Guidelines for marking essays/short answers/literature surveys
Class | Mark | Marking guidelines |
First |
| 1) Narrative is both logical and coherent 2) Deep understanding of appropriate sources 3) Material well-selected and highly relevant, going beyond basic or ‘core’ materials 4) Strong evidence of original critical reflection and an analytical approach |
Excellent First | 100 | Assignment reaches an exceptional level of achievement that significantly exceeds the standards described by the above statements |
Good First | 90 | Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements |
Solid First | 80 | Assignment is well described by the above statements |
Low First | 75 | Assignment mostly meets the standards described by the above statements |
Upper Second |
| 1) Narrative is mostly logical and coherent 2) Good understanding of appropriate sources 3) Material well-selected and relevant for the most part 4) Some evidence of original critical reflection and an analytical approach |
Good 2.1 | 68 | Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a first class mark |
Solid 2.1 | 65 | Assignment is well described by the above statements |
Low 2.1 | 62 | Assignment mostly meets the standards described by the above statements |
Lower Second |
| 1) Broadly logical and coherent narrative, but showing signs of structure breaking down 2) Clear understanding of appropriate sources, but somewhat superficial in scope 3) Material broadly relevant, but with evidence of irrelevant text 4) Superficial evidence of original critical reflection and an analytical approach |
Good 2.2 | 58 | Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for an upper second class mark |
Solid 2.2 | 55 | Assignment is well described by the above statements |
Low 2.2 | 52 | Assignment mostly meets the standards described by the above statements |
Third |
| 1) Narrative suffers from illogical or incoherent passages 2) Limited understanding of appropriate sources 3) Material relevant in parts, but irrelevant text also present throughout 4) Evidence of original critical reflection is lacking |
Good Third | 48 | Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a second class mark |
Solid Third | 45 | Assignment is well described by the above statements |
Low Third | 42 | Assignment falls below the standards described by the above statements |
Fail |
| 1) A minimally logical narrative, with incoherent structure throughout 2) No evidence that appropriate sources were understood 3) Material is almost entirely irrelevant to the topic |
High Marginal Fail | 38 | Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a pass mark |
Low Marginal Fail | 32 | Assignment is well described by the above statements |
Outright Fail | 10 | Assignment falls below the standards described by the above statements |
Zero Marks | 0 | 1) No psychology-related content. |
Grade assignment decision rules
Note. If an assignment meets some of the descriptive criteria for a degree class (e.g. 2:1), and some of the descriptive criteria for another degree class (e.g. 2:2), it is at the discretion of the marker where to assign the grade (i.e. somewhere in the 2:1 or 2:2 range).