Essay marking guide
To gain high marks (distinction 70+), the essay task must:
• Stick closely to the topic.
• Address all parts of the question.
• Discuss a range of evidence from a variety of primary sources*, including peer-reviewed journals. Most of these should be recent (<10 years old).
• Be clear about what type of evidence is being described (results of a single study, a review or an expert opinion, for example).
• Show an ability to critically evaluate evidence; e.g. by weighing up its strengths and weaknesses.
• Show an ability to use evidence to inform opinions expressed in the essay (i.e. it should be clear how you have come to any conclusion you have reached).
• Be well structured with an introduction, main body and conclusion, and links between paragraphs.
• Be correctly referenced in a consistent style.
• Be clearly written, such that an intelligent person with little knowledge of the topic could understand it**
• Contain few mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Keep to the word count limit.
* secondary sources e.g. textbooks can also be used but they should not be your ONLY source.
** it’s important to show that YOU understand any specialist terms used, so it is best to disregard the knowledge of your marker.
In order to gain a mark of 60-70, an essay would normally either meet most but not all of the criteria above or meet all the criteria but only partially (e.g. rely on only a few sources of evidence).
Reasons for failure include lack of evidence and failure to answer the question (e.g. writing a very general essay about pediatric assessment).
