taken at the end of Standard V and if the student continued their education there were also taken at the end of Standards VI through VIII. In 1912, “grades” replaced “standards” and soon after exams taken at the end of grades 10 and 11 were removed. In 1972, exams were once again removed from the remaining grades and course work was worth 100% of the course mark. From 1976 onward there was criticism that students were not being challenged and were not prepared for tertiary education. In 1983, the ministry responded to this criticism and final exams, now called "Diploma Exams", were reinstated and were now worth 50% of course mark. The remaining 50% of the course mark was determined by course work. In October 2009, Alberta Education decided to eliminate the written response (Part A) for Biology 30, Chemistry 30, Pure Mathematics 30, Applied Mathematics 30, Physics 30, and Science 30. This saved the Alberta government 1.7 million dollars in producing the exams and paying teachers to mark them in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. The written response (Part A) remains for Social Studies 30-1 and 30-2 as well as English 30-1 and 30-2. For humanities subjects, Part A written response will take place up to two weeks before Part B multiple choice. In 2010, eleven students were found to be cheating on the Pure Mathematics 30 exam as the exam had been leaked by a student who was writing the exam abroad and under the supervision of a relative. This prompted Alberta Education to amend its policies regarding administering diploma examinations abroad. In 2015, the ministry reduced the Diploma exams weighting to make up 30% of course mark for 2015/2016 school year. In 2017, Alberta Education doubled students' allowed writing time for all provincial standardized tests. This can go up to six hours for Grade 12 Diplomas and 4 hours for Grade 6 and 9 PAT's. In September, 2018, the written response component to mathematics exams was reinstated. Purpose The official Ministry of Education purpose of standardized testing is to: "Determine if students are learning what they are expected to learn. Report to Albertans how well students have achieved provincial standards at given points in their schooling. Assist schools, authorities, and the province in monitoring and improving student learning. to ensure that province-wide standards of achievement are maintained. to report individual and group results." Subjects Grade twelve subjects