Worse than sweaty palms and dread,

Costly, stressful and of dubious value — time to rethink exams, writes Benjamin Dudman

AS UTAS students emerge from exams and college students complete their TCE exams it is time to ask ourselves: Is standardised testing really the best way to assess knowledge?

I won’t lie, I am terrible in exams. I perform well internally but struggle once I enter the examination hall. My hands get sweaty, my vision blurs, and I often spend the first 10 minutes hyperventilating rather than reading and writing. It’s not because I haven’t studied or have come in unprepared, it happens to me even in my favourite classes. My exam stress comes from the nature of standardised testing and the pressure it places on me as a student, and I know I’m not alone.

There is a distinct spike in stress, mental health and suicides rates that occur during examination periods in Australia. Headspace recognises exams to be a leading cause of stress, anxiety and depression in students. Last year a primary student was reported to have attempted suicide due to stress caused by NAPLAN testing. This is not an anomaly, around the world exams have been attributed to increased youth suicide.

In Wales, the rate of youth suicide goes up by an average of 43 per cent during exam periods. In April, 20 Indian students died within the space of a week after receiving failing grades from exams.

Standardised testing has caused mental health problems, self-harm and suicide around the world and in Australia, and yet we are doing nothing about it.

Parents and teachers know that standardised testing has long been the cause of distress for many students. Frequently, this stress far outweighs the significance of the testing itself.

Excessive testing can impose unnecessary stress and workloads on both teachers and students while often shifting the focus from learning and towards assessment preparation.

Students go through the school year focused solely on testing and this detracts from their overall engagement and appreciation of learning.

No longer do students study to learn. Instead, they study to complete the next test, and the one after that, and the one after that.

When students are facing exams worth from 50 to 90 per cent they are being set up to fail. Pass/fail exams do not display knowledge attained through studies, they ensure poor performance and unrealistic expectations.

Proponents of exams claim they replicate real-world scenarios; that you will need to know things from memory if

you wish to be successful in your profession. However, what supporters of standardised testing fail to state is that realistically, knowledge and expertise comes through practice, not rote learning and regurgitating on a paper for three hours.

Realistically, a scenario would not arise in a professional setting where you are locked in a hot room for two hours, facing an unknown problem, without the aid of external resources.

Employers would not allow that to occur in a workplace, they’d be setting their staff and their business up to fail.

The cost of exams is also immense. When more students than ever are living below the poverty line and with Newstart stagnant for over 20 years, the cost of printing hundreds of pages of notes and having to lose shifts for exams is an unfair burden placed on many. Students shouldn’t be put into poverty and forced to skip meals just to complete a degree and further their education.

The answer to this problem is to be bold in reforming our education system. Standardised testing is a total failure of Australian education, so why are we so careless about improving the system?

Self-directed assessments, portfolios, and performances that are practical and relevant to study types are better placed to accurately and fairly measure student ability and knowledge, while actively encouraging learning.

It is time government and universities bring an end to archaic and ineffective examinations and conduct a review of educational assessment with a plan to reduce high-stakes standardised testing.

It is time we help students, not hinder their learning.

Benjamin Dudman is a fourth year law student at the University of Tasmania.

For free 24-hour support, contact Lifeline 13 11 14 lifeline.org.au or kidshelpline.com.au 1800 55 1800.