[skeptikal]

In high school in Italy (at least where I was from) your final grade was basically decided based on the teacher’s belief of how well you mastered the class.

For example:

In Latin class (chronologically) I had a 6, a bunch of 5s, and a couple of 4s. Finally I put a bunch of effort and got a couple of 7s in an oral and a written exam.

Pass was a 6, and the teacher gave me a 6. A 6 was really where I stood in the class (I had learned the subject by the time I got the 7s). My average, though, was a 5 something - a fail.

The system is open for abuse, but I always thought it made more sense than “earning” points towards an A. For starters the material can be made much more difficult since the kids wont blow their final grade in the first few months. I always liked classes with weighty exams.