ABSTRACT
The chapter addresses the question of successful exam achievement, insisting that assessment be treated as a situated social practice, which means that learners moving into an unfamiliar institutional, socio-cultural, and disciplinary setting will need assistance to acquire the skills rewarded within their new environment. The theme is approached from three perspectives. The first section examines the construction of international students as deficit learners who fail because of inadequate English skills or perceived cultural difference. The author highlights the influence of language, socio-cultural background, educational experience, and disciplinary training as factors influencing students’ ability to succeed in exams. The second part demonstrates the importance of treating exam performances as a social practice, underlining the divergence of formats used for assessment in higher education. It is stressed that one cannot leave the acquisition of academic literacy to transitioning learners, which leads to the third section on achieving exam success. Here the argument focuses on two distinctive teaching practices, namely international educators’ de-selection of exam formats that favour particular groups of learners, and their use of formative assessment to ensure that all students receive the feedback required to master an unfamiliar exam type.
