Synthesis: External examinations in retrospect and prospect

Abstract

External examinations have come a long way since the days when they involved a set of common written tests administered to cohorts of pupils hoping to be promoted to the next level of schooling, or to a select elite aspiring to be admitted to the esoteric Olympus of university. They have had to accommodate increasing numbers of learners spanning an ever greater range of abilities and aptitudes all aiming higher in the face of labour market credential inflation, the proliferation of subject areas including practical and applied subjects, and antipathy from some sections of the educational community. These various challenges have been underpinned by the sometimes competing or even conflicting demands of quality assurance and equity. Behind it all has loomed the spectre of burgeoning costs. Akin to living organisms, external examination systems are evolving entities. Environmental changes have put pressure on them and brought about some local extinctions, but on the whole, the external examination genome has mutated and adapted as circumstances have required.