Grading

An answer that fulfils all of the criteria for ‘A2’ and ‘A3’ (see below) and in addition:  

• Shows an exceptional degree of insight and independent thought.  
• Demonstrates true flair in tackling issues.  
• Is of outstanding quality, in terms of scholarship and originality.  
• Often faultless.  
• The work is well beyond that expected at the appropriate level of study.  

An answer that provides a fully effective response to the question. It should:  

• Show excellent scholarship, with substantial knowledge of the field and an ability to integrate evidence from this in a critical way and go beyond it.  
• Achieve a high quality of analysis early on and sustain it through to the conclusion.  
• Use information and examples accurately and concisely to inform the answer.  
• Demonstrate a critical and committed argument, showing insightful scientific judgement and a balanced awareness of other interpretations but not afraid to question them.  
• Exhibit creativity or originality and academic maturity.  
• Be very well-written and presented - its use of English and presentation should be commensurate with the quality of the content.  

A sharply-focused answer of high intellectual quality. An essay in this band should have major elements of the following:  

• Adopt a comprehensive approach to the question and maintain a sophisticated level of critical analysis and discussion throughout.  
• Provide a clear and coherent structure, showing logical, ordered thought.  
• Show knowledge of a comprehensive range of up-to-date material, handled in a professional way.  
• Contain appropriate diagrammatic information, incorporated in a manner which enhances the answer.  
• Deal confidently with the complexities and subtleties of the arguments, using information and examples creatively to arrive at independent conclusions.  
• Shows elements of personal insight / creativity / originality.  
• Contain few or relatively minor flaws.  
• Be well-written and presented, with a good command of English and grammar.  

A very good answer that shows qualities beyond the merely routine or acceptable. An essay in this band should contain many of the following features:  

• Address the question directly and fully, showing clear focus on the subject with only trivial deviation.  
• Exhibit a clear and coherent structure, showing logical, ordered thought and clear presentation.  
• Exhibit knowledge of a very good range of up-to-date material, perhaps with some gaps, but handled in a professional way. 14  
• Display understanding and handling of key concepts: shows a firm grasp of the subject and current theory (but there may be gaps).  
• Show initiative, the ability to think clearly, to critically evaluate ideas, to bring different ideas together, and to draw sound conclusions.  
• Display evidence of further reading and appropriate use of examples and diagrams.  
• Contain no significant errors of fact or interpretation.  
• Develop a coherent analysis/argument proceeding to a convincing conclusion.  
• Be without major blemish in the quality of the writing and presentation.  

A good answer with elements of the routine and predictable. An essay in this band should:  

• Show sound knowledge, although limited.  
• May contain occasional factual errors and misunderstandings of concepts but this should not be a dominant impression.  
• Be generally accurate - inaccuracies, if any, should be moderate.  
• Show understanding and handling of key concepts. There may not be a firm grasp and depth of understanding of all the key concepts.  
• Be focused on the subject, with relatively little irrelevant material.  
• Exhibit a limited degree of critical analysis and evaluation.  
• Be structured in a reasonably clear and coherent manner, generally presenting ideas and information in a logical way and often with some examples.  
• Generally be well-presented but there may be minor flaws in information, figures and standard of English.  
• Generally show a good quality of writing and presentation.  

A passable answer which understands the question to a degree and displays some academic learning. An essay in this band is likely to exhibit a number of the following features:  

• Should display basic knowledge but may have significant factual inaccuracies and omissions. It may lack clarity of structure and show poor logical development of arguments.  
• Should be intelligible but may well have significant deficiencies, such as poor expression, irrelevancies to the question asked, deviation from the core issues, and limited conceptual components.  
• May show superficial understanding and handling of key concepts and there may be gaps in understanding, lack of detail, or explanation of key concepts and ideas; some may have been omitted.  
• Show limited critical analysis and discussion. The arguments and conclusions may be weak or lack clarity. The emphasis is likely to be more on description than analysis.  
• The presentation may show flaws in the overall standard of presentation or in specific areas such as figures and standard of English (e.g. repeated minor spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors). 
•  May give a general impression of a rather poor effort, with weaknesses in conception or execution. It might also be the right mark for a short answer that at least referred to the main points of the issue.  

An answer with evident and substantial weaknesses or inaccuracies of understanding but conveying the sense that with a fuller argument or factual basis it might have achieved a pass. An essay in this band is likely to:  

• Display limited knowledge, with inaccuracies.  
• Show insufficient understanding, with significant concepts omitted or poorly expressed.  
• Inadequately address the subject, with poor discussion and no real attempt to critically evaluate the work.  
• Lack a coherent structure.  
• Show a poor overall standard of presentation, with problems in writing style and expression (making it hard to follow the content), and a poor standard of English.  
• Show only a few number of clear and relevant sentences on the topic which are essentially correct and contain information appropriate to the specific question, possibly with a relevant diagram.  

An answer showing seriously inadequate knowledge of the subject, with little awareness of the relevant issues. An essay in this band may contain:  

• Largely irrelevant or erroneous material and be very limited in scope consisting, for example, of just a 2-3 clear and relevant and essentially correct sentences on the topic but not necessarily centrally addressing the question.  
• Significant confusion.  
• Very limited, incorrect or no critical analysis and discussion.  
• Little or no attempt to order the material in a systematic way.  

An answer that falls far short of a passable level by some combination of short length, irrelevance, lack of intelligibility, factual inaccuracy and lack of acquaintance with relevant academic concepts. An essay in this band may exhibit:  

• Very little knowledge of relevance to the question and irrelevant or erroneous material.  
• Minor evidence of understanding.  
• No coherent discussion.  
• No attempt to order the material in a systematic way.  
• Some relevant words, not explained very clearly, but going beyond simple paraphrasing of the question.  

• An answer without any academic merit which usually conveys little sense that the course has been followed or of the basic skills of essay-writing.
• The presented work is of very little relevance to the subject in question or does not go beyond paraphrasing of the question.
• Some attempt to use some relevant words
• A blank answer or an answer with no text of relevance to the question should be awarded zero.  

Overall the mark is greater than 40% but the student has failed a component which must be passed to pass the course (for example, an exam mark of <40%). The student must retake and pass the failed component to pass the course.