What Examiners Look For When Marking WASSCE and JECE Essays and Letters

Do you know what examiners look out for when marking essays and letters at the JECE or WASSCE?

Students preparing for any English language exam at the JSS or SSS know that they will be writing at least one letter or an essay. For this reason, they must know what examiners look out for when marking essays and letters.

Whether an essay or a letter, the examiner will mark based on the acronym COME, which stands for Content, Organisation, Mechanical Accuracy, and Expression. Students who understand the expectations of the examiner under each of these four headings stand a chance of doing well in the JECE or WASSCE.

Details of what are the four sections examiners look out for to master in essays or letters

What is the content of an essay?

The contents of a letter refer to the information you have provided that actually answers the question (essay or letter). The examiner, while marking your English composition paper, will read the essay to ensure that you have responded as expected to the question demands.

Let’s assume that the question you are answering is “Write a letter to your friend explaining three challenges you face in your village as a student.”

The body of the answer to this question should explain or discuss the challenges you face as a student in your village, without going into any further details.

If the candidate writes something that deviates from the examiner’s expectations, it is considered a deviation. Such an essay may score zero for content.

To avoid deviating, always take your time to thoroughly read the question, as most students who deviate either rush to write their answers or fail to understand the question. To get a good score for the content of the essay, do well to write an essay that answers the questions chosen.

What is the organisation of an essay?

Students should see the organisation of an essay as the plan, the features, the format, or the key sub-sections of the essay. It also includes how the student writes the answers in paragraphs. The facts you provide as answers must also be presented in an orderly and systematic order.

If the question answered is, say, a narrative essay, for instance, the examiner will look out for the title for the title of the essay and whether it captures the content and if it is centred and underlines.

The examiner will look for the systematic narrative, among others. If it is say a friendly letter, the examiner will look out for the address, date, solution, introduction, the body where the content is provided and answers the questions, the concluding paragraph, and the subscription.

Candidates must be away from the demands of each question. Points that are not well outlined or not well organised will earn the candidate fewer marks.

What is the expression of an essay?

Under this subsection, the English examiner will pay close attention to the correct usage of grammar, your tenses, and whether they are appropriate for the questions being answered or not. If you fail to read the question well, you may also fail to use the write tenses. If you use past tenses where you should use present continuous or you use the wrong subject-verb agreement, you will be losing marks in this instance.

For instance, if you are answering a formal letter question, do not forget to use formal expressions, appropriate vocabularies, and any other expressions that are fit for purpose as far as your answer is concerned.

What is the mechanical accuracy of an essay?

The mechanical accuracy of a letter refers to the correct usage of punctuation marks such as full stop (.), commas (.),  exclamation (!), question marks (?), and others. These must be used correctly and at the right places or portions of the essay. It is sad that many candidates earn low marks under the mechanical accuracy section of the marking scheme.

Writing long, winding sentences and paragraphs leads to very poor mechanical accuracy. By using (,) instead of question marks (?) for instance, you have created an inaccurate mechanical accuracy situation in your essay and will be penalised for it. The failure to use capital letters to start each sentence and each paragraph is a mechanical accuracy error. The student who fails to cross the “t” and does not end a sentence with a full stop when needed also commits a mechanical accuracy error, which the examiner will ring out and penalise for.

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It is important that students pay attention to the key sections of essays and letters and avoid errors that will reduce their scores. Always read through your essay because it will help you to correct many of these errors.

Now that you know what examiners look out for when marking WASSCE and JECE essays and letters, do you best to practice and master them.