Exams as a way to measure students' ability

Some people believe that exams are an inappropriate way of measuring students' performance and should be replaced by continuous assessment. Do you agree or disagree with this view?

Exams have always been used as a way to measure students' ability. However, I contend that it is not an appropriate way to determine one's performance and it should be substituted by continuous assessment. The reasons for my contention are as follows.

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Exams have always been used as a way to measure students' ability. (student aptitude). However, I contend that it (this) is not an appropriate way to determine one's performance and should (instead) be substituted by continuous assessment. The reasons for my contention are as follows. (unnecessary)

Nowadays cheating on exams is commonplace therefore it is not uncommon for students who do not do well in the class to score high on the exams. (confusing wording) Thus, when the circumstance occurs (what circumstance), there's no way for authorities to confirm whether or not the answers on the exams are really from the students and not the result of unfair play. Try as teachers might to forestall cheating from taking place, be it by strict invigilating or by the threat to fail the students who don't abide by the rules, (but) there is still no way to ascertain that every student will comply with the rules, hence the ineffectiveness of utilizing exams as a way of measuring the ability of each student.

Furthermore, students have the (a) tendency to memorize for exams without putting any effort in trying to thoroughly understand the materials taught. They will strive to obtain the highest score possible by this (these) means. Memorizing is surely a quick way to obtain a good score in a short time; , however it is not an effective way to study if one wants to deeply understand the materials. Consequently , exams are not appropriate when used to measure the ability of the students who memorize.

In conclusion, I believe that the best way to determine a student's ability is to continuously assess their performance in the classroom. By doing that, fair judgment of each student's ability will be ensured and students will also be fairly scored based on how well they do inside the class.