Harry Not Sitting His Tests

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 167103

---  "Tandra" <tkjones9 at ...> wrote:
>
> ...
> 
> ...
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> And if he is skipping all these tests, how is he being
> passed onto the next grade? Just something I noticed.
> 
> Tandra
>

bboyminn:

Others seem to have answered the question, but I'll try
and expand on one aspect. Your yearly school grades are
merely guidelines to let you know how you are doing in
your classes. Everything you do in class is leading
up to OWL and NEWT tests. These are the tests that
count, these are the test upon which your 
'qualifications' and future job prospects will be based.

Notice that Crabbe and Goyle, who are obviously not too
bright, have been passed along each year UNTIL they
take their OWL tests. The year after OWLs they are
repeating some old classes most likely because they
failed those OWLs and have little or no hope of getting
a decent job without them. So, they must take them
again and pass to have the OWLs that will give them the 
qualification they will need to get good jobs.

Is suspect that OWL qualifications alone are enough
to get you a job. They are the wizard world equivalent
of a high school diploma, or in Britian, the equivalent
of GCSE's or O-Levels. NEWTs are probably the USA 
equivalent to a year or two of technical school or
Junior College. In Britain, they are probably the 
equivalent of A-Levels which are the advanced classes
for students who plan to go on to university level
studies. In the Wizard world, there are no universities,
so I suspect beyond NEWTs, you must engage in some form
of Independant Studies to futher your education.

That's not quite true in the USA. In the USA, each school
sets their own standards, which must fit the State
guidelines, but it is the school that issues your 
diploma and therefore your 'qualifications'.

In the UK, it is not the school but Government standardized
tests that determine your 'qualifications', and that is
also true of the wizard world.

Don't know if that helps, but there it is.

Steve/bboyminn