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The document discusses the growing trend of using exams for student assessment, highlighting both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include reduced cheating and increased time efficiency, while disadvantages involve high-pressure environments that may hinder performance and a limited scope of knowledge tested. The conclusion emphasizes the need to balance the benefits of exams with their potential drawbacks.

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23 views1 page

Original

The document discusses the growing trend of using exams for student assessment, highlighting both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include reduced cheating and increased time efficiency, while disadvantages involve high-pressure environments that may hinder performance and a limited scope of knowledge tested. The conclusion emphasizes the need to balance the benefits of exams with their potential drawbacks.

Uploaded by

ilikemandalin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The IELTS Teacher Mastering IELTS Writing: Model Answers

There seems to be an increasing trend towards assessing students through


exams rather than through continual assessment.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of exams as a form of


assessment?

In recent years, the approach of using exams to assess students has risen in
popularity over the alternative of continual assessment. This essay will
highlight both the benefits and drawbacks that result from such an approach.

To begin with the positives, a crucial advantage that examinations have as a


form of assessment is that they leave little room for cheating. This is because
exams are usually undertaken in the presence of an invigilator, whose job it is
to detect any candidate breaking the rules. In contrast, continual assessment
increases the risk of plagiarism since assignments are often completed with
the help of the internet. Besides reducing cheating, exams are also more
time-efficient. As they tend to only appear once or twice per year, they free up
more time for students to revise and prepare.

Nevertheless, assessing students via examinations does present some


problems. For instance, some students are extremely intelligent and creative,
but when put under pressure their minds can go blank. Considering that
exams are situations of intensely high pressure, it is no wonder that even the
brightest of students sometimes perform poorly. Another significant
disadvantage of this system is the narrow range of information which students
are tested on. Unlike with continual assessment, the small window of time in
tests limits how many questions can be asked, thus failing to test students’
knowledge in full.

In conclusion, although formal examinations are beneficial in terms of cutting


out cheating and improving efficiency, it is important to consider that they also
harm some students’ concentration and are arguably not as thorough as
continual assessments.

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