MSc Essay Marking Criteria 2021/22

70-100 (Excellent)

Essay is well organised and targeted to the question. The writing is clear, concise with well-balanced sections, and coherence between ideas and paragraphs. A very good understanding of the subject area is demonstrated with evidence of engagement with literature. There should be evidence of critical thought or originality such that the essay goes beyond detailed description. Figures and/or tables are used if relevant, and referenced. Referencing should be mostly correct though some minor errors are permitted. Marks closer to 100 will be awarded to essays that show impressive evidence of critical thought, depth of understanding and/or originality. Demonstrates an in depth understanding of the subject matter with ample evidence of wide reading, with most of it primary, as well as at least one of the following criteria:

E1 – Originality/scientific creativity – clever ideas, novel combinations of ideas, evidence for a spark of brilliance that will set the essay above almost all others.

E2 – Evidence of exceptional breadth and depth of knowledge of the field being assessed.

E3 – Critical ability – an ability to make valid criticisms of the evidence or views of another person and to present an effective, well-organised argument throughout the essay.

E4 – An ability to synthesise a fine argument from many sources.  Evidence of an ability to combine many ideas and/or opinions to build a convincing argument.

Excellence indicators will be used to award marks in the range of 70-100 in the following manner:

75 +/- 5           Essay shows one indicator

80 +/- 5          Essay shows two indicators

85 +/- 5          Essay shows three indicators

95 +/- 5          Essay shows four indicators

A candidate who shows one or more indicators in a particularly impressive way might achieve a higher mark than indicated.

60-69 (Good)

Overall the essay is well organized and has little irrelevant content, but sections may be unbalanced or the level of detail variable. Shows a good understanding of the subject area with evidence of engagement with literature from a range of sources, most of it primary. Arguments are well presented and supported throughout and there is some evidence of original or critical thinking regarding the examples used and wider field of research. Referencing should be mostly correct though some minor errors are permitted.

50-59 (Satisfactory)

The essay shows understanding of the subject area, but may not be well organized and/or include some obvious omissions and its structure may be sub-optimal. The quality of the writing may be variable. Coverage of the subject lacks some depth, original thought, and is rather uncritical. An adequate range of primary literature is drawn on, but the range of literature used may be limited, out of date, or include more focus on secondary/web-based literature. Referencing should be mostly correct, although some errors are permitted.

40-49 (Compensatable fail)

The candidate has attempted to address the question and demonstrates understanding of the subject area, but the answer is incomplete and/or lacks detail. There may be irrelevant content and important work is not discussed or poorly presented. May contain digression and some errors. Draws on a narrow range of literature resources, or a high proportion of it secondary/web based. Essay may lack a logical structure. There may be substantial referencing errors.

0-39 (Fail)

The essay demonstrates little or no ability to research a topic and present a coherent and informative piece of work. It may be short, show little evidence of effort and include errors. There may be little or no evidence that any reliable sources have been used. In order to obtain a failing mark a candidate must show little grasp of the question topic based on one or more of the following fail indicators:

F1- Lack of knowledge, few facts are presented accurately, and/or failure to cite any sources

F2- Serious lack of understanding, clear evidence of a failure to understand and explain relevant concepts

F3- Inability to form a coherent scientific argument, very poor quality of writing

F4 – Massive digression, the great majority of the material in the answer does not address the question.

30-39: 1 fail indicator, 20-29: 2 fail indicators, 10-19: 3 fail indicators, 0-9: 4 fail indicators

ESSAY FEEDBACK FORM (2021-22)

Student ID:

Programme:

Marker:

The sections in the following table are NOT EQUALLY WEIGHTED but are intended to give an indication of areas in which the student has done well or can improve. It is possible to have “excellent” in most of these boxes with a final mark below 70 (e.g. if the work is poorly referenced).