The Pros and Cons of High-Stakes Testing for Candidates
High-stakes testing is a hot, debated topic in education today. While high scores can open the door to new opportunities, these exams can take quite a mental and emotional toll on the test-taker. As a licensed psychologist providing assessments for clients seeking accommodations for these exams, I see firsthand how the pressure to perform on a single test can dramatically impact a student’s mental health and overall well-being. The debate over the importance that licensing boards and schools place on these exams centers on the potential psychological harm, as well as questions about efficacy, reliability, privilege, and equality.
If you are studying for a high-stakes exam, preparing to start the process, or supporting someone who is, this blog will walk through why these exams are used, what they may offer, and where they can fall short.
Key Takeaways!
While high-stakes exams can offer standardization, accountability, and protection for the individuals receiving services across fields such as medicine, law, psychology, nursing, education, engineering, social work, accounting, and business, the degree of emphasis placed on these exams across so many professions remains questionable.
Exams can increase anxiety, narrow learning, and disproportionately impact candidates with fewer resources or unsupported learning needs.
Testing accommodations can help reduce barriers and support a more accurate reflection of a candidate’s true abilities.
A Quick Introduction to High Stakes Testing
These tests are called “high-stakes” because their results help determine critical decisions, such as whether a student graduates from their school or program or whether an individual is granted the ability to practice in the field they have studied. The results of a high-stakes exam can either halt or propel an individual’s career. A student’s worst nightmare is failing an exam after years (sometimes decades) of education to get them to the test.
This blog is designed to give some perspective on why these high stakes testing still exists, despite the controversy they cause.
What are the Pros of High-Stakes Testing?
Every student who has ever studied (or crammed) for one of these exams has thought, “There has to be a better way than this.” Yet the reality is these standardized assessments remain a heavily emphasized step for entry into regulated and service-oriented fields, including healthcare, law, mental health, education, engineering, social services, accounting, and business.
So why do they exist? Here is what the gatekeepers tell us.
✦ Objective Measurement of Achievement
High-stakes tests provide a standardized way to assess a student’s comprehension of the test materials. In the case of valid and reliable exams, the results reflect a student’s understanding of the information needed to be successful in a particular school or profession. The results of these tests also help the program that administers them by providing data on student achievement and growth, highlighting learning gaps, and informing resource decisions.
✦ Accountability in Professional and Academic Gatekeeping
High-stakes exams function as gatekeeping tools used by external organizations to determine eligibility for academic or professional advancement. Often, these exams serve to protect the “clients” who are receiving services from the test-takers. This process helps maintain quality, consistency, and public trust across fields such as law, medicine, and psychology.
✦ Consistency and Standardization
High-stakes assessments provide consistent, standardized benchmarks for candidates applying to the same programs or professions. These exams are developed and administered by external organizations, ensuring uniform evaluation criteria regardless of a candidate’s educational background or institution. This standardization allows for fair comparisons among applicants and helps maintain consistent entry requirements. It supports credibility and trust in graduate programs and regulated professional fields.
These are the perceived benefits of high-stakes testing, but their effectiveness depends on how well they are designed and implemented by the organizations that administer them.
What are the Cons of High-Stakes Testing?
High-stakes testing can increase stress and anxiety due to the career-impacting consequences of exams like the MCAT, LSAT, etc. They may also reflect unequal access to preparation resources, encourage excessive test preparation, and provide a limited measure of a candidate’s broader skills, creativity, and real-world professional readiness.
✦ Increased Stress and Anxiety
High-stakes tests place a heavy emotional pressure on candidates - test takers think, “I have to pass this exam or all the work I’ve done is wasted,” as their future may depend on a single exam. As a psychologist in Pasadena, I often see candidates experiencing such intense fear of failure that physical symptoms arise, such as headaches or stomach pains. Ironically, the stress that test-takers feel around the exam can negatively affect concentration and performance. Over time, repeated exposure to such pressure may impact confidence and create a negative association with testing and professional processes.
✦ Narrowed Learning and Superficial Preparation
When success is heavily tied to a single high-stakes exam, learning can become overly focused on passing the test rather than truly understanding the material. Candidates prioritize short-term memorization over deeper learning, critical thinking, and applied skill development because the goal is to “pass the exam.”
As anyone who has ever crammed for an exam knows, this type of preparation can help you pass the test, but it does not support long-term retention or professional competence. Have you ever crammed for an exam and tried to recall the information six months later? Recall is usually poor. A candidate holds onto information long enough to apply it to the exam, but that knowledge does not get stored in long-term memory.
The unfortunate reality is that the focus on high-stakes exam results inadvertently narrows the scope of academic and professional exploration. Because preparation often focuses on the specific competencies being tested, professors “teach to the test” and students spend less time developing broader skills, reflecting on complex ideas, or engaging with the material in a more meaningful way. The irony is that the exam hinders students from developing the skills needed for long-term growth, adaptability, and effective practice.
✦ Unequal Impact on Diverse Candidates
High-stakes exams such as admissions and licensing tests are standardized and follow a single format. Therefore, they cannot fully accommodate differences in preparation, learning styles, or background. High-stakes exams can be especially difficult because performance is not determined solely by knowledge. For example, candidates may be impacted by limited access to preparation resources, financial barriers, inadequate testing support, learning differences, ADHD, anxiety, trauma histories, chronic stress, caregiving responsibilities, sleep disruption, health conditions, or the experience of taking an exam in a second language. Some test-takers may also be navigating cultural differences in how questions are written, unfamiliar testing formats, or the pressure that comes with knowing one exam could significantly impact their future.
Because of this, a test score does not always tell the full story. In some cases, exam outcomes may reflect barriers, stressors, or unsupported learning needs as much as they reflect a person’s actual knowledge, competence, or potential.
Did You Know?
One study showed that 56% of high-stakes test-takers performed at the “remember” level, while only 39% reached “understand” and 28% reached “analyze,” respectively. – Frontiers
What are Testing Accommodations and Who Can Benefit from Them?
High-stakes testing accommodations are designed to “level the playing field.” The supports recommended by the assessing psychologist are designed to help candidates take an exam in a way that more accurately reflects their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Accommodations matter. They help reduce barriers that may interfere with performance, such as ADHD, learning differences, anxiety, autism, medical conditions, or other cognitive, emotional, or physical challenges.
Depending on the person’s needs and the specific requirements of the board, organization, or school, accommodations may include extended time, a reduced-distraction testing environment, extra breaks, permission to take medication or use specific assistive tools, or other exam modifications. At Thrive & Feel Psychology, we provide psychological evaluations to clarify whether accommodations may be appropriate and to provide documentation that can support accommodation requests for high-stakes exams.
Conclusion
Regardless of ongoing debates about its fairness, high-stakes testing remains a required step for entry into many graduate programs and licensed professions. There is no way around it: these exams can be challenging and stressful. Though the emphasis on these exams is questionable, they are unavoidable in fields such as law, medicine, and other regulated careers.
If you are experiencing test anxiety or would benefit from accommodations due to a disability, you don’t have to go through the process alone. Reach out to us at Thrive & Feel Psychology because we can help make an anxiety-inducing process less stressful.
