There is here a classic confusion between accuracy & precision
A bomb may be aimed with perfect precision. It will only be accurate if it is aimed at the right target
Precision can usually only be achieved by the elimination of pesky human variability. In the case of exams this means, eventually, that both examiner & examinee must be able to know, in advance, which is the right, or at least the required, answer
So teaching must be to the test & the quality of teaching is judged by performance in the test. The aim of education becomes the production of young people able to parrot back to us those things which we already know, those views which we already hold
The system does not require the exercise of individual human judgement
It certainly precludes the kind of judgement exercised by Professor Smellie
