Language
The place of exams in British life
Every year fresh cohorts of young people pour out
of the trenches to do battle with school and
university examinations. It is no exaggeration to say
5 that the great majority of us emerge from this ordeal
feeling like failures, with lowered self-esteem. And
just as the generals in the First World War failed to
question the purpose of the carnage, so it is with
modern-day educationists. They will not ask
10 themselves the fundamental question: what is the
point of exams?
Of course, all children need to emerge from school
knowing how to read and write, and it is a definite
advantage nowadays for children to know a second
15 language. But this does not justify the fiercely
competitive exams we see throughout British
schools at ever younger ages.
Schoolchildren are cudgelled into studying by the
threat that exams are critical to their occupational
20 future. In reality, the evidence clearly shows that
teachers and parents who scare children with the
idea that exams are essential for success are
perpetuating a myth.
There are now only a few, mostly technical,
25 occupations in Britain in which good school or
university exam results are an important
determinant, even of initial acceptance. Many large
retail companies now rely on their own assessment
systems and regard exam results as an unhelpful
30 guide.
If it is a fable that good exam results help most
survivors of the educational system to get a job
immediately on leaving, the idea that exams predict
long-term educational success is a downright lie.
35 While that old saying “First in School, Last in Life”
may not be true, doing well at school certainly does
not determine success later on. When I surveyed
captains of industry, they were unanimous in
declaring university degrees irrelevant to ultimate
40 success. Studies show that among top business
people, school failure is actually the norm.
It is staggering, then, when you consider that
parents and teachers consistently exhort children to
“do well at school for your future”, that there is no
45 scientific evidence that school or university exam
results predict success throughout life. There is
even evidence suggesting the opposite. In the
1970s Professor Liam Hudson published a number
of studies showing that high level researchers with
50 the highest grades at university were actually less
successful than those with lower grades.
Given what it takes to get a first class degree at
university, this should not be surprising. You need to
please your teachers, enjoy being supervised
55 closely and, ultimately, please the examiners. You
must ignore what you think and concentrate on what
they want. To do important scientific research you
need the opposite: to think originally and be highly
self-motivated rather than craving constant praise,
60 and to be able to work alone for long periods.
I suspect that it is a myth that those who achieve the
best grades are of superior originality. They work
hard and they are ambitious to do well in exams, but
that does not prepare them for success in their
65 subsequent careers. In many cases they peak too
early, exhausting their supplies of competitiveness
and adaptability, and their university success is their
last outstanding achievement. If so, we need to
question the underpinning of a system the crowning
70 glory of which is getting the highest possible mark.
Indeed, success at any stage in the process is
probably more a measure of motivation and the
desire to please than of talent or intelligence. Good
exam results at school do not tell us that someone
75 is able to think, only that they are able to identify
what examiners want and comply with it. Exams do
not test knowledge or scholarship so much as
memory and eagerness to succeed.
Laura S. Gieco
 Language

 The place of exams in British life: Answer the following questions about the passage

1 What does the phrase cohorts of young people pour out of the trenches suggest about students
taking exams? (l 1)
2 Explain in your own words how the writer considers modern educationists to be like the generals of
the First World War.
3 What does the phrase cudgelled into studying imply about the students taking exams? (l 18)
4 What does the writer suggest about students with good exam results who apply for jobs in retail
companies?
5 Explain in your own words how parents and teachers are perpetuating a myth. (l 23)
6 Explain in your own words why the opinions of captains of industry might be sought.
7 What does this refer to in l 53?
8 Explain in your own words why the highest grades from a British university do not automatically
indicate that someone will be successful in the field of scientific research.
9 Explain in your own words what is meant in this context by the phrase they peak too early. (ll 65-
66)
10 Explain in your own words what it is we need to question. (ll 68-69)
11 which (l 70) refers to …

 Exploring the text

1 The following sentence has been removed from the first paragraph:

The emotional casualty rate is grievously high.

Say where you would place it in the paragraph and why.

Every year fresh cohorts of young people pour out of the trenches to do battle with school and
university examinations.  It is no exaggeration to say that the great majority of us emerge from
this ordeal feeling like failures, with lowered self-esteem. And just as the generals in the First
World War failed to question the purpose of the carnage, so it is with modern-day educationists.
They will not ask themselves the fundamental question: what is the point of exams?
2 Which phrase is echoed by the word carnage?
3 What effect does Of course (l 12) have?
4 Why is the choice of fiercely (l 15) particularly appropriate? Are highly or extremely equally
effective?
5 Explain how the writer has achieved cohesion in paragraph 3.
6 What devices has the author used in the sentence If it is a fable … (ll 31-34) as a means of
emphasis?
7 The following sentence appears in the text:

It is staggering, then, when you consider that parents and teachers consistently exhort children to
“do well at school for your future”, that there is no scientific evidence that school or university exam
results predict success throughout life. (ll 42-46)

Would you consider the following suitable substitutes?

When you consider that parents and teachers consistently exhort children to “do well at school for
your future”, it is staggering that there is no scientific evidence that school or university exam
results predict success throughout life.

Laura S. Gieco
 Language

Parents and teachers consistently exhort children to “do well at school for your future”. It is
staggering, then, that there is no scientific evidence that school or university exam results predict
success throughout life.

8 What is the function of the sentence There is even … (ll 46-47)?

9 What rhetorical device has the writer used in paragraph 7 and to what effect?
10 What is the purpose of the colon (l 58)?
11 To do important scientific research you need the opposite (ll 57-58) Can the order of the elements
be reversed?
12 Comment on the use of the word craving (l 59).
13 Rewrite the phrase If so (l 68) more fully and explicitly.
14 What attitude is the writer showing by saying crowning glory (ll 69-70)?
15 How effective is the last paragraph in bringing the article to an end?

Laura S. Gieco