No matter where you live, standardized tests can be stressful. But what kind of test you take, how many, and what purpose they serve varies wildly from country to country, and even city to city.
We rounded up the key differences between standardized tests around the world. Just a note that test standards will vary between schools and standardized tests are a subject that is ever-changing.
The UK has dozens of standardized tests.
In the UK, students typically take more than a dozen standardized tests.
"At the age of 16, almost every child in England will take probably about 15 or 20 substantial examinations," Dylan Wiliam, a professor emeritus of educational assessment at the University of London, studies testing, told NPR.
These exams are required to continue on in school. In the last two years of school, students will also take A levels if they want to continue on to university or they have the opportunity to pursue diplomas.
Finland's students only have to take one test.
Finland doesn't subject its students to tons of standardized tests, but it does have one big one at the end of their senior year of high school — the national Matriculation Examination. And it matters a lot.
"It was very clear for everybody that unless you do very well with this one examination, that some of these dreams that you may have for the future will become very difficult to fulfill," Pasi Sahlberg, a visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an expert on testing in Finland, told NPR.
Though the nation doesn't pride itself on tons of standardized tests, it still ranked highly among other nations when they did test: it came second in science, third in reading, and sixth in math in a 2009 international ranking, according to Smithsonian magazine.
In Japan, tests are high stakes.
Though they're tested more frequently than in Finland, in Japan, standardized tests mean a lot too. In fact, one of the first big standardized tests students take is an exam that will determine if they even get into high school.
"It's a lot of pressure," Akihiko Takahashi, an associate professor of math education at DePaul University, told NPR. "If you do not pass the exam, you cannot go anywhere, even high school."
Japanese students almost take the National Center Test for University Admissions if they want to get into university and many universities have their own individual tests for entry as well. This "center test" is so high stakes that many parents begin prepping their kids for it in kindergarten and many students even buy dolls said to bring them good luck on the exam.
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