Want a first class degree? Follow these steps

I need to get a first in this assignment.

I need to get a good grade for this essay.

This dissertation is a make-or-break assignment, I need to do really well in it.

This blogpost lays out four really important steps to ensure you’re getting Firsts for your assignments.

(1) Know your numbers

Where are your grades right now? You would be amazed the number of students I talk to about how to get better grades and they can’t tell me exactly what grades they’ve got for their assignments or what the average is. If you don’t know your numbers, inside out, we’re stabbing in the dark when it comes to setting goals!

Ensure that you get hold of all the grades you received last semester, and the feedback that came with them.

(2) Analyze your feedback, and own it!

Set aside 1 ½ to 2 hours and start going through that feedback.

Get it all into a Word document, print it out and grab some highlighter pens.

Start by reading through it without taking any notes. Absorb it, take it in, make sure you understand it.

Next, summarise the grader’s comments for each assignment in your own words. Often feedback is given in quite a stuffy, formal, academic way, so translate that into something that is more relatable and accessible for you.

Now, look across your summaries.

Is there anything that’s appearing repeatedly? Can you see the same – or a similar comment being made more than once? This includes both positive and negative comments – things that you’re doing well AND things you need to improve.

Grab a piece of paper or start a new Word document and put into two columns: (1) things I’m doing well; (2) things I need to improve.

(3) Decide and visualize

You are now going to think about what grade you want to achieve in this assignment. Be precise. Where are you aiming for? Where exactly do you want to land? 72? 75? 80? 92?

What grade do you want to see on that assignment when you get it back? What number do you want to see in the grade box on your feedback sheet?

That is your target. Wrap your head around that number, write it down, think about it.

Visualize opening up that feedback file, imagine looking at the grade and seeing that number you’ve just decided on. It’s real, it’s a thing. And now, we’re going to manifest

(4) analyze the marking criteria

Set aside another 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Get hold of the marking criteria that relate to your ssignment. You will find these where you normally find the documentation for the module or unit - Moodle, Blackboard, other Virtual Learning Environment.

These documents will give you some detail about the different grade categories and the key characteristics of work that falls within those categories.

Pay particular attention to what the descriptors say about the category that your target mark falls into.

Do some detailed analysis of the descriptors and pick out the adjectives - the describing words.

These contain clues you can use to start unpicking exactly what an assignment with that target grade looks like.

They might include words and terms like: sharply focused; comprehensive; critical; creative; independent.

Focus on one at a time and think through what they mean.

For example …

Sharply focused: Sticking to the question, not including irrelevant material, not going off on a tangent. For more details, see my blogpost on staying focused on the question.

Critically: Not just describing themes, theories and ideas something but interpreting them and evaluating them. To boost your critical analytical skills, check out my blogpost on three-step critical analysis.

Go back and cross reference the marking criteria analysis with the analysis of your own feedback that you completed in step 2. What have graders commented upon in the past in terms of what you do well, what you do some of, and what you don’t do at all? This will give you a list of things to work on, so get going! Once you dive into the details and really analyze these adjectives, you’ll see how you can turn them into actual action points: things that you can go and look into, research, do, implement.

For a more detailed walk through of marking criteria analysis, check out my YouTube video below, in which I use an example from the University of Edinburgh!