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?

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In recent years, the approach of using exams to assess students has risen in popularity over the alternative of continual

assessment

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This

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essay will highlight both the benefits and drawbacks that result from

such

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an approach.

To begin

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with the positives, a crucial advantage that examinations have as a form of

assessment

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is that they leave little room for cheating.

This

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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

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, continual

assessment

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increases the risk of plagiarism since assignments are often completed with the help of the internet.

Besides

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reducing cheating, exams are

also

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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

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, assessing students via examinations does present some problems.

For instance

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, some students are extremely intelligent and creative, but when put

under pressure their

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under pressure, their

minds can go blank. Considering that exams are situations of

intensely

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intense

high pressure, it is no wonder that even the brightest of students sometimes perform poorly. Another significant disadvantage of

this

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system is the narrow range of information which students are tested on. Unlike with continual

assessment

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, the small window of time in tests limits how many questions can be asked,

thus

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failing to test students’ knowledge in full. In conclusion,

although

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formal examinations are beneficial in terms of cutting out cheating and improving efficiency, it is important to consider that they

also

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harm some students’ concentration and are arguably not as thorough as continual assessments.

Submitted by Pawandeep Kaur on Tue Jun 02 2020

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Support ideas with relevant, specific examples

Examples make your writing easier to understand by illustrating points more effectively.

Examples, if used properly, not only help you get higher marks for ‘Task Response’ but also for ‘Coherence’.

When giving examples it is best to put them after your main idea or topic sentence. They can be used in the middle of supporting sentences or they can be used to start a new sentence. There is no rule for where exactly to give examples in essays, logically they would come after your main idea/topic sentence or just after a supporting sentence.

Linking words for giving examples:

for example
for instance
to illustrate this
to give a clear example
such as
namely
to illustrate
take, for example

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10
Linking words
meeting the goal of 7 or more
1
Word repetition
meeting the goal of 3 or fewer
2
Grammar mistakes
detected issues

0123456789.0505

Overall Band Score

Coherence and Cohesion: 6.0

Logical structure

Introduction & conclusion present

Supported main points

Accurate linking words

Variety in linking words

Lexical resource: 7.0

Varied vocabulary

Accurate spelling & word formation

Grammatical Range: 7.0

Mix of complex & simple sentences

Clear and correct grammar

Task Achievement: 6.0

Complete response

7.5

Clear & comprehensive ideas

Relevant & specific examples

Appropriate word count

4 paragraphs

264 words

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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?

Support ideas with relevant, specific examples

Many believe that learning a language at an early age is better while others think such language should be taught later. discuss both views and give your opinion.

Modern forms of communication such as email and messaging have reduced the amount of time people spend seeing their friends. This has a negative effect on their social lives. To what do you agree or disagree?

Millions of dollars are spent on space research every year. Some people argue that the money should be spent on improving living standards on Earth. Do you agree or disagree?