Over fifty years ago, in the lead-up to the old Queensland Junior (Year 10) or Senior (Year 12) public exam, one or more of my teachers at Townsville's Pimlico High delivered some sage advice.
Never assume, he she or they, told my Year Whatever cohort, that the examiner, or whoever marks your paper, knows anything.
The advice delivered reasonable results in both examinations, and while the results weren't good enough to provide a Commonwealth Scholarship to attend University, they did get me there.
And, when I arrived, I found that the advice still applied, though the mechanisms involved in academic assessment had changed slightly.
On the way to the Year Ten exam, we were learning the skill set associated with answering questions in a particular subject area. The advice about assuming nothing had next to nothing to do with the assessor's mental capacity.
At that point, when a good Junior pass could deliver an apprenticeship, a spot in the Queensland public service, or a job in a bank, an accountant's office, or even a law firm, the ability to write answers to demonstrate knowledge was a handy skill.
And it wasn't necessarily something you were finished with if you left the education treadmill at age fifteen.