standardised tests are one of the most ridiculous things that the education system has to offer. how is how i'm thinking and feeling on one particular day supposed to reflect a year or even more of my whole schooling career?

vce results came out yesterday. though i still have one more year of school, i did one vce subject. it was the only thing that i really tried hard at this year and in a classic turn of events, i didn't do very well. what a representation of my life.

but what really ticked me off were my 'results' for the general achievement test which is supposed to validate school-based and external assessments. i'm not gonna lie, i didn't really take it seriously at all and now i regret that because i realise it played a heavy part in my disappointing final score. but, c'mon, all there questions were begging me to make fun of them.

my gat results came in today. the gat is separated into three parts: written communication, mathematics/science/technology and humanities/arts/social sciences. my last two results were meh but let's talk about written communication. i honestly don't remember what i wrote for that part, but it supposedly wasn't up to par. apparently my "score in written communication typically indicates weaknesses in presentation, often reflected in a lack of coherence and an inability to use an appropriate style. there are frequent errors in punctuation and spelling, and vocabulary is generally limited."

well, alrighty then. not to toot my own horn, but i've entered three writing competitions and all three times i was published with honours. all of my school reports have indicated i possess really good literary skills. this blog isn't really a sufficient representation of my ability because i take it much too casually, but the icing on this very much lack of sundae is that in a very similar test earlier in the year, i was placed in the top 5% of the country for english. and yet, the gat is telling me that my writing skills are seriously below average.

how on earth is this one test an accurate reflection of what i can do? if this is the reason that i didn't do as well as i expected in my vce result, then i am beyond pissed. a whole two years worth of work down the drain because of three hours in one day?

the education system is flawed. i don't know how to fix it but i recognise that it needs to be fixed. and it's about time that the people actually controlling the system realise that too.

(born in 1998 and have a voice to share with the world? click here to find out how you can be heard!)