History Main / AchievementTestOfDestiny

* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' has the Academic Skills Survey (or as the show calls it "The [=ASSes=]"), a three day long standardized test that is repeatedly told to determine the kids' future. After the first day and seeing how hard it is, everyone gets so desperate, they start buying Adderall off of Jay to boost their chances.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' has the Academic Skills Survey (or as the show calls it "The [=ASSes=]"), a three day long standardized tests that are repeatedly told to determine the kids' future. After the first day, everyone gets so desperate, they start buying Adderall off of Jay to boost their chances.

* The American education system has been making scannable multiple-choice standardized tests (Scantron being ˜the best-known supplier) mandatory in many states for nearly two decades now, with many states now eliminating the essay and fill-in-the-blank portions since those can not be machine-graded but require paying test graders. However, not only is this method unpopular with students, it's also unpopular with many ''teachers'' and other researchers into learning and education. In part, teachers often feel that they can't teach properly when confined to a curriculum of what is on the test and nothing else. However, the greatest objection is that such standardized exams can test only memorization, which means that class time spent on actually understanding and competently utilizing the material has no impact whatsoever on test scores -- and therefore such understanding is actively discouraged by many school administrators since school funding is determined by these test scores and not by whether the students actually learn anything.

* Since the Sui Dynasty, Imperial China had an extensive meritocratic bureaucracy.[[note]]While Qin established a system of central bureaucracy, it was only until the Sui-Tang era whereby officials were selected via examinations.[[/note]] In order to get a comfortable high-class position in the bureaucracy, one had to take an extremely long and time-consuming set of exams (also known as ''keju'' (科举)). These exams covered everything from philosophy to math to civil administration to military strategy to law to poetry (Confucians valued breadth over depth). Each candidate was strip searched and locked into a special isolation room for the duration of the three day long test in order to prevent them from cheating. These tests were serious business. People were known to die from stress while writing the test. And although the exams were in theory open to anyone in the nation, only the sons of the very rich could afford to be tutored (over many years) in the sheer breadth of knowledge that the exam demanded.

* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'' starts a week before final exams. Many students stay after school to cram in some studying- particularly those who attend Mr. Claremont's class, as he has a nasty subject of not actually teaching the subjects that appear in the test proper. After some of the kids receive superpowers, there's then a TimeSkip to the exam proper, where multiple students try to use said powers to cheat their way through the exam. A fire alarm and bomb threat causes everyone to evacuate before the test can begin though.

** In Germany/Austria/Switzerland and the Central and Eastern European countries that based their educational systems on the old German/Prussian/Austrian ones, the ''Abitur'' (Germany) or ''Matura'' (everywhere else) is this: a comprehensive multi-part test that almost always encompasses a mother-tongue and literature exam, a maths exam and an elective (some countries specify that both an exam from a social science and a natural science course have to be taken besides the two compulsories). Additionally, a foreign language exam (mostly English) may be either compulsory or an elective. Vocational schools also have an all-encompassing exam that covers everything from the area of work the students specialised in. For desired universities, like medicine and various engineering courses, where the competition is stiff, the exam is indeed a make-it-or-break-it for future freshmen - a subpar performance may mean that the student gets enrolled in an ''completely unwanted'' field.
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** Modern China isn't much better. The Gaokao is a nationwide standardized test for third-year high-school students (high school lasts for three years in China) that determines which university they're assigned to, which can pretty much determine their future position in life.

* A lot of people feel this way when they have to gear up for any standardized test. The SAT, ACT, PMAT, MCAT, you name it. The score one earns on this test is an indicator that determines whether or not a student can attend a college or career program of their choice. A growing body of evidence suggests that standardized tests are in fact a poor indicator of college performance and serve better to track ''parental income'', effectively sorting out the wealthier from poorer students. If students who score higher on the test do better in life, it's because they in fact have better opportunities due to their better socioeconomic status.

* The American education system has been making scantron multiple-choice standardized tests mandatory in many states for nearly two decades now, with many states now eliminating the essay and fill-in-the-blank portions since those can not be machine-graded but require paying test-graders. However, not only is this method unpopular with students, it's also unpopular with many ''teachers'' and other researchers into learning and education. In part, teachers often feel that they can't teach properly when confined to a curriculum of what is on the test and nothing else. However, the greatest objection is that such standardized exams can test only memorization, which means that class time spent on actually understanding and competently utilizing the material has no impact whatsoever on test scores -- and therefore such understanding is actively discouraged by many school administrators since school funding is determined by these test scores and not by whether the students actually learn anything.
** Then there are certain professions which require you to pass a single test to determine if you are even allowed to work in that field. For example, in most common law countries (the U.K., the US, Canada, etc.), prospective lawyers need to pass the BAR exam, a single test covering a wide (and often partially secret) list of legal subjects. It does not matter how well/poorly one did in law school itself, if you cannot pass the BAR exam, you cannot get a license to practice law.

