ABSTRACT
It has often been pointed out that schooling may carry messages and consequences by no means intended or foreseen by school personnel. Side by side with the manifest curriculum, the knowledge, skills and attitudes that schools are charged with teaching, there is a ‘hidden curriculum’ which may make as much if not more impact on pupils (Jackson, 1968; Snyder, 1971; Silberman, 1971). Examinations are an important element of secondary schooling and they seem to carry a hidden curriculum of their own. Whilst in principle they serve solely an assessment purpose, in practice they have numerous effects on pedagogy, on pupil work strategies and on the nature of teacher-pupil interaction itself.
