Please read this before downloading your Essay Cover Sheet
DEPARTMENTAL MARKING SCALE AND STANDARDS
The following are guidelines used by teachers for the
marking of essays.
70 and above
A piece of work will normally be awarded a first-class mark if it
satisfies the criteria for the award of an upper second-class mark (see
below), and in addition shows substantial evidence of some of the following
qualities:
- An original and refreshing argument
- Real insight and critical flair
- Acute literary perceptions
- Extremely fine textual analysis
- Unusually skillful command of language
- Fluent and accurate expression of difficult ideas
- Lucid critical evaluation of a wide range of
material
- Some independent research
- Scholarly presentation
It is department policy that a mark of 75
should be given for pieces of work judged to be of clear-cut first-class
standard, with no significant shortcomings; and a mark in the range 70-74
for work judged to be overall of first-class standard, but with one or two
relatively minor shortcomings. A mark above 75 should be
awarded to work which is not only of clear-cut first-class standard (with no
significant shortcomings), but is also truly exceptional.
60-69
A piece of work will
normally be awarded an upper second-class mark if it displays a significant
number of the following qualities:
- A high level of cogency, consistency and
coherence in argument
- Ability to write in a precise, concise, and
well-structured way
- Highly perceptive textual analysis
- Clear understanding of the main issues
- A high level of discrimination and sense of
relevance
- A well-informed and intelligent treatment of the
subject
- Evidence of an independent perspective
- Good standard of presentation
- No major shortcomings
- Evidence of original thinking in the analysis of
course material
50-59
A piece of work will normally be awarded a lower second-class mark if
it displays significant number of the following qualities:
-
Fair coverage of most relevant aspects of the topic
- General consistency and coherence of argument
- Adequate presentation and exemplification of
ideas
- Adequate response to the question
- Adequate textual analysis
- Reasonably well-structured response
- Acceptable standard of presentation
- Very few if any serious shortcomings
40-49
A piece of work will normally be awarded a third-class mark if it
displays many
the following characteristics:
- Patchy consistency and coherence of argument
- Patchy knowledge of the major issues
- Limited coverage of the topic
- Limited presentation and exemplification of ideas
- Limited response to the question
- Limited analytical skills
- Limited structural skills
- Few really serious shortcomings
39 or below
A piece of work will normally be awarded a mark of 39 or below if
it shows a number of serious shortcomings, such as the following:
- Lack of response to the question
- Poor understanding of critical ideas
- Weak or superficial textual analysis
- Inconsistent or incomplete argumentation
- Excessive brevity
- Inclusion of a substantial amount of irrelevant
material
- Inappropriate expression of unsupported
subjective views
- Non-adherence to minimal standards of
presentation
0
This mark is reserved for the non-submission of due work, or for cases of
confirmed plagiarism.
Please note that marks may be deducted for inadequate presentation:
you should follow the guidelines given in the departmental
stylesheet.