• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

Got two different marks for the exact same essay? (2 Viewers)

leesh95

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2011
Messages
487
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2013
I wrote an essay for English and gave a draft to my teacher who is also a HSC marker. She gave me 19/20 and told me it was very concise and she liked it a lot. Then I gave the same essay to another teacher to mark who gave me 14/20 and told me that my structure was wrong.

So I am extremely confused. This essay has to be written for an exam and I don't know what to do.

Is it actually possible to have such a huge difference between things marked by two different teachers?
 

enoilgam

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Feb 11, 2011
Messages
11,906
Location
Mare Crisium
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2010
I wrote an essay for English and gave a draft to my teacher who is also a HSC marker. She gave me 19/20 and told me it was very concise and she liked it a lot. Then I gave the same essay to another teacher to mark who gave me 14/20 and told me that my structure was wrong.

So I am extremely confused. This essay has to be written for an exam and I don't know what to do.

Is it actually possible to have such a huge difference between things marked by two different teachers?
It is an unusual difference - is the second teacher a HSC marker?
 

russ3l

Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2011
Messages
258
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
Perhaps get a 3rd teacher to mark it and see how that goes? :) And yeah, that does sound outstandingly confusing...
 

LoveHateSchool

Retired Sept '14
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
5,136
Location
The Fires of Mordor
Gender
Female
HSC
2012
Uni Grad
2016
That discrepancy is massive, which teacher is better equipped as a marker? Also you should get a third opinion from another English teacher, perhaps the head or a HSC marker if you can.

If it was a 2 mark discrepancy yeah ok, but that's massive.
 

Trebla

Administrator
Administrator
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
8,401
Gender
Male
HSC
2006
What school? If you went to my school, something like a HSC 15/20 essay would be marked as 10/20 by these teachers.
 

iSplicer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
1,809
Location
Strathfield
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Uni Grad
2017
I wrote an essay for English and gave a draft to my teacher who is also a HSC marker. She gave me 19/20 and told me it was very concise and she liked it a lot. Then I gave the same essay to another teacher to mark who gave me 14/20 and told me that my structure was wrong.

So I am extremely confused. This essay has to be written for an exam and I don't know what to do.

Is it actually possible to have such a huge difference between things marked by two different teachers?
Go with the HSC marker. That difference is huge, a 1-2 mark difference always happens but such a huge gap suggests that one of the teachers has no idea what they're doing. Get a third opinion!
 

Bobbo1

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Messages
971
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Go with the HSC marker they tend to be more objective in their marking whereas everyday school teachers have their take on a text and if you disagree with them, you may get penalized.
 
Joined
Sep 26, 2012
Messages
80
Gender
Female
HSC
N/A
Definitely go with the HSC marker, but it might be worth considering whether you can take on board the comments from the other marker in terms of your structure. The HSC marker gave you 19/20, which indicates there's still some room for improvement, and perhaps the comments by the second marker about structure could be useful in improving your essay style?
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top