@Natsku Not so small tests like spelling (except for in foreign language, which has regular vocabulary tests) or times tables or pop quizzes which aren't counted in the list (I'm only counting the ones they get a grade on that goes towards their final grade) more like 2-5 pages of questions, perhaps essay questions in history, or practical exams in music.
So the exams/tests all get amalgamated to create the final grade? That is a much better system. Everything based on one exam is a ridiculous system. Far better that you get a grade point average from a culmination of regular tests, projects, presentations etc. more reflective of work

Nobody should be learning anything off by heart. If your children's teachers are encouraging that, the problem is there, not with the exam system

Mine had to know 15 poems from the anthology. They do need to learn stuff off by heart in English.

Both of mine are older now and whilst they are fairly stressful, it's a fair way of ensuring that they receive a grade for their work - covid proved that teachers over estimated how good their students were, with private schools being more optimistic than state. The constant assessment system some countries have is even more stressful in my opinion.

There's obviously subject variation, but ultimately it's a pretty good judge of whether they have worked hard

Yeah its much better, if you have an off day and do badly in one exam you can make up for it in other ones and parents can see the grades accumulate throughout the year and know whether or not their child is managing ok (well in the subjects that get graded this way, on the other hand I have no idea how DD is doing in handicrafts or art or things like that) and see what areas need to be discussed specifically at parents evening.

Matriculation on the other hand seems much more high stress (but they have the option to spread it over 3 exam sessions, which'll reduce stress) but only about half do that, the other half pick vocational school instead at 16 which is good, not everyone suits more academic learning.

Maybe it's a different exam board. But there is no requirement to learn the whole poem, just a few key quotes from each

I loved Dulce et Decorum est when I studied it!

Yes, that is true you are correct. However A Levels aren't really done to the same extent as they are in China. There's many other options such as apprenticeships and college opportunities whereas gaokao is pretty much universal in China

It’s all very well saying they don’t need to learn 15 poems, however, they have no idea which poem will be presented in the exam or what the question is. They therefore need to know the context, structure and form for each and every poem committed to memory.
They also need to have an understanding of each poem and analysis of quotes to enable them to compare effectively.

They should be given a copy of the poems and texts and tested on their ability to analyse literature, not memorise it.

Where have you been there is an unseen poem paper on the gcse exam!

They get one poem given to them. And they get to choose the other poem they write about so really they don't have to memorise all of them, just learn a bit about the most useful ones

DD's quote last night said it all - thank god I'll never have to think about Animal Farm and those bloody poems ever again as long as I live! 🤣

It won't make any difference anyway, grade boundaries are decided once all the marks are in for a paper so that a certain percentage of students get each grade. If you make the system easier grade boundaries will be higher etc. Different formats may favour different students, but overall roughly the same numbers will be getting each grade.

I'm afraid exams are still key at university, because otherwise students cheat/plagiarise. Memorising isn't bad per se but they do seem too content heavy now. Easier for nonexperts to mark - might be a factor?

‘To children ardent for some desperate glory’, Jane?

Exams aren't key IME. They have them of course, but also lots of other ways to assess.