Assessment
Assessment criteria
Language-based units of study use a wide variety of assessment tasks. Each task you are asked to complete will be explained by your lecturer or tutor, and details of marking criteria will be given. If anything is unclear to you about the requirements for any particular task, please ask in class.
Full details of assessment, including assessment criteria, are always supplied in each unit of study guide.
Raw marks
The University of Sydney implements a policy called “merit grade distribution.” This policy imposes limits on the proportion of students enrolled in each unit of study and/or in each department who can receive each of the “merit grades” (credit, distinction and high distinction). If a department's marks are seriously at variance with the guidelines, it is necessary to “scale” the original marks that your instructors give you (the “raw marks”).
This department tries to avoid the necessity of scaling marks, but it cannot promise that it will never do so. You should therefore regard all marks that you are given throughout the semester as “raw marks.” Only the final results issued by the Student Centre after the end of the semester have any official status.
For information on the Faculty wide grading system, please visit the Faculty of Arts website.
Special Consideration
Applications for special consideration on the grounds of illness or misadventure should be made through the Faculty of Arts. Special consideration is designed to allow students more time to complete assessed work if this is necessary, and to ensure that they are not penalised for missing tests or examinations if this is because of illness or misadventure. This might mean being given the opportunity to sit an exam on another day, to submit an alternative form of assessment, or to be awarded an average mark so that the total for the course is not affected. It is not normally possible to raise marks, except in the case of marks for participation which will not take into account absences during the period in which special consideration applies.
Special consideration only applies to short-term illness or misadventure. Students who miss substantial parts of a course or its assessment may be advised to withdraw from the unit in accordance with University policy.
More information and an application form can be found here.
