Original post by john2054In theory this is all well and good, that your school has a bright and articulate team of markers, that stick to the rule book and grade strictly according to merit. However in practice, from the perspective of a student receiving marks, which have ranged from high firsts to fails, i can guarantee that this is not how it has seemed like for me.
It says in the mark scheme, that an element should be given for originality of thinking, as well as coherence of argument. So then i have had a couple of lecturers in my final year, who's teaching was absolutely abismal. A combination of lack of experience/qualifications on their part, and the assumption that the onus is on the student to perform. However what you are forgetting, is that it is very difficult for a student to perform, if they have not been taught right.
Sure the lecturer can 'fake' it, in that they can mark essays, correctly, without having taught them correctly. The thing is, this is not a levels, where it is simply enough to tell a class to read a chapter for homework and identify key themes. Or not even provide that level of input, instead providing a similar teaching input across three years of work, and then expecting presents to be handed out after the final presentation, and actually taking offence on any question of these modes. Both of which i have seen and been through.
As i said already, it is all good and well that you have markers who do their job properly, but if the teaching input is not lacking, then the whole system falls down. One of these lecturers i had a problem with, even failed one of my friend's partners final year dissertation, because she couldn't appreciate the concept of irony in drama. Ergo this woman wrote a ironic drama, well referenced and playing to absurd drama, which is a tradition which goes back over a hundred years. And this marker failed it. Even though, she has been averaging a first up to that point. Now she can't even do a masters, with the 2.2 grade she finished with. How do you explain this?