Exams!

I hate exams, despite the fact I always perform well in them. It's a kind of...love/hate relationship. Due to my high performance and praise afterwards I do kind of like them. But in general they are pointless memory tests. Admittedly this may not be the case the world over but at least where I'm from you are basically given thousands of facts to memorise and regurgitate on the day. What is the point?!

Recently I sat mock exams which are used to indicate the candidate's performance half way through the academic year. Due to the fact this is an internal exam you are able to go over you're mistakes afterwards with your teacher. Upon going over a particular subject I found I had been marked wrong for an answer that I was 100% sure was correct. I asked my teacher and they too agreed I had infact written a more detailed explanation than most but the marking scheme was worded differently.
Me: who made up the marking scheme?
Teacher: I did.
But you just admitted I was correct.
Yes but I made answers like the ones from old exam papers so they're right.
So the only way to get the mark for this question is to mind read and write down the exact right phrasing the answer scheme uses?
Ehm...no but...you just have to right what they're looking for, it will come with practice!
But exams are made to test my knowledge, yes?
Yes.
And I have shown I know what I'm talking about so therefore should receive positive results do you not think?
Oh for goodness sake! right you can have the mark this time but don't bother hassling me again!

I find this with a LOT of exams I sit these days. Memorise what the textbook says and don't stray or they'll assume you have no idea what you're talking about. It's sad really. It doesn't really encourage original thought.