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Foreword
Love them or loathe them, external examination systems have been around for a long time and continue to be prominent features of the global educational landscape. Their abolition by various educational jurisdictions over the past decades notwithstanding, they have at times displayed a remarkable tenacity and, increasingly, resilience. A particularly interesting ongoing development has been the increasing globalisation of external examinations as exemplified by the Cambridge International Examinations and the International Baccalaureate.
It behoves us at this early stage to define what is meant by external examination systems in this treatise. By ‘external’ it is implied that the source of the examinations is an entity outside the schools. In their most pristine forms, external examinations are devised, conducted and processed in the complete absence of the instructors of the candidates who are being examined. It is not only the candidates who are being examined, but also the teachers and the schools. The cliché ‘high-stakes’ in such instances applies equally to the providers and consumers of the education system.