examiner marking strictness

i've started to wonder how strictly the examiners mark my paper, is there much leeway at all? Does anyone know or can anyone give some insight it would be much appreciated

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

For GCSE and A-level the marking rubrics are quite clear and prescriptive as I understand. It should be very clear if you get given marks or not I believe.

At degree level marking lecturers may be able to give you the benefit of the doubt more.

Reply 2

PinkMobilePhone

Chat Forum Helper, Life & Style Forum Helper

which exams are you referring to?

Reply 3

Amna_tutor

Hi, depends on the subject. I mark chemistry, and there is not much leeway at all. We normally accept synonyms unless there is a special term you have to mention (usually it’s written in bold in the mark schemes, so definitely pay attention to those words). For some explanatory questions the mark schemes are very strict, and I very often see the answers which I’d give a mark for, but the mark scheme won’t allow it. And sometimes the answer accepted in one board would get a zero in another. On the other hand, ECFs for calculations are usually very straightforward, so at least that works well in A-levels. The most difficult questions to mark are 6 markers (the ones with a communication mark and levels of answer) - these are often very subjective, and it’s common to have a difference of 1-2 marks between me and the moderator who checks my marking.

Reply 4

Reality Check

Original post

by Amna_tutor

The most difficult questions to mark are 6 markers (the ones with a communication mark and levels of answer) - these are often very subjective, and it’s common to have a difference of 1-2 marks between me and the moderator who checks my marking.

Erm, I've been involved in AQA biology assessment for more years than I care to remember, and if this were 'commonplace', from someone on my team then they'd be stopped from marking that question! A 2 mark difference in a 6 mark answer is way out of tolerance.

Reply 5

Amna_tutor

Original post

by Reality Check

They allow around 3 marks difference for the entire paper, most of the difference coming from the 6 marks questions (that’s the highest scoring question), so the tolerance is applied to the entire paper, not just one question. But I am not marking AQA, and I am not marking biology, so I don’t think you can make a fair comparison.

(edited 7 months ago)

Reply 6

Doomotron

Original post

by xerces3

i've started to wonder how strictly the examiners mark my paper, is there much leeway at all? Does anyone know or can anyone give some insight it would be much appreciated

It's worth having a look at past papers and their marking schemes, which you can find online. It helps to know what the people marking are looking for and how strict the questions are, because depending on the subject and question type it can vary.