Picture a student walking into a classroom. They’re nervous, heart pounding, functioning off five hours of sleep, and struggling to recall the material they crammed into their head late last night. The student sits down for their test, and throughout, they’re hoping that they can get enough points to keep that grade that they worked so hard for throughout the year. Thanks to final exams, this scene is all too common.

   Grade-oriented students may make finals their entire lives in the weeks leading up to one. They may spend weeks cramming information for the simple reward of maintaining their

letter grade; however, a

student’s grade should already be an accurate representation of their performance. Students should be tested on their application of material throughout the duration of a class, and their grade should be tailored to their understanding.

   Senior Maddie Yoo said, “The whole point of going to school and learning is that you’re going to take that knowledge and use it towards what you do in the future. How is one hour of what you write on paper going to prove that?” If students learn material and put effort into a class throughout the school year, then their grade should reflect that. This is especially the case with students who don’t perform well during exams. These students can be smart, capable, and put in the effort, but due to anxiety or stress, their grades needlessly suffer.

   For the most part, final exams may wrap up a class nicely. They can provide an overall review of a class’s material before students are sent off, but there are multiple ways to test intelligence and understanding without having to rely on an exam. Project-based finals are not only a good way to go over class material in a non-stressful setting, they also better prepare students for the real-world working landscape, in which large amount of jobs revolve around team projects and application of material. Students shouldn’t be tested on their memory, but on their critical thinking skills.

   Forcing students to memorize equations and dates contributes nothing to their understanding of a subject. According to Researcher Phil Hedayatnia, “End-of-semester exams require too much effort for absolutely no reward – they don’t set you up for the real world” (thetab.com).  Final exams discourage creativity and risk-taking, which are traits that may not help on an exam, but are increasingly desirable in the job market.

   Students may be more preoccupied with cramming than properly digesting the material, and as a result, they don’t retain any of the material they crammed. Yoo said, “I usually forget [exam material] because I feel like it’s so mentally stressful that your brain just needs to relax. I feel like you tend to not retain the information as well as you would otherwise.” By stressing over a grade and focusing on retaining as much information as possible, the opposite effect is achieved. Students are overstressed, and ultimately end up retaining less.

    Also, the stress that comes from studying can impact students’ mental health. According to the National Library of Medicine, “As many as 87 percent of college students surveyed across the United States cited education as their primary source of stress” (nlm.gov). The system by which colleges are educating their students is fundamentally flawed if it is this stressful. Many schools use fear-based learning, meaning the pressure of final exams fosters a fear of failure. This is a harmful way of thinking, and the education system that harbors this level of commitment for a class that won’t matter in a few years is flawed.

   One could argue that final exams in high school help prepare for the ones in college; however, this isn’t addressing the true problem. Finals ultimately don’t prepare students for real life. Exams are unnecessary in the modern educational landscape, so modern education needs to evolve. To truly prepare students for the challenges of the future, schools must rethink their reliance on final exams and create an education system that values understanding and application over memorization and stress.