This guide cannot tell you what your mark should be. It can only indicate what it could be. One reason for this is that essays will not fall neatly into the same grade on all points. In deciding what weight to attach to the strong and weak points, you will have to use your judgement.
As well as the descriptions of grades we give the numerical values used
in
Middlesex University's twenty
point scale.
At Middlesex University, degree level is level three (the
second and third year) . First year modules tend to
mark essays on a more generous scale. The guide will suggest the quality of
work you need to achieve level three (degree level) marks.
In British Universities, degrees with honours are classified in First
Class, Upper Second, Lower Second and Thirds. At Middlesex University the
class a student gains is calculated from an average of the grades achieved
on assessed work after the first year. First year marks are not included.
The first year is a period when students are learning what makes good
assessed work.
Whilst there are rules that say how many marks out of 100 are needed to
make each grade, marking in the humanities and social sciences has to
involve a qualitative assessment that cannot be turned mechanically into a
figure. There are no golden rules that tell staff markers what to classify
a piece of work as. But markers have their own rules of thumb, which tend
to follow similar patterns. These guidelines are based on the rules of
thumb that SHE staff markers use, but they have been compared with
guidelines produced by other people, and have been discussed with staff
working on other modules.
Feedback on our guidelines is always welcome.
Because different courses have different aims, they expect different forms
of essay. You need to find out what kind of essay is required in each area.
Third class essays are often discursive (rambling, unfocused) and bring in unrelated (or not directly related) issues. Poor use of English can hold an essay down to a third. Even if well written and focused , an essay with clearly incorrect information, or showing that the reading has been badly misunderstood, may be graded as a third. The lowest marks in the third range (16 and 15) may be due to serious English problems, or you may not understand how to write an essay. Of course, your essay may be weak because you have not been attending to your work. On the other hand, you may be a hard-working, skilful student, with a good grasp of the issues, but get a poor third because you do not present your knowledge to the examiner. Make sure that you say and explain what you know. Do not miss relevant material out because the staff marker will know it already. If you get 15 or a lower grade, for whatever cause, you should ask for advice.
Essays that show a competent understanding of the subject and the question may still not get a better mark than a good third (13) if they are unfocused (discursive, rambling) or bring in unrelated (or not directly related) issues. they do not show that the student has the skill to write a competent essay. Two examples of this are: 1) a well focused essay showing a competent understanding but with few references; 2) An essay that consists largely of quotations (however well referenced).
The lowest marks in lower second range (12 and 11): The lower marks in the lower seconds indicate that you have demonstrated a competent, basic knowledge of the subject and shown that you have read and understood the required sources. Faults may include being only loosely focused and less than tightly referenced.
The lowest marks in the upper second range (8 and 7): Clear uppers (8 and 7) will have all the qualities of thirds and lower seconds, plus a clear argument which is well supported in the body of the essay by very tight referencing to the required sources.
For an essay to achieve a 5 it would have to show some indication of originality.
FIRST
Firsts (4, 3, 2 and 1) must have all the
qualities of thirds, lower seconds and upper seconds, applied in such an
excellent way as to demonstrate, throughout the essay, clear evidence of
original
thought - or similar outstanding
quality.
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What the Guide is As a student you should make your own assessment of the quality of your work. This guide explains the qualities to look for in an essay. It shows you how to describe its strengths and weaknesses and how to estimate the mark it deserves. This is to help people evaluate and improve their own essays. Although it is related to numerical marking systems that "grade" essays, we encourage you to think most about the qualitative assessment of your essay. Is it focused? Is its structure clear? How well is it introduced? Does it have a clear argument? Is there a flow to the essay and do the points you make follow one another logically?
Grades are just a method of reducing the qualitative
assessment to a number that can be ranked and compared to other grades.
The guide is to grades at
degree
level, but by concentrating on the qualities rather than the
numbers, it can be used to assess any academic essay.
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