See what a high band reads like.

P1The role of standardised examinations in measuring student achievement has been debated with increasing intensity as education systems worldwide reassess the purpose and design of assessment. Proponents argue that uniform tests are the only objective, scalable tool for comparing students across different schools and contexts; critics maintain that they privilege a narrow form of intelligence while failing to capture the qualities that most matter for life and work. I believe standardised tests have a useful but limited role and should not dominate assessment.

P2The argument for standardised testing rests primarily on the virtues of consistency and fairness. When all students sit the same examination under the same conditions, results become comparable in ways that teacher-assigned grades, subject to varying expectations, unconscious bias, and institutional pressure to inflate marks, are not. For university admissions, civil service recruitment, and scholarship allocation, a common assessment instrument provides a transparent and defensible basis for selection that benefits applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds who might otherwise be judged by the reputation of their school rather than their own merit.