Switching traditional grades for personal evaluations to alleviate student stress

Lucie Rychla

Gymnasium in Hellerup running pilot scheme to see if pupils benefit from not being under pressure to perform

Øregård Gymnasium in Hellerup has received official permission to test a new way of evaluating students. By dropping traditional grades, it hopes to create a better learning environment for students and achieve improved academic results.

The aim of the pilot project is to take the pressure off having to score high grades, so the students feel free to try new things, make mistakes and ask questions.

The pilot will run this academic year, but involve students from only one class.

Affects well-being
Instead of grades, the students will get 15-minute evaluations in each subject five times a year and then one final grade at the end of the year.

However, they will continue to get grades in the subjects they wish to graduate
with.

“We are especially interested to see how this change reflects in the students’ well-being,” Sebastian Gulmann, a teacher at Øregård Gymnasium who helped to plan the pilot scheme, told Metroxpress.

Students feel pressured
A recent survey of Danish high school students revealed every second student feels they are under a lot of pressure, either every day or frequently.

Gulmann hopes that pressure can be alleviated by removing grades.

“There is also the social side of it. Students can spend a lot of time comparing themselves to each other. It’s much more constructive to base the comparison on learning objectives rather than numbers,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Claus Aage Okkels, a psychologist who has been working with stressed high school students for 11 years, emphasises that it is not only students’ grades that cause anxiety.
“Today you have to have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, dress in the right clothes, earn money and go to the gym three times a week,”Okkels told Metroxpress.

TOP STORIES

  • ‘Take the Money and Run’ artist settles out of court with Danish museum for undisclosed sum

    ‘Take the Money and Run’ artist settles out of court with Danish museum for undisclosed sum

    In 2021, the artist Jens Haaning’s artwork ‘Take the Money and Run’ saw him borrow half a million kroner in cash from Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg for a visual representation of European salaries, and instead supply two empty frames for exhibition. After Haaning refused to pay it back and the museum launched a legal case, the two have now settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

  • Slovakian PM shot, in critical condition

    Slovakian PM shot, in critical condition

    The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a critical state after being shot five times as he left a government meeting today. A white male attacker was apprehended by police at the scene. Fico has been flown by helicopter to Banská Bystrica hospital for emergency care. Danish PM Mette Frederiksen calls it an “attack on democracy”.

  • Copenhagen Airport is transforming with new flight routes, shops and facilities

    Copenhagen Airport is transforming with new flight routes, shops and facilities

    Copenhagen Airport saw 5.8 million travellers in the first quarter – 11 percent more than the same period last year. With new summer flight routes, shops and top-end facilities, and as long-haul passengers soar, it is transforming into more than a destination airport – it is becoming a major transfer hub.

  • Tourists are using Instagram to plan their Copenhagen holidays

    Tourists are using Instagram to plan their Copenhagen holidays

    The tourism industry leans heavily on social media to attract travellers. Copenhagen is a popular destination and many of it’s spots have gone viral online.

  • EU decision sets Danish hotels free

    EU decision sets Danish hotels free

    The EU Commission has decided in favor of hotels’ right to give the consumer a lower price if they book outside a booking platform. A ruling long awaited by the hotels

  • Danish butter tycoon’s rare coin collection goes to auction after 100 years off the market

    Danish butter tycoon’s rare coin collection goes to auction after 100 years off the market

    Ahead of public sales, the National Museum has already purchased seven coins for over seven million kroner from Lars Emil Bruun’s vast hoard of some 20,000 rare Nordic coins. Meanwhile potential buyers were clamouring to see the catalogue before the auction was even announced.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs