MARKING CRITERIA PAPER 1 2019

MARKING CRITERIA FOR PAPER 1

BAND /
MARKS A B C D E
(17 – 20) (13 - 16) (9 - 12) (5 - 8) (1 - 4)
CRITERIA
Very good Good attempt at Satisfactory Inadequate Poor attempt at
attempt at the the task. Largely attempt at the attempt at the the task. Hardly
task. Successfully fulfilled. task. Sufficiently task. Partially fulfilled.
fulfilled. fulfilled. fulfilled.
TASK Intention: Intention: Intention: Clear Intention: Intention:
FULFILLMENT Entirely clear Largely clear in most areas Partially clear Very unclear
Instructions: All Instructions: Instructions: All Instructions: Instructions:
instructions Most important ones Minimal Almost all not
followed instructions followed instructions followed
followed followed
No effort is Minimal effort is Some effort is Significant effort Excessive effort
required of the required of the required of the may be required is required of the
reader. reader. reader. of the reader reader
Grammatical Grammatical Grammatical Grammatical Grammatical
Structures: Structures: Structures: Structures: Structures: Very
Accurate Largely accurate Simple but Partially simple with
GRAMMATICAL mostly correct accurate frequent and
& LANGUAGE serious mistakes
ACCURACY Errors: Errors: Errors: Errors: Errors: Very
Very few basic Some minor Often. Mostly More frequent. frequent.
errors with few errors. Errors SWEs. Hampers Mostly MWEs. Impedes
first draft slips. may hamper reading. Do not meaning.
reading. significantly
impede
meaning.
All elements of All elements of One content Content Very little of the
the message are the language are element omitted elements message is
fully communicated. but others omitted, or communicated
communicated clearly unsuccessfully
communicated. dealt with, so
the message is
only partly
ORGANISATION
communicated.
&
Content: Content: Content: Content: Content:
DEVELOPMENT All relevant Most relevant Some relevant Some details Omission,
details included. details included. details included. included. Ideas irrelevance
Ideas well- Ideas developed Ideas sufficiently lack
developed & and organised. developed organisation.
well-organised
with supporting
details.

1
 MARKING CRITERIA PAPER 1 2019

Varied and Largely varied Some variety Lacks variety & Distorted
effective are repetitive. sentence
structures
Basic. Large Adequate range Sufficient range Partial range of Poor range of
range of lexis to of lexis to of lexis to lexis to complete lexis to complete
LEXICAL complete the complete the complete the the task. the task.
ACCURACY & task. task. task.
SENTENCE Word Order: Word Order: Word Order: Word Order: Word Order:
STRUCTURE Correct with More noticeable Mostly correct Rearranging of Often wrong
occasional slips. word order error words needed
more often.
Punctuation: Punctuation: Punctuation: Punctuation: Punctuation:
Used properly Used with Mostly effective Sometimes Often wrong
throughout. occasional slips effective

Interest is Interest is largely Interest is Interest is Interest is hardly

INTEREST aroused & aroused. sufficiently partially aroused aroused.
sustained aroused

Note:
1. Award ‘0’ mark when:
 Content is totally irrelevant, i.e. mindless lifting of irrelevant chunks from other sources,
including rubrics.
 Target reader is not informed.
 There is no response or response is written in language other than English.
2. Candidates should aim to use a range of tenses, expressions and vocabulary, even if these contain
some minor mistakes. It’s important for candidates to show the full range of their language ability
and to be ambitious in their use of language.
3. Non-impeding errors, which do not affect communication, will not necessarily be penalised. These
include spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. However, errors which interfere with or cause a
breakdown in communication will be treated more severely.
4. The length of the response should not be a criterion in awarding marks. Award marks based on
the quality and relevance of the response.
5. When awarding marks, apply the ‘best fit’ principle. No script will fit neatly into any one of the
bands. To determine the appropriate mark, identify the band and the response fits into and refer
to the criteria in the band. Examiners should assess the script holistically and always refer to the
coordinated scripts for consistency.