Formal examinations are the only effective way to assess a student's performance. Continual assessment such as course work and projects is not a satisfactory way to do this.

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There is a controversial debate among educational experts about choosing between formal examinations and continuous assessment as a method to reflect a student’s performance. While I think that formal educations are very effective to assess students’ abilities, I believe that continual assessment also has its own benefits.

One the one hand, I think formal examinations are one of the most effective ways to assess every student’s performance. Firstly, it is very hard for a student to cheat in formal examinations. Therefore, scores given through those exams can exactly reflect real abilities of a student, how he or she grasped the lesson that teacher had delivered before. As a result, teachers will find it much more easily to tailor their teaching strategies which may help more students to accumulate knowledge. Besides, formal examination is more simple to held than continual assessment, so it will help much to save money for both schools/universities and students.

However, a coin always has two sides. One the other hand, I believe that it depends on many aspects to compare the effectiveness between formal examination and continuous assessment. For example, formal examination can not assess practical skills of a student, while continuous assessment reflects clearly how a student applies what he has learned to his real life. Continuous assessment also reduces student’s stress, they do not have to burn the midnight oil to do a lot of mock tests. Moreover, it also improves students’ ability to work in groups, which helps them much to become excellent team players in their job later when they enter adult life.

In conclusion, formal examination or continuous assessment has its own advantages and disadvantages. If educational experts can balance well them, students will be more successful in their study process.