12th January 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Many students are currently taking their modular exams. Some of these exams are GCSEs, but many are A Levels. With Michael Gove recently announcing that he believes we should move away from modular exams and coursework, and return to a greater reliance on a final exam (or exams) at the end of a student’s course, we thought it would be interesting to examine how this will affect some students, and how it may affect the way in which our tutors plan their lessons.
Essentially we think that removing modules is probably a good idea. Gove described the UK as creating a ‘retake culture’, where students don’t take exams seriously until it’s the final one, and this can’t be a good thing because it creates apathy in students, and when it comes to the final exam, students have had no practice preparing as if the exam means something. Many education systems have continuous assessment throughout the school year, each small exam counting towards a final grade, and this situation is obviously a better test of a student’s ability. Retaking exams seems a little silly: if an exam is supposed to be an accurate test of a student’s ability, why should we allow them to retake it?
Having only one exam means a greater spread of grades. If a group of students each take an exam three times, and choose their highest mark, the marks will be less spread than with a single exam because with the modular system all marks would be pushed towards 100%. Universities have been complaining for a few years that they are finding it more difficult to distinguish between students from their A Level results, and a single exam system would help to make grade boundaries more transparent.
From a tutor’s point of view, it’s much easier and much more enjoyable when a student has only one exam to focus on. When a student has an exam every 6 months, they tend to focus on revision and exam practice a few weeks before the exams. More frequent exams mean more time spent on revision and less time for the tutor to genuinely teach concepts and understanding (which for most of us is what we love to do, and where the true value of a tutor lies).
Obviously the downside of a single exam is that it can give a false grade. Sometimes good students have bad days, and if that bad day is the day of the final exam then there’s no safety net, and a student can find themselves very disappointed with their results. Some students are prone to exam nerves, and the prospect of retaking an exam can relax and help these students.