The UK exam system is broken
“Record numbers of top Grades” are the headlines this week for GCSE results day. This to me just confirms that the exam system here is broken. Our capitalist society demands constant growth and expansion, but when it comes to exams each year getting better and better results makes no sense at all. Either we are saying the each school year leaver is cleverer than the last, so by definition each new generation is inherently more intelligent than the last, or each year students should be getting overall exactly the same number of top grades as the last, striving for year on year growth when it comes to something like measuring ability, especially when that measure is designed to enable comparison totally defeats the purpose of them. The only reason for improved grades would be:
- Easier exams
- People are better at taking exams
- People are cleverer
The point of exams is to give yourself, potential employers and further education institutions an idea of your ability, the introduction of “new” grades makes a mockery of this. A few years ago A* was introduced as the top grade, now as an employer do I need to remember when this was introduced to know if the A grade candidate in front of me achieved the top grade available or second to top? Do I have to mentally make a note that grades achieved in 2010 examinations mean more than those achieved in 2020, a B in 2010 currency being worth an A* in todays… if so, then what is the point of it? This reflects societies insatiable need to be constantly inflating, each year has to be bigger and better than the previous, or we are not moving forward. But with things such as exam results this just devalues and ultimately renders pointless the system. We are already in the position where universities are considering setting their own entrance exams, and employers increasing use aptitude tests. We already know certain things stack the deck as far as educational success goes — private education, affluent family, access to good nutrition etc. however exam grades in and of themselves *should* offer some kind of standardisation in a heavily unequal society, allowing some sort of comparison. One candidate with 3 A grades should indicate the same level of ability as any other, it shouldn’t be caveated with other factors. Whether this is a true reflection of a students potential is a whole other discussion.
So, what is the answer? Standardisation, centralisation and regulation. Education should not be “political”, changing on a whim with each new government. There should not be different exam boards, this is an area where competition and free market should not be involved. It should be managed centrally by people who know what they are doing, by educators and teachers, by professionals in their field not a Pottery manager come career politician who has no background in education whatsoever. Let’s fix this.
