# Pencil in school



## dihydrogen monoxide

Are you allowed to use pencils when writing an exam in primary/secondary and high school? According to me, we were not allowed to use it.


----------



## ordira

I don't remember any "written" rule; however, teachers enocurage students to use pens instead of pencils, it works as some kind of protection for the students.  If the answer requires constant revision or edition, they have to write drafts with pencil, then, in the final answer they have to use pens.


----------



## Etcetera

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Are you allowed to use pencils when writing an exam in primary/secondary and high school? According to me, we were not allowed to use it.


We had no exams in primary school (and I don't this that much has changed since I left primary school 12 years ago). 

But in secondary schools and universities only pens can be used when writing an exam. I don't know why it is so, but it's a strict requirement. No pencils.


----------



## mirx

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Are you allowed to use pencils when writing an exam in primary/secondary and high school? According to me, we were not allowed to use it.


 


ordira said:


> I don't remember any "written" rule; however, teachers enocurage students to use pens instead of pencils, it works as some kind of protection for the students. If the answer requires constant revision or edition, they have to write drafts with pencil, then, in the final answer they have to use pens.


 
A little of both in México, I actually remember being asked to not use pens as a kid, we were constantly erasing what we had previously written and it just became a mess.

From secondary school onwards, it was the opposite. A lot of scratching and erasing only meant one thing, you didn't know the answer and were copying from somebody else. So we were forbidden to use pencils for exams.

Then, there are the other loooong exams when applying for school and colleges. Students have to use a specific type of pencil, the hard type if I am not mistaken, and it also had to be number 2 preferably, although number 2 1/2 was sometimes accepted. The answer sheets were then scanned by an electronic devide that could only decode answers marked with that specific type of pencil.


----------



## ordira

mirx said:


> From secondary school onwards, it was the opposite. A lot of scratching and erasing only meant one thing, you didn't know the answer and were copying from somebody else. So we were forbidden to use pencils for exams.


 
Not necessarily copying, I still remember some compositions or math problems in which corrections were needed! 
I've also seen that pencils (the numbers Mirx mentioned) are required in multiple-choice-based exams, in case you have a second thought in one of the answers...


----------



## sokol

As for Austria:

In primary school we did use pencils a lot, but from the second class onwards what was used most was a fountain pen - it was obligatory then to learn and write with it. (But you don't really write exams in primary school.)

In secondary school the (fountain) pen still was what was used mostly, but ballpoint pens also were allowed.

In high school (the equivalent of it in Austria) at exams it definitely was not allowed to use a pencil; if I remember right it was even obligatory to use a 'document proof' pen, that is usually a ball point pen: point was that what you had wroten on your exam sheets should not be eradicated (but crossed out, if you did correct it).


----------



## sabrinita85

As for Italy:

Children in primary school can use a pencil (for the first year) and an erasable pen (such as a "Replay").

Then, in secondary school, high school and university it's not possible to use *pencil *nor *whitener *in exams because an exam is an officil document that proves you known or not something. So, in theory, if you don't use a pencil or a whitener, nobody can forge your exam.


----------



## ascension

There is no requirement like that that I know of in the United States. I took exams even through college with a pencil.


----------



## ernest_

In Spain (but may vary from school to school):

In my school we used only pencils from the age of 5 to 9, because pencils are better when you are learning to write, or so we were told. From 10 years old onwards, we used pens and Tippex. In secondary school most people used pens, but pencils were not outlawed, as far as I know. At university sometimes we had to use pens and some other times pencils, and sometimes a mixture of the two (e.g. name with pen, and answers with pencil), depending on the circumstances.


----------



## Flaminius

The tendency is the opposite in Japan.  Pencils and propelling pencils are the most common writing tools for exams until university.  I am not surprised if there are schools or teachers who prohibit anything other than pencils in order to prevent cheating.

What, by the way, is the ethos of endorsing pens?


----------



## Nunty

Flaminius said:


> The tendency is the opposite in Japan.  Pencils and propelling pencils are the most common writing tools for exams until university.  I am not surprised if there are schools or teachers who prohibit anything other than pencils in order to prevent cheating.
> 
> What, by the way, is the ethos of endorsing pens?



How do pencils prevent cheating?


----------



## Nanon

As far as I know, things have not changed that much in France and pencils are allowed only for drawings. Otherwise, whether you take notes or take a test (not only an exam), you should use pens.

I remember some teachers had personal preferences about the pens: some favoured ball pens, other preferred fountain pens. Those who wanted us to use fountain pens were divided into two groups: those who accepted the use of ink erasers and those who didn't! 

