How your work is marked : University of Sussex

Find out about the process we go through to assess your work and give you feedback.

Marking criteria

All your work will be assessed against specific marking criteria.

This means your work will be marked using the same process as for everyone else.

Before you start an assessment, find out about the marking criteria. This gives you the best chance of doing well.

Ask your School where to find the marking criteria.

Our marking process is the same for all types of assessment – for example, an exam, essay or presentation.

The marking process begins once your deadline has passed or your exam has finished.

A marker will assess your work against the marking criteria and give you a provisional mark and feedback. Marking normally happens anonymously.

After provisional marks and feedback have been given, a checking process takes place to ensure consistency.

The exact process varies depending on the assessment.

For some assessments someone who hasn’t been involved in the marking process reviews a sample of the work.

This is to make sure marks and feedback are fair, consistent and appropriate.

An external examiner (normally an academic from another university) then reviews the same sample.

If your assessment took place during:

a teaching period, you’ll usually get your mark within three weeks
the semester 1 assessment period, you normally get your mark by week 3 of semester 2
the semester 2 assessment period, you get your mark after your School’s exam board has met.

You can check when your module marks for semesters 1 and 2 will be published by logging into Sussex Direct.

Important: Marks are provisional until they have been confirmed by the exam board.

If you resit one of your assessments, we follow the same marking process.

Results from the August resit period are normally published after a board meets in September.

If you want to discuss the mark you’ve been given, see your tutor.

If you’re unhappy with the decision of the exam board, find out about our appeals process.

If you think your performance in an assessment was impaired, you can submit a claim for exceptional circumstances.