Grading Scheme for Undergraduate work in the UK

Five attributes of students written work are taken into account when assigning marks:

• 1: Answer: To what extent does the work address the topic or answer the question concerned?

• 2: Structure: Is the general structure of the work coherent?

• 3: Flow: Does each statement follow on sensibly from it's predecessor?

• 4: Argument: is there a convincing line of academic argument running through the work?

• 5: Evidence: are claims which are made supported by relevant evidence from the literature?

When mapped onto the criteria used for assigning marks in a department, this is what work in each category is likely to exhibit.

First Class (1:1)

Work awarded a first class mark is likely to:

• Address topic or answer question in an explicit manner;'

• Announce its structure at start, and stick closely to this announced structure throughout;

• Have relationships between statements which are very easy to recognise;

• Have a very strong line of academic argument'

• Give wide ranging and appropriate evidential support for claims which are made.

Within this category of very good work, the mark awarded will be above 70%. The mark awarded will depend on how successfully the work is judged to meet the above mentioned criteria. A better quality first simply has more of these qualities, especially those concerned with structure, argument and evidence. Therefore, a top first has to be very well written, develop a strong line of academic argument which is adhered to closely throughout, and draw on a wide range of academic material.

Upper Second Class (2:1)

Work awarded an upper second class mark is likely to:

• Attempt to address topic or to answer question;

• Have a detectable structure which is adhered to for the most part;

• Have relationships between statements which are generally easy to recognise;

• Have a convincing line of argument'

• Support claims which are made by reference to relevant material from the literature.

Within this category of good work, the mark awarded will be in the range 60-70%. The mark awarded will depend on how successfully the work is judged to meet the above mentioned criteria. At minimum, an upper second class piece of work must attempt to address the topic or answer the question concerned, be clearly written and show signs that the student has read beyond the basic source material. For assessments that are lecture based, this usually means going beyond the material which was presented in the lectures themselves; for assignments that are not lecture based, this means going beyond secondary sources such as textbooks. Additionally, a top upper second is likely to have a clearer structure, a stronger line of argument and draw on a broader range of material.

Lower Second Class (2:2)

Work awarded a lower second class mark is likely to:

• Present relevant material, but fail to use it to answer the question or address the issue concerned;

• Have a structure, but one which is rather loose and unannounced;

• Have relationships between statements which are sometimes hard to follow;

• Have an unconvincing line of argument (information drives argument, rather than the other way round);

• Tend to make claims without supporting evidence.

Within this category of satisfactory work, the mark awarded will be in the range 50-60%. The mark awarded will depend on how successfully the work is judged to meet the above mentioned criteria. At minimum, a lower second class of work must show that the student has a fair knowledge of the basic source material which to the question is related. Typically, this means demonstrating that the relevant lecture course has been attended and/or that relevant secondary sources have been read. Higher marks in this category are awarded as a function of the relevance and quantity of the material which is presented, the accuracy with which this material is handled and the overall clarify with which the assignment is written. Thus a top lower second is likely to reproduce, with reasonable accuracy, material which is relevant to the assignment topic or question concerned, and to structure this material so that the assignment has a beginning, middle and end; it is distinguished from an upper second mainly by not having gone much beyond what was presented in the lectures themselves or is available in secondary sources.

Third Class (3:1)

Work awarded a third class mark is likely to:

• Fail to address the topic or answer question, either by reproducing accurately material which is only partly relevant or by reproducing inaccurately material which is relevant;

• Lack a clear structure or framework;

• Have relationships between statements which are frequently hard to recognise;

• Lack a clear line of argument ;

• Make poor use of evidence to support claims which are made.

Within this category of relatively poor work, the mark awarded will be in the range 40-50%. The mark awarded will depend on how successfully the work is judged to meet the above mentioned criteria. At minimum, a third class of work must contain some relevant material. Typically, this means providing some indication that the relevant lecture course has been attended and/or that relevant secondary sources have been read. However, the reproduction of this material is either scanty or inaccurate. A top third is likely to reproduce this material with fewer inaccuracies, but still lacks structure and argument.

Fail

Work given a fail mark is likely to:

• Fail to address the topic or to answer question;

• Lack a structure or framework;

• Fail repeatedly to relate statements to each other;

• Lack an apparent line of argument;

• Fail to use evidence to support claims which are made.

Within this category of poor work, the mark awarded will be below 40%. The mark awarded will depend on how badly the work fails to meet the above mentioned criteria.

30% might be awarded to an answer which contains some indication that the student can recall having once read or hard something relevant to the assignment topic or question concerned. 20% might be awarded to an answer which contains something which shows that the relevant lecture course ha been attended, even if there is little in the answer itself which is of direct relevance to the question. A 0% answer contains no indication that the student knows anything from the psychological literature which is even remotely relevant to the question.

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