Exam week at high schools and universities across the land is the culmination of the semester. These exams serve as an assessment of how well the student learned the material for the course; yet, they frequently are inaccurate. This week of exams is often spent cramming, consuming dangerous amounts of caffeine, and abusing drugs for ADD and ADHD. Teachers who discourage cramming are correct – students will not adequately learn the material through it. A simple solution can be created by slightly changing the system. In an ideal world, grades would not even be assigned. Learning would center on a small group of students discussing the core concepts directly with a professor in an open forum. Unfortunately, our society requires a methodology to differentiate students from one another for college admission and later for internship/job placement. To make this possible, grades should best reflect the aptitude of the students. Instead of having one final exam that heavily determines a student’s grade, teachers should space out assessments evenly throughout a semester. These assessments will force the students to absorb the concepts as the semester progresses. While the assessments should play a major role in determining grades, they should not play the only role. Class can still be held like an open forum in the aforementioned example. To encourage attendance, make class participation a component of the grade. By utilizing the open forum method of class, a professor can very accurately assess the knowledge of a student on a subject. This system can also help students feel confident about assessments, since they were able to answer the exact same questions in class. Any student who is willing to give effort is almost guaranteed to learn the subject and to make a good grade in it. While some high school and college students have excellent study skills, many struggle during exam week. It’s clear that the system needs to be changed to help the many who do not benefit from the traditional final exam based system. By abolishing final exams, and adjusting the system to make learning more progressive and interactive, students will have the benefit of more thorough learning and better health.