ABSTRACT
The difficulties in England and Wales are of our own making. If the examination boards were to unite, if the number of subjects were reduced greatly, if options within subjects were to be abolished and internal assessment by teachers abandoned, then a much simpler system less prone to error could be established. Regrettable though lost teaching-time is, it may be less cause for concern than the personal stress which is engendered in students by examinations. The actual proceedings of an examination contain a strong element of ritual. One of the main innovations which advanced the phenomenon of mass examinations in the last century was the use of a common written examination paper to be administered to all candidates at the same time in different localities. Mark schemes, preprogrammed computer marking and even multiple marking may give the appearance of something being measured at a high level of exactness.
