Comparative Analysis of Assessment Practices in Matriculation and IGCSE Systems in Pakistan: A Multi-Method Qualitative Study of Learning Governance, Cognition, and Equity

Authors

  • Marium Khan University of Karachi Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.67265/jsrd.26.v2.i2.04

Keywords:

Assessment systems , Cognitive development , Assessment-Learning Governance Nexus (ALGN), Educational inequality , Matriculation (Pakistan) , IGCSE

Abstract

Assessments constitute governance instruments that affect learners' cognition and behaviour through governing pedagogies and knowledge production. Instead of being purely evaluative procedures, assessment practices act as regulatory apparatuses which discipline pedagogical actions and legitimize certain kinds of knowledge. This paper presents a multiple method qualitative comparison between two assessment systems, Matriculation (SSC) and IGCSE assessment regimes.

Through semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 participants (16 teachers and 4 students) and document and policy analysis, an explanatory framework of mechanisms is developed to explain the mediation effect of assessment practices on cognition and inequality. Based on a theoretical notion of Assessment-Learning Governance Nexus (ALGN), which sees assessment practices as intermediaries between policy design and stratified educational production in the classroom, the paper investigates assessment practices in Pakistan's Matriculation and IGCSE curricula.

The results show that assessment structures in the Matriculation regime are highly summative and examination-centered, creating learning cultures based on memorization and procedural thinking. Conversely, assessment practices in the IGCSE regime have proved to be diversified with emphasis on analysis, independence of learners, and application of knowledge in real-life situations. Nevertheless, these cognitive benefits are associated with substantial structural inequalities of access, resulting in socio-economic stratifications in the dual education system.

This research addresses assessment and comparative education literature by proposing a framework based on the mechanism-based governance approach to understanding connections between assessment mechanisms and their cognitive/distributive impacts. This study also provides recommendations for reforming the Matriculation System in the direction of hybrid assessments.

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Published

2026-06-29

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Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026): Journal of Social Research Dynamics

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