Are high exam marks a reflection of intelligence?           

Winter, exams and late-night marking – a deadly combination for any teacher and student for that matter – minus the marking. Exams are important and they always will be. Good, demanding qualifications open doors for our leaders of tomorrow and to give them a choice to what they want to pursue and to fulfilling lives – so of course we back the government’s drive to raise​ ​standards and encourage success in them.

It’s time to however properly bust the myth that high grades reflect intelligence. The problem lies with the word intelligence. The common definition, that of possessing ‘a quickness of understanding and an ability to apply knowledge and skills to a high level’ – should make us stop and think and to ask how well equipped our current examination system is to deliver?

Here are 5 major reasons why we disagree:

Passion is more important than intelligence:

Some video games require much more intelligence than many exams and the reason you might have done well on video games but bad on exams could be because of the absence of passion. When you study something you are not passionate about you are very less likely to get motivated and as a result you might not absorb the studying material well. I am pretty sure you noticed you get better grades on the subjects you love or at least the ones you don’t hate.

Some questions depend greatly on memory:

Many exams require studying lots of information by hard that the person who has a better memory has a much higher chance of getting better grades. If you hate memorising stuff, then there is a great possibility that you will forget things on exams and get bad grades.

Your emotions affect your grades:

Your emotions affect your thinking process, memory and your ability to concentrate while studying. The emotions you experience while studying or while taking the exam can affect your grades greatly.

You might be very creative:

Most educational systems try to force people to think in a certain way thus eliminating any chances of creativity. A creative correct answer might be considered a wrong answer just because it’s different and doesn’t fit into the educational system.

So many genuineness used to get bad grades:

Einstein’s… enough said!

The moral of the story is to always do your best and achieve according to your abilities. There is only one person standing between you and your success – and that is YOU! Ask, believe, receive and achieve!