Changes in the Exam Process for UK and Northumberland Independent Schools

Posted by admin on July 14th, 2009 filed in Education

At the end of every school year, thousands of school children go through the stressful experience of the end of the year exams.  Throughout Edinburgh, Newcastle and Northumberland, independent schools as well as public schools are seeking a way to change that system.  The system wherein the children sit in the gymnasium and take writen examinations, lasting up to three hours in length, and to the tick of the clock, that is ticking away.  Once the exams have finished and the summer begins, the anxiety may not end, as the results for the exams can take up to two months to be determined and distributed.  This is the way it has been, for generations in the United Kingdom, and some see it as a rite of passage, while others, such as Cambridge Assessment’s chief executive Simon Lebus, would like to see the old way done away with and to have the exams take place throughout the school year via the computer and Internet.  This they are hoping to accomplish within the next ten to fifteen years.

Having the exams spread out will reduce the nerve wracking experience of the timed traditional exam taking place, one of all the subjects learned combined into one hefty and extensive examination.  Various boards on student exams are investing millions on the technology to make this possible.  The computerization of the exam process will have many benefits, such as the continual assessment of student progression throughout the year, the tests will be available on demand, the results will be instantaneous, and the technology in and of itself will be a learning tool and process for the children participating.  While it is an expensive endeavour, Lebus states, it is an achievable one.  When the system is put in place, students will have the choice of taking the traditional exams, or taking them on the computer.  Some people are not exam-phobic, so the traditional way suits them, however for those that are this is a perfect solution, and a way for them to be tested without that stress altering the outcome of the exam.