By David Langran
dl@adm.au.dk
The arrival of good weather is sadly synonymous with spending more and more time hidden away in the dark corners of libraries and study halls. As the rest of the population browns in the sun’s rays, you can quickly identify those students who do venture outside by their pale and pasty complexions. Not for us, the sun’s warm embrace. And with exam time upon us, UNIvers decided to find out how the international student population was dealing with exams here in Denmark, and how the Danish exam system compares to others around the world.
Dealing with the Danish system
One of the academic challenges for international students here is adapting to the Danish exam system, which is often quite different to others in Europe and the wider world. However, the change can be positive, as Cristina García Moreno, a Spanish law student suggest:
– The atmosphere in the oral exams here is much better than those I experienced in Spain; there’s a lot more interaction between you and the teacher, whilst back home it’s mostly just the student talking. Having to do them in English also hasn’t been that bad – you have to remember that your examiner probably isn’t a native speaker either, so it isn’t necessary that your English is perfect, just that you can express yourself clearly. I’m also quite satisfied with exams here as I’ve just gotten a ten in the one I’ve just done, so no real complaints here!”, she says.
Fanny Fröhlich, studying International Studies, also welcomes some of the differences between the exam system in Denmark and that in her native Austria:
– Generally, I find the exams here challenging and interesting, with a broad variety of exam types. Usually you know well in advance how the exam will be, so you get plenty of time to prepare. Getting feedback on your work here is also much easier, which is really helpful when say you have a graded essay to turn in – it’s much more difficult at my home university in Vienna to get teachers to offer comments on what you’ve written, so that makes these sorts of exams here much less stressful”, she says.
Big Trouble in not quite so little China
But if you still think us students here in Denmark may have it bad, spare a thought for those taking exams in China. Around 10 million students take their university entrance exams every year, compe-ting for prestigious positions at the country’s best universities, in order to secure their futures in a country with arguably the fiercest jobs market in the world. Such is the value of these exams that the Chinese government moves exam authors to secret locations while the papers are being written, and the printing of the papers is carried out by inmates at maximum-security prisons. And it’s not just the government that goes to extremes – in some instances, desperate parents do their utmost to ensure their children the best possible chance of success. There have even been reports of girls being made to take birth control pills, lest a period arrive at an inopportune time. City authorities also do their best for their stressed students: in some cities police cars are banned from using their sirens during testing hours, and all construction work is halted the day before to guarantee a good night’s sleep. Despite these measures, around 40% of these students will fail, being forced to go through the whole process again the following year, or to seek places at less competitive and less prestigious private universities.
A special case
Finally, the most unique exams in the world are arguably the entrance exams for Examination Fellowships at All Soul’s College in Oxford, where applicants compete for fully-funded research positions. Candidates are invited to offer their reflections on subjects as diverse as ‘Do children’s games involving blindfolds reveal an inherent cruelty in human nature?’ to ‘Does the moral character of an orgy change when the participants wear Nazi uniforms?’. Anyone have any thoughts?
