are excessive exams stifling creativity in classrooms?

<p>Advancing technology and pressures on graduates to find employment are forcing educational advisers to rethink education models to fit these changes. Ken Robinson, an international adviser on education, thinks that over-testing in our current education system is failing to prepare students with the correct skills to cope with the future world. He suggests that this testing is both the reason why students are becoming disconnected and dispassionate about learning, and teachers are starting to feel demoralised by the curriculum.</p>
<h3>Are teachers being restricted?</h3>
<p>It has been argued that teachers and lecturers today have less freedom to help students develop their talents and interests into real skills that they can use when they leave the education system, because of the focus on academic testing over more creative subjects and extracurricular activities. These claims are supported by recent suggestions that we are at risk of having far less new music in England, due to the neglect of music in the curriculum, and the focus on rigorous academic testing. In fact, figures from the University of Sussex suggest that the number of schools in England offering music GCSE has dropped from 85% to 79% between 2012 and 2016.</p>
<h3>A healthy balance.</h3>
<p>The bottom line is that a certain level of testing will always be necessary in schools to standardise the curriculum and to measure pupils’ achievements. However, it is possible to achieve more of a balance between creativity and testing, which can actually encourage academic achievement.</p>
<h3>Championing creativity.</h3>
<p>Feversham primary academy has seen its academic results skyrocket since embedding music, drama, and art into every part of its curriculum. The academy has gone from being 3.2 percentage points behind the national average in English in 2011, to 7.1 points above average in reading and 3.4 points above for writing in 2017. Added to this, it has improved from 2.4 points below average in maths to 6.5 above in the same timescale.</p>
<h3>Randstad's role.</h3>
<p>If you want to create a success story just like this for your pupils, Randstad has teaching roles across the curriculum, from maths to drama, and can help  find the role that suits you.</p>