My experience with exams

As of today, I officially have only 1 GCSE exam left to sit. I can't believe I am actually able to say (type) that. Just over a month ago, I sat my first exam. One of twenty (although I technically have twenty-one in total, as I had a practical drama exam), and now I have completed nineteen out of those twenty. That is an unbelievable thought. And if you had asked me a month ago, how was I feeling, I would have told you that I was so nervous and stressed. Ask me now, I still feel like it isn't real.

The whole exam process is bazaar. You spend two years learning content, exam technique and how to apply that knowledge. Then you spend weeks revising that content. And then you have a half an hour pep-talk, recapping two years of content. And then you sit an exam. And that's it. Totally finished. All in the space of a few hours. I personally find this whole process so crazy. It's an unfair reflection of ones abilities and mental capacity. For some people, including me, exams are relatively straight-forward. I could argue that I quite like doing exams, but that's a totally different story. However for those people who are more practically minded, exams are so limiting and challenging. Making someone who thinks in a creative and practical way, sit an hour and fifteen exam about poetry across time, is really quite unfair. It would be like making Albert Einstein create a portfolio of art! I want to say that exams are almost discriminatory in that way. Really academic people don't get forced into doing practical subjects, so why should practical people be forced into sitting academic subjects?

Something else which stands out to me about the exam system, is that due to the way that it has been structured, you cannot get anywhere in life without a decent set of qualifications. Or at least that's the way it seems. The pressure put upon young people today to get the 5A*-C (including maths and english) grades, is so great that a large number of people are not achieving it. Whilst there is the opportunity to go and get those maths and english grades in college, it then limits the possibilities at college for those people who are not wired in that way.

I guess I shouldn't complain. There are many people younger than me who have it worse. Again, the exam system is changing, becoming more complex and harder to achieve the high grades that many people strive for. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that I have been granted in education. I honestly am so unbelievably privileged to be getting an incredible education, without having to worry about financial costs (yet), the economical and physical structure of the country I live in and discrimination that so many people face on a daily basis.


So, one exam more (brownie points if you get the reference;)) and then I'm done for secondary education for good. Then the waiting begins for those all important results and hopefully it all pays off.
What do you think? If you have any thoughts about anything I've talked about, please let me know. I'd love to discuss it!

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