Are you a fan of exams? The answer is obvious. We all hate exams. We have wished for a pleasant and peaceful school, university life without the tension of examinations. Sadly, our wishes never came true, and exams are an integral part of our student life nevertheless.

We should also agree to the fact that examinations have made our student life more exciting and colorful.The exciting moments of exams were last-minute exam preparations, group studies that we always messed up, copying in the examination hall and not to forget the after-discussion of the exams, These aspects show that exams how much ever we hate them, they still managed to give a zing to our precious student life.

This article explores the fun and interesting facts about exams just as to make these “Examinations” feel a little less terrible villains of our student life or at least make them think an interesting part of student life.

Related link: https://www.icytales.com/the-night-before-exam/

The History behind Exams

Ever wondered about how this system of exams started? Everything has a beginning. Exams have a long history that we even forgot about. Let us know how it all began and had become an indispensable part of student life.

1. There is a question that every Student has thought of in their student life. “Who in the world invented this system called examination?” The guy who invented exams is a French philosopher named Henry Fischel, who has taught in various countries like the United States, Great Britain, etc.

2. According to Henry, the purpose of an examination is, to understand the ability and learning of a student, to make students learn a whole lot of things in one night (Yes, you heard it right. Now we know that exams are for engineers) and to have an average of students’ abilities.

3. Henry Fischel’s philosophy of exams was first established in China under the name of the Imperial examination. Sui dynasty approved and implemented this system in 605 AD. This system was later abolished in the Qing dynasty after 1300 years in the year 1905. But Great Britain already adopted this system in 1806 for Majesty’s civil service.

Types of Tests

4. There are different types of tests. They are not the regular practical examination, vivas, theory exams as we think. These are assessments that test the students that are used by teachers widely across the world.

Watch this video on people we see in every Exam:

1. Diagnostic Testing

Diagnostic testing is like the preliminary testing that gives results about what a student knows and not knows. It is a type of measurement used by teachers at the beginning of an academic year for new students to get an idea of their learnings and abilities. It is a beneficial tool for teachers, for it forms the base of their teaching methodology.

Parents also can use this method of testing their kids to know about their ward’s mentality on specific issues, especially sensitive issues. This method of testing helps in forming the blueprint for teaching for both parents and teachers.

2. Formative Testing

The formative testing is used to gauge how much a student has learned during a lesson. This is a tool used by the teachers to keep a record of the Student’s understanding of the lesson. This method also helps the teacher to assess his/her way of teaching and indicates if a change in the teaching method is necessary.

It is a continuous evaluation strategy followed in many countries around the world. In a way, it is an assessment for teachers on their teaching ability as well. This proves exams not only test the knowledge of the person giving it but also the people involved in his learning process.

3. Benchmark Testing

This method of testing is used to know the understanding with a setup standard. While the rule always is controversial, students are still expected to meet the minimum of these benchmarks. This creates a lot of anxiety and pressure amongst students.

This method of testing is widely used all around the world, which includes competitive government exams, military exams as well. The standards set usually varies for the subject of Exam, number of students, teaching method, evaluation method, and various other factors. This makes this evaluation method subjective and conflictive.

4. Summative Testing

If you are an Indian student, you must be well aware of the “Annual exam” or the “The Summative assessment” in other words, which we all dread about. It involves months of preparation, and our probabilities of passing to the next year are solely based on this method of testing.

This method is a cumulative assessment that is conducted annually, twice, or thrice in an academic year where the Student is supposed to study the entire syllabus learned in the given time frame for the Exam. This stands as a testimonial of the Student’s performance of that year. It is as hectic as it sounds.

Interesting Facts about Exams

5. According to 90% of teachers around the world, the question papers set for an exam are always from what they teach. They must be annoyed when we complain about the out-of-syllabus questions. But, it is never possible for them to ask questions about everything students have studied.

6. Grade boundaries for many competitive exams are always set after the evaluation of answer copies, unlike the common notion that it is set prior. So, it is the quality of answer copies that decide the grade boundaries of an examination—most of the “Cut-off” marks, grades that are given before the results are mere predictions.

7. Students can quickly fail just by being too alert and anxious for an examination. So, the next time you find your friends doing the last minute revision, remind them to take a long breathe and let it go. Stress and anxiety cannot serve good results but only backfire all our efforts.

This also is a gentle reminder for us to remain calm, stay positive, and stress- free during the preparation, writing, and even after the examination.

Related link: https://www.icytales.com/things-that-exams-bring-with-them/

Interesting Facts about Exam Factors

8. We all have witnessed incidents of exams being postponed due to various reasons- Heavy rains, a sudden holiday, government orders, and many more. Amongst the uncontrolled factors due to which exams get postponed or canceled, environmental factors have been the maximum. It is interesting to note that nature is mostly in favor of students.

9. The performance of a student in an exam depends on the exam evaluator from his personality, amount of papers he/she evaluates, and also the knowledge of the examiner. It also depends on the kind of papers the examiner gets to evaluate i.e., the presentation of the paper matters.

