Field Seminars
How the essay is marked
Every Field Seminar essay, 1,000 to 3,000 words, is marked out of 100 by the mentor against the same five criteria, whoever the mentor is. Students have the criteria before they write, so they can check their own work against them.
The five criteria
| What is judged | Marks | What earns marks |
|---|---|---|
| Subject understanding | 25 | The concepts your argument needs, used accurately and no more of them than you need. |
| Question and argument | 20 | A focused question and one line of reasoning that answers it from start to finish. |
| Selection and use of evidence | 25 | Well chosen sources, reported accurately, combined rather than listed one by one. |
| Evaluation and judgement | 20 | Weighing how strong the evidence is, and letting that change what you conclude. |
| Communication and referencing | 10 | Clear writing, sensible structure, citations that let a reader find your sources. |
The subject-understanding criterion takes the field's name in each seminar (psychological understanding in a psychology seminar, and so on). Each criterion is scored on its own and the total is sense-checked against the overall guide below; a single weakness is never counted twice.
A seminar that ends in a project rather than an essay is marked against its own criteria, set out in the project brief.
The overall guide
-
85 to 100 · Exceptional
Focused, accurate and genuinely analytical. Mature for the level and the evidence trail is secure.
-
70 to 84 · Strong
Well chosen evidence and convincing reasoning, with limitations that are minor rather than structural.
-
55 to 69 · Secure
Meets the standard. Accurate and readable, but descriptive in places or short on evaluation.
-
40 to 54 · Developing
Parts are there, but focus, evidence or attribution are weak enough to limit the work materially.
-
0 to 39 · Not yet
Does not yet show accurate, supported, independently written work at this level.
Marks above 85 need work that is genuinely exceptional for the level, not merely tidy. Second-language phrasing or unconventional structure never depresses a score the reasoning has earned.
Two checks before marking
These are conditions, not scored criteria, and marks are never adjusted for them.
-
Working papers
The approved question, evidence table, outline, evidence of drafting and AI record are attached. If they are not, the essay comes back unmarked rather than marked down.
-
Authorship
If authorship or source use is unclear, the mentor asks the student to talk through their sources and drafts, and resolves it in conversation. AI-detection scores are never treated as evidence on their own.
Engagement, the remaining 10 per cent
Scored once, at the end, from what the mentor has seen across the seminar. It scores academic action, never temperament: not attendance, confidence or talkativeness. It can be shown in discussion, in notes or in writing, whichever suits the student.
- Preparation. Comes to sessions having done the agreed reading or task.
- Working with the material. Tests ideas, asks real questions, engages with what is difficult.
- Response to feedback. Acts on feedback and can explain what changed.
- Ownership of the work. Takes ownership of the decisions and completes the agreed steps, using any agreed supports.
- Final reflection. Identifies specific growth, remaining uncertainty and a realistic next step.
What the seminar is built from
Every seminar is written in full before it starts: a syllabus, an assessment brief, a research toolkit and a reading bank, with a mentor guide and a marking pack, so every piece of work is marked against the same published criteria. The structure, assessment and criteria stay the same in every delivery; the assigned mentor adapts the examples and reading.
The sample below, in medicine, is laid out as a student would receive it: the syllabus, then the assessment brief with the criteria the essay is marked against.
Sample syllabus and assessment brief Medicine: Evidence, Ethics and Uncertainty How a Field Seminar is written before the first session, with medicine as the field: the session plan and reading, and the brief and criteria the essay is marked against. PDF, 12 pages