Who Invented Exams? Check Here

Exams were not invented by any one person, but evolved over centuries from ancient civil service tests—especially China’s imperial examinations—to modern written and standardized assessments with figures like Henry Fischel often, though somewhat loosely, credited for shaping the modern exam culture.

Who is often said to have "invented" exams?

Indeed, many popular sources attribute the invention of the modern exam to Henry Fischel, an American businessman–philanthropist or professor depending on the account, who, in the late 19th century, helped formalize written examinations as a coherent means by which to measure students.

These references generally mean that he influenced the modern institutionalized written exam system, not that he single-handedly created the very first exam in history.

• Ancient Roots: Imperial China and the First Large-Scale Exams

• Imperial Examinations, Keju, are considered the earliest organized system of examinations in China, which existed for over 1,300 years and allowed the state to recruit officials on merit rather than by nobility.

• Their systematic form began under the Sui dynasty, Emperor Yang, circa 607 CE, and expanded in the Tang and Song dynasties, testing Confucian classics, poetry, and statecraft over multi‑day written exams.

• Candidates were anonymous, scripts were copied to hide handwriting, and multi‑tier exams (local, provincial, metropolitan, palace) created a highly competitive “exam culture” that inspired later systems worldwide.

From Civil Service Exams to School Exams

• The concept of competitive exams for civil services originated with the British in the 19th century (e.g., Indian Civil Service), explicitly drawing from the Chinese model.

• With the expansion of mass schooling in Europe and North America during the Industrial Revolution, written exams provided one practical method for assessing learning in crowded classrooms, replacing purely oral or informal assessments.

• By the late 1800s and early 1900s, universities like Harvard and the College Board introduced standardized entrance and subject exams, laying foundations for tests such as the SAT and later national school exams.

What About Standardized Testing?

Standardized testing—where all students take the same test under the same conditions—grew from:

• Chinese civil service tests were the earliest known standardized exams.

• 19th–20th century reforms in Britain and the US, including military aptitude tests in World War I and entrance exams like the SAT (1926).

• Standardized achievement tests in reading, arithmetic, and language were developed by psychologists such as Edward Thorndike and spread widely through schools by the mid‑20th century.

Why were exams invented?

Exams emerged across cultures and eras to:

• Meritocratic selection of officials or students as opposed to birth or patronage. (Example: Imperial China, British civil service).

• Standardize judgment of knowledge and skills in increasingly large, diverse populations of learners.

• Encourage disciplined study, since structured tests created clear goals and consequences for learning.

However, exams have always been the subject of debate about fairness, rote learning, and stress, stimulating modern reforms in the form of open‑book, project‑based, and continuous assessment models.

1. Was Henry Fischel really the first to invent exams?

No, not in the absolute sense. He is widely credited in popular education writing for helping formalize modern written exams in the 19th–20th centuries, but large‑scale exams existed centuries earlier in imperial China and other civilizations.

2. Which country first used exams?

China is generally considered the first country to use systematic, large‑scale written exams through its imperial civil service system, starting in organized form under the Sui and Tang dynasties and lasting until 1905.

3. Who invented modern school examinations?

Modern school exams grew out of 19th‑century British and European education reforms and American university entrance testing, influenced by both Chinese civil service models and emerging standardized testing ideas.

4. Why do we use exams today?

Because they are:

• Scalable for large populations.

• Comparatively objective and easier to administer than purely subjective assessment.

• Deeply entrenched in systems for admissions, certification, and employment.

Meanwhile, many systems are now blending examinations with coursework, portfolios, and continuous assessment to reduce over-reliance on a single test.