What was evaluated was not only the accuracy of the response provided, but also the student's capacity of writing neatly and preparing a well presented document on time, without crossing-outs or deletions. (In exams, if you don't manage to finish on time, you will certainly get a lower mark but you can help by providing your draft, to prove that you have been preparing your reply - this goes mostly for writing essays).


----------



## sokol

Nun-Translator said:


> Flaminius said:
> 
> 
> 
> What, by the way, is the ethos of endorsing pens?
> 
> 
> 
> How do pencils prevent cheating?
Click to expand...

No ethos involved, Flaminius, and no _real _preventation of cheating, Nun-T - only decreasing its likelyness, to a _small _degree I might add.

But if a pen with not erasable ink is used (that is, any kind of ballpoint pen) then students will have to cross out what they want to correct and it probably makes them think twice before copying what their neighbour wrote.

As Nanon has described for France there too were (at least in my days) different preferences with teachers in secondary school especially: some insisted that the students should use fountain pens, others didn't care wether they preferred those or the (at the time 'new' and 'cool') ballpoint pens. I can't tell if or how this might have changed since here in Austria (probably I'll ask my nieces and nephews next time I meet them).

Obligatory non-erasable ink pens (ball-point pens) only became obligatory for us in Austrian high school for exams. This I remember quite well because it was a contrast going from secondary school (where our teachers preferred mostly fountain pens) to high school (where they were outruled for exams).


----------



## Flaminius

Nun-Translator said:


> How do pencils prevent cheating?


Pens provide some opportunity to hide a cheating slip in the internal structure.


----------



## mirx

Flaminius said:


> Pens provide some opportunity to hide a cheating slip in the internal structure.


 
Many pencils have similar structures.


----------



## federicoft

sabrinita85 said:


> As for Italy:
> 
> Children in primary school can use a pencil (for the first year) and an erasable pen (such as a "Replay").



As far as I know, pencils are used just for drawings. Other that that, e.g. when writing essays, pupils are _required_ to use pens, even at primary school.

I remember having 'writing excercises' with the fountain pen too.

As regards university, you are usually allowed to write your draft or mark answers with a pencil at first (so that you can correct a mistake), provided you rewrite them with a pen before delivering your paper.


----------



## Flaminius

mirx said:


> Many pencils have similar structures.


They are what I called propelling pencils (and I tend to place them somewhere closer to pens than pencils).  I am talking about a policy of allowing wooden, resharpenable pencils only.


----------



## Terry Morti

As I recall in public examinations at school we were issued with pencils. And the invigilator had a hand crank sharpener on the front desk.


----------



## shaloo

dihydrogen monoxide said:


> Are you allowed to use pencils when writing an exam in primary/secondary and high school? According to me, we were not allowed to use it.


 
We had to write using pencil during primary school and starting Class 4 onwards ink pens ONLY were allowed and NO ball-point pens should be used for writing notes or exams. I still remember, writing with a pen was something we were so excited about, in primary school and longed to get into secondary school just for that! (It was some 13 years ago )

Bored of using ink pens, we just waited to finish high school and to go to college, where there were no longer any rules of such kind.

However, I now find writing in ink (with the traditional ink pen) to be very classic, dignified, professional and presentable. (Hope I'm not off-topic!)

Cheers!


----------



## charisma_classic

For most tests in my schools, there was no requirement.  In younger grades, pencils were encouraged.  In high school, either was acceptable.  Most students used pencils since it was easier to erase and change and answer.

However, if we were taking a standardized test that would be graded by a machine, we were required to use #2 pencils (and to make our circles "heavy and dark").


----------



## xqby

For essay-oriented classes like English and History, pens with blue or black ink were almost always mandatory. Especially so for writing assignments to be completed at home: I had several teachers who wouldn't accept work if it wasn't either in pen or typed up.

While pens were accepted in courses like Math and Chemistry, (except for, as has been said, Scantron exams) pencils were considered superior because you could erase mistakes.


----------



## shaloo

charisma_classic said:


> However, if we were taking a standardized test that would be graded by a machine, we were required to use #2 pencils (and to make our circles "heavy and dark").


 
Yeah... that's the same here as well.


----------



## Cheesee = Madness

charisma_classic said:


> However, if we were taking a standardized test that would be graded by a machine, we were required to use #2 pencils (and to make our circles "heavy and dark").


Ditto. We call them Scantrons here.

We are not allowed to use pencils on our essays though, only pens.
(High School)


----------



## Mahaodeh

In Iraq, you can only use a pen to write the title or date, the body MUST be in pencil (at least that's how it was when I was studying), that goes for primary and secondary schools (high schools); in colleage it was not mandetory to use a pencil so students would use both.

My sister is a teacher in the UAE (and was in Jordan); it was basically the same case; you use pencils, but for assignments you may print them.


----------