10. Exam performances depend on the student’s time spent for preparation, the method used to study, way of answering, and his presentation. Good handwriting tries to blind the examiner from seeing your mistakes and helps you score good marks. After all, other trademarks for good handwriting are real.

Watch this interesting video on exam preparation:

Related link: https://www.icytales.com/how-score-good-exams/

Interesting Facts about Exams in Countries around the World

11. The United Kingdom has exactly a dozen standardized tests throughout the country, while students of Finland have to take only one test every year.

12. Japan has an exam for students as a standard exam to filter students going to high school. They have a National Center Test for university admissions as well. These exams are of high stakes. Parents prepare their kids for these examinations right from kindergarten itself and follow several superstitions to bring luck to their kids.

13. The United States established a standard exam for high school pass-outs in 2001. Although their GPAs also play a major role in their college entrance.

14. China is the home to conducting examinations. The Gaokao/Higher examination is 12 hours long and is carried out in two days. Students undergo very high pressure to clear this examination.

15. Mexico has standard exit exams after every stage of schooling. Teachers in Mexico are against the continuous conduct of exams as they go through a lot of pressure to set up question papers and evaluate answer copies in the given time frame.

16. Canada also has standard examinations, but these exams vary for every province in this country. Most of the questions are multiple-choice questions. Teachers in Canada have a hard time setting the question papers.

17. The highest rate of malpractices in exams happens in Nigeria. While countries like China serve severe punishments like seven years of imprisonment, laws in Nigeria are not strict enough to combat malpractices in examinations.

These interesting facts about exams in different countries are an eye-opener for students. Students all over the world attempt a high stake standardized exam at least once in their lifetime.

Interesting Facts about the Toughest Exams

India has various standardized examinations, out of which most of them are challenging to crack. They are considered some of the toughest exams in the world. These competitive exams never fail to give nightmares to Indian students. Here are some interesting facts about exams that are considered the toughest, that originated from the Indian subcontinent.

18. IES- Indian Engineering Services is a four-stage exam conducted by UPSC, India. It is conducted for recruiting candidates for technical services in the Indian government. It has a total of 6 tests. It is one of the toughest exams in the world, but passing this Exam gives pretty lucrative jobs for Indians.

19. CA- Chartered Accountant Examination is a 3 level examination in India conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). This Exam is very tough that students give up after several attempts. Only 10% of the students manage to pass after countless attempts.

Watch this video on the story of every CA:

20. IIT-JEE- Joint Engineering Entrance Examination is a never-ending nightmare for students who aspire engineering in India. Top Silicon Valley executives, including Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, have given this examination

This exam makes our list of the most interesting facts about exams because there are hundreds of coaching institutes that give training to students to crack this examination. This is proof of the scale of the toughness of this examination. Not only IITs, but also NITs, CFTIs, IIITs, and few private institutions provide admissions to students having a good score in this Joint Engineering Entrance examination.

Watch this video on the story of every IIT aspirant:

Students go through a lot of preparation, pressure, and anxiety every year to enter into IITs bypassing with a decent score in the JEE examination. The score has also become a symbol of status in Indian society sadly.

21. UPSC Examination– Union Public Service Commission Examination has three levels of Exam spread over several months. This Exam requires months and years of preparation by students. This Exam is conducted to recruit candidates to various departments in the Indian government. The success rate varies from 0.1% to 0.4% every year.

This shows the toughness of the examination and the amount of preparation required to crack this examination. It is a test for determination and patience, too, apart from intelligence and memory.

22. The toughest Exam in the world is the Master Sommelier Diploma Exam, which is an exam conducted for expert winemakers. It was established in 1977 and includes a verbal theory exam, blind tasting of 6 kinds of wine, restaurant services.

Only 229 people have managed to pass this Exam in the last 40 years.

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Interesting Facts about Online Exams

Online exams are an example of smart usage of technology in education systems. Here are some interesting facts about Exams conducted online.

23. Online exams are considered 990% efficient. They avoid a lot of time in investment for question preparation and correction. The assistance and customer service are also provided 24*7 in case of an online examination.

24. Online examinations have a considerable advantage, which is cheating prevention. Malpractices are prevented to a large extent as there is constant digital surveillance and lock system for other applications.

Related link: https://www.icytales.com/things-one-faces-night-before-exams/

Facts about Exam Superstitions

Superstitions are an integrated aspect of exam preparations for students. These superstitions can be known as stupid, illogical, weird, and whatnot. But they nevertheless give the required hope for students to clear examinations.

25. The majority of students have a sentimental shirt or color that works wonders for them in examinations. Other common superstitions include having a particular food, vitamin water, or chocolate or curd, etc. Eating certain foods are believed to enhance concentration while writing examinations.

Exams have never failed to make students anxious. They have also given many memories of our student life. These 25 interesting facts about exams have enriched our knowledge about exams. Gladly, we don’t have exams to test the same.

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