Demystifying Essay Marking

You’ve spent hours in the library and on your computer pouring your thoughts into your essay and managed to get it in just before the deadline, but what happens next? Your essay is whisked away to some unseen place where it gets judged and you find out what mark you received a few weeks later. Have you ever wondered what goes on between when you submit your essay and when you get your results?

I’m Carly, and this post is based on my own experiences marking essays for university courses over 7 years, both while studying for my PhD and after completion. It pulls back the curtain to share information from my own direct knowledge of the marking process. It also helps you have a better understanding of what the marking process looks like and what effort goes into making sure your essay is treated fairly.

First things first, know that there is a process for marking. There is no marking by the whim of the marker and there’s virtually no danger that the mark you receive might have been different if you’d had a different marker, or if your marker had been in a better mood. Marking essays today is about fairness and stability across the marking process.

You should have a rubric in your syllabus or course document that outlines the expectations of your essays, and this is what markers refer to when marking. When I was marking, I had a copy of the rubric at hand so I could insert relevant comments with language exactly matching the rubric to support the marks I gave. This made it easier for everyone to see the basis on which marks were given.

Not every university process will look exactly the same, but there will be a process outlined and it will likely look something like this:

·       Pre-marking meeting of markers and course convenor

·       Marking completed by one (or multiple) markers

·       Moderation of marking

·       Adjustments based on moderation

·       Release of marks

·       Post-marking meeting of markers and course convenor

The pre-marking meeting is designed to get everyone on the same page before any marking starts. This is also a valuable meeting for markers new to the course to understand what to look for in good essays and what traps students sometimes fall into. This meeting may even go into a level of detail as to show examples of what A level, B level, and C level work looks like.

Once marking commences, it is possible for a marker to flag up an essay they aren’t certain about or just want an additional set of eyes on. In my experience marking, I marked the first half of my essays and then went back to the first 3-4 to review them and make sure I treated them the same as the rest of the essays. Markers tend to get into a rhythm of marking and this helps to ensure essays are treated fairly.

Markers want students to do well. The most frequent feedback I gave on essays was ‘citation needed’, and the feedback I most loved to give was ‘Good’. In my experience, markers love seeing when students show they really understand the material and make well-structured arguments. I have never seen a marker delight in the errors made in an essay.

Moderation may look slightly different for each marker. A brand new marker may have a majority, or even all of their essays reviewed as a kind of quality assurance step, ensuring the essays they mark aren’t disadvantaged due to inexperience. Overall moderation tends to take a percentage of all essays, covering all the different grade bands (As, Bs, Cs, etc) to ensure equality across markers. They can provide feedback on the essays they review which will go back to the marker. The marker then reviews any feedback given and may make changes to feedback or grades based on the moderation comments.

At this point, the grades are ready for release, but that doesn’t mean the marker’s work is over. There is frequently a post-marking meeting where the markers and course convenor can discuss how marking went, if any adjustments need to be made for the future to improve things, and provide feedback to markers about their work.

I hope this peek behind the curtain of the marking process gives you clarity on what happens to your essay once you hit that ‘submit’ button and that it helps you feel confident that your markers want to see you succeed and have a rigorous process to follow to ensure your resulting grade is arrived at fairly. However, if you think a mistake was made and your mark isn’t right, remember that you can ask for clarity from your marker or course convenor and even contest the grade formally. If you want to learn more about contesting your grade, we have a full length blog post all about the process here.