You might think that students will be celebrating the news that universities could be moving away from ‘traditional’ exams in favour of “inclusive assessments,” which include open-book tests and take-home papers. They shouldn’t.
I was one of the unfortunate Covid crop of undergraduates who didn’t sit a single exam during their time at university. Yes, I avoided the last-minute nerves about what was going to be in the exam paper – and I saved time not needing to cram during last-minute revision. But the truth is that avoiding exams devalued my degree, so much so that I didn’t bother going to my graduation ceremony.
Avoiding exams devalued my degree, so much so that I didn’t bother going to my graduation ceremony
I was supposed to graduate with a degree in geography from the University of Edinburgh in the summer of 2023. But during my time as a student, two calamitous events occurred: one an act of God, Covid-19; the other, the Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB), which meant that none of my coursework was marked.

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