"Exams are always to be feared since the greatest fool can ask more than the wisest and most learned can answer." Not sure who said that, but it is true. Despite the allure of course work I still think exams are the best way to sort students and assess ability. It's not just that my experience was that I have always done better in exams than in course work, but that life is an exam. One is continually being asked to remember what one has leaned, marshall the material and provide an answer in the time available. That is so whether it is a driver reading the road signs or a Sunday School Teacher answering a child who wants to know who, "if God made the world, made God?" (Have a go at that, please, in the comments without mentioning, for this is an eight year old, Aristotle or Aquinas, while avoiding being simplistic or dismissive since the highly educated, but theologically ignorant, parent is listening to your answer with obvious interest.)
One of the best bits of help and advice I was given for exams (and for life in general) was given to me when I was an undergraduate from
Christine Carpenter, who taught me Late Mediaeval History. She took a revision essay I wrote for her to pieces with a few brutal questions. After a difficult hour light dawned in my befuddled mind and I exclaimed "It's simple really." She pounced: "Simple, but not simplistic. Remember the difference. Those who write simplistic essays get a Third; those who write simply are the ones who get a First."
Congratulations therefore to the Haileyburians who sat A levels this year and returned the best ever results for the school. 85% at A-B 93.1% A-C and 99.7% passing. There is a full report on the School
website.
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