All students should be able to exempt an exam if they have an A in the class

Even though there are still a few more months until the semester is over, you spend everyday in your classes preparing for a final exam. These exams usually count as 20% of your grade which could determine your final letter grade depending on how well, or not so well, you perform on it. But if you have performed well all semester, should you be required to take the final exam if you have an A in the class?

In some schools, seniors get the opportunity to exempt their finals if they have an A or B in the class and haven’t been absent more than 2 days. This is to help their GPAs since they will be applying for colleges soon. But shouldn’t other students have this privilege as well? Performing well and paying attention in class should come with benefits. Because of the exams counting for 20% of your grade, this could cause someone’s grade to drop. If a student has an A in the class, they should be allowed to exempt the exam to prevent this from happening. 

Final exams can cause lots of stress that is very unnecessary for a teenager. Even if there are students who come to school everyday and pay attention in class, this doesn’t always mean that they are good test takers. They could do well on quizzes and small assignments, but trying to bring everything together on a test could be hard. There are some students who have 4 classes a day and might have to take 4 exams, which requires a lot of studying and can cause lots of stress. There are also other students who have jobs outside of school and students who play a sport for the school and don’t have a lot of time to study for these exams, which could also cause them to not do well. 

Students who have no absences that are not seniors and have an A in the class should have the opportunity of exempting an exam if they have an A in the class because their hard work throughout the semester should come with benefits as well.