Psychological-social challenges and benefits of the new student assessment and admission plan on entering the university

Objective: The main concern of candidates and families during their studies is to prepare for and succeed in the national exam. In addition to shaping the career future and financial status of applicants, the entrance exam can also significantly affect their social status and personal life. The challenges and disadvantages of the previous plan for assessing and admitting students through the entrance exam prompted the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution to put the reform of the student assessment and admission system on the agenda, based on the resolution of "Policies and Criteria for Organizing the Assessment and Admission of Applicants for Entry to Higher Education. Changes to the new student assessment and admission plan, due to the new nature of this plan, will certainly bring benefits and challenges that could affect students' academic success and future lives. Accordingly, this research was conducted with the aim of explaining the psychological-social challenges and benefits of the new student assessment and admission plan and the effect of academic records on entering the university.
Materials and Methods: In the current research, a qualitative approach and conventional content analysis method were used. The participants in this research were 22 teachers, academic advisors, students and parents, who were selected by the criterion-based purposeful sampling method. The inclusion criteria for the study were teachers and academic advisors working in the second year of secondary education, parents, and students taking the 2024 and 2025 college entrance exams. To collect the required data, semi-structured in-depth interviews with open-ended questions were conducted over a period of 40 to 60 minutes. The interview began with a general question about the challenges and impacts of the new student assessment and admission plan, and subsequent questions were asked based on the descriptions provided by the participants during the interview to obtain more in-depth information. The process of interviewing and data collection continued until data saturation. The seven-step Colaizzi method was used to analyze the data. For this purpose, after the end of each interview, their content was fully typed and open (initial) coding of the data was performed in order to extract initial concepts (subcategories). After conducting all interviews and extracting initial codes, axial coding was performed and concepts were extracted, and then concepts were combined, categorized, and themes were selected.
Result and Discussion: According to the analysis of the interviews conducted, four themes were identified, including the pathology of the previous admission plan, the process challenges of achieving the goals set in the new plan, the benefits of implementing the new plan, and the proposed considerations for improving the current situation in the form of 18 categories. Changing the previous plan of assessment and admission to the entrance exam to the new plan has favorable effects on educating students in the direction of deep and active learning, improving the quality of teacher education, achieving learning goals, improving the quality level, and acquiring the necessary skills. Reforms in the education system are inevitable and it must be ensured that all eager students have equal opportunities to learn. In other words, students should not be left out due to financial, economic, gender, and social inequalities. Accordingly, providing the conditions and platform for the successful implementation of the resolution seems to be one of the most necessary measures that should be considered by educational authorities. Given the new student assessment and admission plan's nascent nature, it is essential to consider the necessary infrastructures for implementing the new plan, such as designing standard questions, holding standard internal exams in schools, addressing challenges in holding final exams, monitoring the process of correcting papers, and the need to review the process of calculating the balance and allocating the necessary credits. In order to facilitate the conditions for achieving the goals of the new resolution, coordination between teachers to adopt new teaching methods and basic education can be a solution, which is possible through holding teacher empowerment courses and training expert consultants in the field of academic guidance and entrance exams. Given some cultural and economic challenges faced by parents and the confusion of most candidates, it is better for teachers to adopt appropriate motivational methods to support students. Parent education and awareness programs should also be considered by providing appropriate information about students' conditions and how to treat them, and teaching students stress management methods to help them acquire the ability to face new conditions and high resilience.