Dissertation re marking.

poet123

My son has a friend;) who has just got her degree results. She was just on course for a 2.1, but her dissertation mark has let her down and she is now 2% under the threshold for a 2.1 and has been awarded a 2.2. She is very reluctant to do anything like appeal, and is inclined to accept the result, but he (my son) wonders if there is an avenue that could be explored.

After trying to comfort her (and him!) I have the following questions:-


As the dissertation is an objective mark, is it possible to apply for a re mark? Apparently, the dissertation was sent to a leading lawyer who was so impressed he asked to show it to colleagues, and another lecturer told her that the stats and detail in it were of the level of a PHD student, and yet it has achieved a mark of only 58% from the lecturer concerned.

I have looked at the Uni website, and it mentions profiling, but does not say whether that is an automatic process or whether you have to apply. Does anyone know how this works?

Obviously it is not my place to interfere, and I won't:D but she has asked for my thoughts and before I give them I would like to be sure of my ground.

Any help from Uni staff/students in the know, would be appreciated.

The_One_Who

Every department and every university will have its own procedures for this. She will need to go see her supervisor/personal tutor/head of department to find out how to go about getting an appeal or a re-mark. There are often a lot of hoops to jump through.

scottishblondie

Dissertations are genereally marked by 2 members of staff, if their opinions are radically different then someone else will usually be brought in for a 3rd opinion. This is why appeals are usually difficult.

Given that a degree is for life, I'd be inclined to appeal on a 2% margin. She should speak to her advisor of studies (or equivalent at her uni) and see how to proceed.

poet123

Are there always grounds for appeal on the margin? on their Uni site I can find no mention of this.

It mentions profiling if the results are borderline, but does not say if this is automatically done or whether you have to apply for this. She is so down, and is not wanting to rock the boat re references etc. Hard to know what to advise really.

The_One_Who

As SB says, they are usually at least double-marked, if not triple (if the first two cannot agree a mark) or quadruple which means bringing in the external examiner and even possibly requiring a viva. Although that is incredibly rare at undergraduate level.

The exam committee take everything into account when agreeing final degree classifications, although a good dissertation performance can help bump you up if necessary. This is all done behind closed doors. If a student wants to appeal or ask for a re-mark they need to follow the departmental procedures. These may be in a student handbook or they may need to go see their supervisor or someone else in the department for advice on how to go about it.

melancholly

it's also normal for the results from people who are very close to the boundaries to have their exams/work looked at in more detail, so my guess is that an appeal is unlikely to be successful.

unfortunatly having great stats doesn't always mean having a great written piece of work.... for 2% it may be worth a shot, but projects will have been double marked and then moderated....

as all the others have said, there will be specific pathways to follow which should be in a course handbook or on an intranet. those will need to be followed to the letter

Rosie75

poet123 wrote: »

Are there always grounds for appeal on the margin? on their Uni site I can find no mention of this.

It would be highly unlikely for the department to agree to a remark. The University appeals procedure will most likely say that students can only appeal if they have new mitigating evidence (ie. that was not available at the exam board) or if there is evidence of procedural irregularity. There is usually some wording in the regulations to say that students cannot challenge academic judgement (demanding a remark would fall under this rubric). If the mark or overall classification was borderline, then it will have been looked at by the external examiner, anyway - and that's after it's been marked by two internal members of staff. I have sat on exam boards and there is always lengthy discussion about any borderline cases - ultimately, if a borderline candidate is likely to win an appeal, the lower mark would simply not be awarded.

poet123

Thank you, having looked at the grounds for appeal I think you are correct. it would appear that mittigating circs, clerical error, or procedural irregularity are the only grounds.

Do you have any info on whether the borderline profiling is automatically done or has to be requested? I suspect it is the former but I just want to be clear. It seems she is within 2% of a 2.1, so near, and yet so far.

Rosie75

I'm almost certain that the profiling would have been done routinely for any borderline candidates as part of the Board of Examiners meeting. Ultimately, exam boards do not want to leave things open to appeal and they deliver a final classification, rather than one that can be revisited at a later stage. But there's no harm in asking the departmental Exams Officer or personal tutor to confirm this.

fleagle21

I'll pretty much agree with the majority here, if she is borderline her classification will have been heavily debated already. Unfortunately 2% under means just that - they have to draw the line somewhere. Doesn't make it any less frustrating though

dmv_2

Sorry to hear that she is disappointed, im graduating next week and know a lot of people who are disappointed because they feel they are just under a higher classification. Depending on the way the degree is conducted, the 2% under could come purely from the dissertation mark or a combined year 2/3 every essay overall mark. If it is (more commonly) from the combined total of a whole load of assignments then im sorry to say (as i have to lots of people) that actually its not that close to the higher classification because it would require more marks on many assignments rather than a couple more on 1 or 2 of them. Personally I just got 2.2% under a 1st but feel that its actually quite a big jump on numerous assignments so dont feel like they should have "given me the benefit of the doubt" or bumped me up a bit.

Sorry if that sounds rude but i generally think borderline marks are 1% or less so dont think they would even reconsider looking at it again or have had to think long and hard about grading it. Nonetheless, she can print out her overall mark weighting if it bothers her that much and prove she got a high 2:2 at job interviews...plus a lot of graduate jobs will accept a 2:2 so not the end of the world.