It’s far easier to game a test than it is to game your life. In a test only world, the fact that you have to work while going to school in order to support your

It’s far easier to game a test than it is to game your life. In a test only world, the fact that you have to work while going to school in order to support your family, etc. have zero impact on your outcome, even though these are huge considerations. To be able to still succeed while overcoming great adversity or challenge, is an extremely strong correlator to future success and potential. While a test will completely miss out on this indicator, a holistic review of the student can capture this. A country that chooses to use a single exam as the determinator wipes out a vast majority of their effective potential, as scores of future prodigies born into circumstances that they had no choice in are grinded away. In this way, there is both a moral and pragmatic reason for reviewing students holistically. You simply miss out on too many people with great potential otherwise.