exam integrity is the passport for international study

exam integrity is the passport for international study

Exams are a fact of life.

They affect nearly every one of the people in the western world and most or all of the rest of the world. Where there are qualifications and levels there are exams. Even in the poorest countries in the world like Somalia they have end of year exams. However, exams are not all equal. Though the ages maybe the same the quality of the exam taking and the environment that it is in is radically different. So much so that really it is only the gold standard of exams that are a passport to the world. One of the richest countries per head Saudi Arabia have final term exams at 18 or 19.. However if you want to travel and study outside of the Saudi kingdom you need British or American exam qualification like A levels to be accepted anywhere else.

This hierarchy of exams has little to do with wealth. It has mostly something to do with the integrity of the exams. The greater the integrity of the exams taken the more likely they are to be used as international study passports. The challenge for countries that have an exam process that has gaps in its integrity it is hard for universities to accept their grades. Knowing that the chances are the pupil was able through family connections get a higher mark than they would otherwise get.