You can never know your limits and capabilities without putting them on a test. Gathering knowledge is a long hard process. As some facts and data are remarkable and are remembered easily and quickly, there are so much more to comprehend. You seek education in order to improve your skills, from which you wil make a living after your graduation. Imagine you are an engineer. You plan and project a building, which thousands of people will be visiting every day. It is your responsibility to make it not only nice, but safe as well. Would you let a kindergarten year old kid drive you home or ask a complete stranger to guard your posessions while you went somewhere else for a second. No. Beacuse you don't know what he is capable of. And noone ever will let you design a crucial database update without being sure you won't lose any data or construct a jet engine just because you said it won't explode. Because as a result company will have to redesign the engine, rebuild the assembly rooms, pay fines, pay families of people who died because of you, et cetera Therefore exam system is a most cheap, quick and safe method to prove your competence and readiness for real life.