Requesting Additional Assessment Feedback and Querying Marks
This page contains information on how to proceed if you think there is an error with how one of your assignments has been marked. It is important to remember that everybody is human, and mistakes are part of the human condition. While we try to avoid mistakes with assignment marking, they are bound to arise on rare occasions. That is why we have a process for enabling you to query your assignments and to have errors corrected. It goes without saying that due courtesy and respect should be upheld by all involved in the marking process and in any discussion of marks or feedback.
If you are seeking a remark for a group assessment where there is a mark that the whole group received (e.g., there may be a small portion of the marks shared across the group or the whole mark is shared across the group), you will need to have a 50% agreement from your group before you can proceed to each step.
Step 1. Wait 24-48 hours after reading your feedback.
We are hardwired to interpret feedback in very negative ways, we are also hardwired to internalise and interpret feedback as reflections of who we are as individuals. Rarely is feedback provided with the intention of it being unconstructive or personal. Providing yourself 24-48 hours from reading your feedback can help you to separate yourself from the assignment and to consider the feedback and your grade with a clearer mind.
Step 2. Request Informal Assignment Discussion with Unit Coordinator via Email
If after waiting 24-48 hours you are still convinced that the assignment has been marked incorrectly or you would like to talk about your feedback further, contact your unit coordinator via email to discuss your grade within 5 business days of receiving your feedback. In your email, you should include information about what you would like to talk about.
Your unit coordinator will either respond via email to your queries or organise a meeting with you to then discuss your assignment. Unit coordinators will provide further feedback to you and outline any minor adjustments to your grade if appropriate. Please note that changes in grade are the exception to the rule.
Step 3. Request Formal Assignment Remark via Remark Request Form
Following your informal assignment discussion, if you have evidence that there are still errors in your marking or that your concerns were not heard, you can apply for a formal remark within 5 business days of your informal assignment discussion. To make this request, you must complete the remark request form which will go to your course coordinator. Your course coordinator can deny your request.
If approved, a naïve marker (someone that has never seen your assessment) will remark a clean copy of your work. If the naïve marker is within 10% of your original mark, you will receive the average of the two grades. Where the naïve marker is more than 10% different, another naïve marker will mark your work and you will receive the median of the three grades. The new grade is the final grade. Formal remarking can result in a lower grade.
Step 4. File for Grievance
In rare cases, you may be able to file for an informal resolution in accordance with point 5.1 of the Cairnmillar Grievance Policy after your formal remark if there were problems with the formal remark process. This resolution is the start of a series of resolutions to settle formal disputes between students and staff (see Grievance Policy for details). A request for a resolution of any level may be denied.
Reasons that will not result in a revision of grades
A remark is never guaranteed and will be denied if there is insufficient evidence that the assessment has been marked incorrectly. Below are some common reasons why a remark or change in grades may be denied:
- Feeling your grade does not reflect your effort
- e.g., “I worked every day for two weeks; I deserve more than a pass.”
- The time spent completing an assessment is not correlated with the quality of the assessment (like those that do great assessments the night before)
- Feeling your grade does not reflect your intentions
- e.g., “I was trying to say X…”
- This highlights written expression issues where you may not be correctly communicating an idea in writing
- Comparing your work to a friend’s work
- e.g., “My friend took the same approach as me, but they did better than me.”
- This argument is only true if the assessments are identical, but this is collusion or plagiarism.
- To meet a grade-based hurdle to progress in your degree or onto another degree
- e.g., “I need 70 to get into MPPP.”
- The onus is on you to produce work worthy of the needed grade.
- Lack of time to adequately complete an assessment but did not request an extension
- e.g., “I was overloaded with assessments, work, and placement.”
- If deadlines cannot be met, then an extension should have been requested.
- If an extension could not be submitted on time, then a special considerations could have been submitted (even after the deadline)
- Rubric/moderation/marking is subjective
- e.g., “Essay marking is subjective; another marker might mark me higher.”
- All marking undergoes assessment level, unit level, and course level moderation to ensure grades are representative of the quality of the assessment.
- Remarking may result in a marginally lower grade for the same reason it may produce a marginally higher grade.
Thesis Marks:
Please contact your supervisor if you feel you have grounds for a remark. Your supervisor will then discuss this with you and the process for remarking your thesis.
Remarking theses results in the original marker reports being discarded and a new set of markers assessing thesis. However, please note that this is unlikely to occur for thesis results because the thesis has already been marked twice (or more) and the marks need to be very close in order for your result to be finalised in the first case.