High distinction

85 - 100

A response at the HD level will demonstrate flair for the subject area.  A comprehensive understanding of the material should be apparent, and clear critical evaluation of the subject area supported by evidence and examples.  There must be no factual errors. More than this, you should demonstrate clear evidence of wider knowledge and reasoning (that is, knowledge additional to that required by the essay question, and reasoning that places this knowledge in contexts that may be new or novel relative to the prescriptions of the essay).  You must demonstrate wide and independent reading (again, beyond that specified or required by the question) and the use of high-quality, peer-reviewed information to support their arguments.  Citation and referencing must be consistent and without error. Presentation, expression and grammar must be outstanding.  The essay must be clearly and logically structured to support the argument being made.  Figures and tables (if any) must be clear, captioned and appropriately referenced. An award of HD is an exceptional achievement, given sparingly.

Distinction

75 - 84

A response at the DI level will demonstrate high-level aptitude for the subject area.  The essay should indicate a strong understanding of the material, incorporating all of the relevant factual information as specified by the question. Evidence of critical evaluation should be apparent. There should be no significant factual errors.  Some evidence of independent and original thinking should be apparent.  There must be evidence for the use of a wide range of credible, peer-reviewed sources to support arguments made in the essay.  Citation and referencing must be consistent and without significant error. Presentation, expression and grammar must be of very high quality, and the essay should be clearly and logically structured. Figures and tables (if any) must be clear, captioned and appropriately referenced. An award at the DI level is an excellent achievement.

Credit

65 - 74

A response at the CR level will demonstrate a good understanding of the subject area, incorporating most of the relevant knowledge or facts as specified by the question. There is evidence of a sound understanding of the material, and that this understanding has been successfully applied to the essay question. There may be some limited evidence of critical independent thinking and/or originality of thought.  There should be few significant factual errors, and the essay should incorporate most of the relevant factual information as specified by the question.  There must be evidence of a range of sources, most of which must be credible, peer-reviewed sources.  Presentation should be clear, and expression should be of good quality, with few typographical or grammatical errors. Figures and tables (if any) must be clear, captioned and appropriately referenced. An award at the CR level is a good achievement.

Pass

50 - 64

A response at the PS level will demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of the subject area.  The essay should include some of the relevant knowledge or factual information.  While the response is judged to adequately answer part or all of the question posed, there may be some significant factual errors and omissions.  A limited range of sources is apparent, a proportion of which will be non-peer reviewed.  Citation and referencing may be inconsistent through the essay and there may be several errors in fact, formatting or style.  Presentation may be poor, and a logical structure unclear or absent.  Expression may be deemed adequate, but there will be several grammatical or typographical errors that compromise the flow and meaning of the essay. Figures and tables (if any) may be unclear, not captioned or inappropriately referenced. An award at the PS level is satisfactory, and should be considered a ‘threshold’ achievement.

Fail

0 - 49

A response at the FA level will demonstrate an unsatisfactory or inadequate level of understanding of the subject area.  The essay response will include little of the relevant knowledge or factual information required to properly address the set question. There may be few references, and a large proportion of these may derive from non peer-reviewed sources. Citation is inadequate, with several unsupported factual statements.  Citation and referencing may be inconsistent with numerous errors.  Presentation is poor, with no structure explicit or otherwise.  Expression is very poor to poor, with numerous and repetitive typographical and grammatical errors.  The essay is difficult to read, and the meaning of the prose may be unclear. Figures and tables (if any) will be unclear, inappropriate for the purpose, not captioned or inappropriately referenced. An award at the FA level is unsatisfactory and below the threshold standard for achievement at this year level.