MSc Guidelines for marking essays, literature reviews, critical analyses and other assignments

Guidelines for marking essays, literature reviews, critical analyses and other assignments

Class	Mark	Marking guidelines
Distinction		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 Distinction	100	Assignment reaches an exceptional level of achievement that significantly exceeds the standards described by the above statements
Good Distinction	90	Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements
Solid Distinction	80	Assignment is well described by the above statements
Low Distinction	75	Assignment mostly meets the standards described by the above statements
Merit		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 Merit	68	Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a distinction
Solid Merit	65	Assignment is well described by the above statements
Low Merit	62	Assignment mostly meets the standards described by the above statements
Pass		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 Pass	58	Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a merit
Solid Pass	55	Assignment is well described by the above statements
Low Pass	52	Assignment mostly meets the standards described by the above statements
Marginal fail		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
	48	Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a pass
	45	Assignment is well described by the above statements
	42	Assignment falls below the standards described by the above statements
Clear 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
	38	Assignment exceeds the standards described by the above statements but does not meet the standards for a marginal fail
	32	Assignment is well described by the above statements
	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. Merit), and some of the descriptive criteria for another degree class (e.g. Pass), it is at the discretion of the marker where to assign the grade (i.e. somewhere in the Merit or Pass range).