In the Gym

At the sixth form college (high school) I attended, you could not go in the gym without removing your outdoor shoes. However, this rule was always ignored at exam time, when the floors were loaded with tables and chairs.

I suppose it is understandable that students were not asked to remove their shoes before the exams; it might have made them feel uneasy. After all, they were used to attending classes with their shoes on (unless they opted to study dance or perfoming arts).

This would certainly not have been an issue in a Japanese school or college, where all the students change in to slippers on arrival. The wisdom of the East.