TEACHER assessments are as reliable as exams at predicting educational success - raising questions about the value of the testing culture, a new study suggests.
Researchers say their findings, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, question whether the benefits of standardised exams outweigh the costs.
The study found teacher assessments correlated strongly with test results across English, maths and science from age seven to 14, with both measures equally effective at predicting later exam success.
According to the study, assessments predicted around 90 per ent of the differences between pupils in exam performance at GCSE and A-level.
Co-lead researcher, Dr Kaili Rimfeld, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, said: "We have shown for the first time that teacher assessments predict GCSE and A-level results just as well as earlier exam scores.
"The fact that exam scores correlate so highly with the teacher assessments raises questions about the value of the testing culture that characterises compulsory education in the UK."
Previous research has looked at how either exam scores or teacher assessments predict educational success, but not compared the two.
