An unlikely livelihood in Mars or a seemingly possible multiplanetary humanity transporting people to space back and forth are prospective geographies for India’s famed coaching class industry. Fitting the perfect ambience of an isolated habitat that is free from relationship-based socialising, and psyche and body building, such environments assure a straight four-year launchpad for young humanoids to crack JEE or NEET or CLAT or the emerging variants of standardised testing instruments. The craze for professional college admissions continues unabated and the coaching class industry, despite recent setbacks from few foggy players, promise the stars for everybody against limited supply defying market logic. Be that as it may, in addition to National Testing Agency (NTA)-conducted standardised tests are other private university entrance tests and counselling procedures that are built on an empirical revenue model that monetises admission anxiety with mystic perfection. I have written about this many times in the past and now I focus on the need for some balance to restore sanity in the larger interest of the student community.
The debate between standardised test scores vs high school scores has been both global and eternal with each side having their own points to score and both unable to find middle ground. The Covidian pause over standardised test scores has been released for the battle between the two get intense. Both have studies to support the supremacy of one over the other. For example, a 2020 study by American researchers (as reported by The Economist) found GPAs of Chicago Public School students predicting graduation rates better than standardised ACT scores. Similarly, a 2019 study covering a national sample size of over 47,000 high school students found that their high school GPA scores predicted on-time and better graduation than standardised test scores. To further dizzy the admissions cocktail, a recent March 2025 study by Dartmouth College (Ivy League institution) found that scores in SAT and ACT are better predictors of graduate outcome after analysing high school transcripts between 2017 to 2024 of over 14,600 students (The Economist April 16 edition). Both the studies on American soil not only put the battle between school GPAs vs standardised test scores unsettled but also transgress international boundaries. The Indian scene is no different with JEE/NEET/CLAT scores vs high school scores battle getting tougher by the year.
Central and state-run institutions and private universities have a larger responsibility in ensuring that the gaps in the pathway to professional colleges is gradually filled to make it a smooth terrain. While both sides have enough ammunition to shoot down the other, the fundamental question lies in the selective nature of university admissions system which in the truest sense of autonomy needs to be university’s prerogative using a method that is fair, transparent and non-exploitative—the triple test that the Supreme Court in PA Inamdar Case (2005) desired to administer. There is hardly any significant empirical study done in the Indian context on the performance levels of students admitted through standardised test scores or through school scores. Studies done by College Board or Education Testing Services in North America serve an important guidance for higher education administrators who don’t have to shoot in the dark. A recent study by the College Board for the University of California system found that the combination of high school grades and SAT scores with or without advanced placement scores was most predictive of college performance. Another University of Chicago system study underlies the importance of high school grades that measure wider array of skills than the narrowed standardised tests. Critics of high school grades are wary of inflated valuations and other distortions confronting the school board systems. Not something new to India!
If the never ending debate between school grades and test scores has to end, there must a beginning to build a consensus based solution. With students scoring an unimaginable overall aggregate of 99 per cent in Class XII on one side and the coaching class industry preparing students to ace JEE and NEET with almost perfect scores on the other, the race between the two systems on parallel tracks is never converging. Research points to a new paradigm that mixes both to provide a holistic approach towards professional college readiness. A weighted mix of high school scores and scores in JEE/NEET/CLAT, etc. and allowing the State governments to decide the absolute weights is not only a fair balance but also will soften the ongoing Centre-state duel. In short, professional college admissions need a balanced scorecard approach.