High School Final Exams. (Timeline: circa 1962)

Most people cram for their exams. Me, I always went in cold; relying on memory from lectures. I particularly remember the Oral Exam in Physics. Since my last name starts with a "D" and they call us in in alpha order, I was the first one in. I drew the internal workings of the hand water pump. I was able to draw a creditable illustration while explaining how the different parts worked. It earned me an UG- (A-); the best grade in my class.




After I got back out to the waiting room I listened to the others grilling each other; mentioning several subjects I had NO CLUE about! Pure luck I went in BEFORE I overheard this, or I would have been nervous and probably not done as well, even on the pump, which I had down pat!

I have NEVER heard of anyone that got an A in oral exams in Denmark, and A+ simply doesn't exist, so in practice, the A- is the best grade possible in orals. One can get UG (A) in WRITTEN exams, as in Algebra, if one gets ALL the answers right, but not in oral, where the presentation counts as much as the technical knowledge. We are brought, one at a time, into a room with a blackboard, and there are 3 examiners there; your teacher of that subject and two teachers (I suppose) from other schools, neither of which you have ever met. Your grade is posted later, not while you are in the exam room.

I did equally well in math that year; drew a rather convoluted algebra formula. I just kept on blabbering as my mind churned, and wrote it all down on the blackboard as I went on. Arrived at the correct solution, obviously, and I didn't freeze at all, so I landed another UG-; again the best in my class. Math and Physics were always my best subjects.

Dunno what they do in Denmark now, but back then, the grades were UG ("usædvaneligt godt" i.e. A or outstanding), UG-, MG+, MG ("meget godt" i.e. B or very good), MG-, G+, G ("godt" i.e. C or average). There were several lower grades as well, but I don't remember them. The lowest grade I ever got on a report card (quarterly, and a parent had to sign it) was a G+ in Geography, and I was SOOOO mortified when I had to show it to my mother! It never happened again!