** In Germany/Austria/Switzerland and the Central and Eastern European countries that based their educational systems on the old German/Prussian/Austrian ones, the ''Abitur'' (Germany) or ''Matura'' (everywhere else) is this: a comprehensive multi-part test that almost always encompasses a mother-tongue and literature exam, a maths exam and an elective (some countries specify that both an exam from a social science and a natural science course have to be taken besides the two compulsories). Additionaly, a foreign language exam (mostly English) may be either compulsory or an elective. Vocational schools also have an all-encompassing exam that covers everything from the area of work the students specialised in. For desired universities, like medicine and various engineering courses, where the competition is stiff, the exam is indeed a make-it-or-break-it for future freshmen - a subpar performance may mean that the student gets enrolled in an ''completely unwanted'' field.

[[folder:Film]]

Compare the FinalExamFinale, and the FinalExamBoss. Contrast the IneptAptitudeTest, which will tell you that working at the BurgerFool would be your favorite career option, not your only one. See also SurprisinglyMundaneExam. Note that the Achievement Test of Destiny need not be a standardized exam, however in American school systems such is normally the case. See also TheBGrade.

* Since the Sui Dynasty, Imperial China had an extensive meritocratic bureaucracy [[note]]While Qin established a system of central bureaucracy, it was only until the Sui-Tang era whereby officials were selected via examinations.[[/note]]. In order to get a comfortable high-class position in the bureaucracy, one had to take an extremely long and time-consuming set of exams (also known as ''keju'' (科举)). These exams covered everything from philosophy to math to civil administration to military strategy to law to poetry (Confucians valued breadth over depth). Each candidate was strip searched and locked into a special isolation room for the duration of the three day long test in order to prevent them from cheating. These tests were serious business. People were known to die from stress while writing the test. And although the exams were in theory open to anyone in the nation, only the sons of the very rich could afford to be tutored (over many years) in the sheer breadth of knowledge that the exam demanded.

** Then there are certain professions which require you to pass a single test to determine if you are even allowed to work in that field. For example, in most common law countries (the U.K., the US, Canada, etc), prospective lawyers need to pass the BAR exam, a single test covering a wide (and often partially secret) list of legal subjects. It does not matter how well/poorly one did in law school itself, if you cannot pass the BAR exam, you cannot get a license to practice law.

Compare the FinalExamFinale, and the FinalExamBoss. Contrast the IneptAptitudeTest, which will tell you that working at the BurgerFool would be your favorite career option, not your only one. Note that the Achievement Test of Destiny need not be a standardized exam, however in American school systems such is normally the case. See also TheBGrade.

->'''Mr. Glass:''' You have two hours to complete the test. No talking. Keep your eyes on your own tablet. This test is an accurate test that will determine your aptitude, as you know; all grades are final.
-->-- ''Film/TheThinning''

* Other countries have a version of this for secondary education with standardized tests determining whether students will enter a school that will prepare them for university or be shunted into an apprenticeship.

** To put into context how horrific this test was supposed to be, nearly every who took it would say "Before that test, I didn't used to have a-" with it being some underlying condition. Their teacher was apparently a muscular athlete before he took that test, and the two cops who questioned Tommy mentioned one of them gained a stigmatism and the other needed a new hip after that test.

* Medieval China had an extensive meritocratic bureaucracy. In order to get a comfortable high-class position in the bureaucracy, one had to take an extremely long and time-consuming set of exams. These exams covered everything from philosophy to math to civil administration to military strategy to law to poetry (Confucians valued breadth over depth). Each candidate was strip searched and locked into a special isolation room for the duration of the three day long test in order to prevent them from cheating. These tests were serious business. People were known to die from stress while writing the test. And although the exams were in theory open to anyone in the nation, only the sons of the very rich could afford to be tutored (over many years) in the sheer breadth of knowledge that the exam demanded.

* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': Onizuka is required to get the highest score in the country on the National Scholastic Aptitude Test to keep his job. Fuyutsuki becomes a temporary EducationMama and his students try to come up with a way to help him cheat, but he ends up passing fair and square ([[UpToEleven after saving a girl from the yakuza and getting shot multiple times]], which made him only have an hour left to take it).