Should all students have to take finals? At some schools students who have an A in a class are excused from that final. If a student has an A in a class they clearly understand the material so a taking a final would be pointless.

Some schools take a different approach. If a student has less than four absences they are exempt from finals.

At Oakville some teachers excuse their students from finals if they have an A. Also if it is an Advance Placement class teachers sometimes excuse students who took that classes AP test. I think this makes sense. If a student has already showed an understanding of the class there is no point of making them stress out over a final.

However, I disagree with excusing students based on attendance. A student could attend every day of school but still have a poor grade in a class. Attendance is no indication of knowledge.

I believe that Oakville should adopt a school wide policy of giving A students the chance to skip their final if they wish.