Marking criteria MSc CS (Conversion)
Guidelines to students and markers on standards expected at each level
70% - 100% - Excellent
Shows very good understanding supported by evidence that the student has gone beyond what was taught by extra study, programming, or creative thought. Work at the top end of this range is of exceptional quality. Write-up: well structured, proper references, proper discussion of existing relevant work, neatly presented, interesting, clear, proper disinterested critique of what is good and bad about approach taken, thoughts about where to go next with such work. Program: code that executes efficiently, incorporates sophisticated programming features, is non-redundant, well-structured, properly commented and elegant, addresses the problem effectively for a non-trivial application.
60% - 69% - Good
Very competent in all respects, substantially correct and complete knowledge but not going beyond what was taught. Program: code that executes, incorporates some complexity, is relatively well-designed and presented (eg separated into modules, commented), addresses a reasonably non-trivial problem.
55% - 59% - Satisfactory
Competent in most respects. Minor gaps in knowledge but reasonable understanding of fundamental concepts. Program: code that executes, and addresses a simple problem.
50% - 54% - Borderline
Significant gaps in knowledge but some understanding of fundamental concepts. Code that largely executes but is, for example, derived from exercise, lecture or textbook examples or minimally adjusts a program from a textbook or other source.
30% - 49% - Fail
Inadequate knowledge of the subject. Work is seriously flawed, displaying major lack of understanding, irrelevance or incoherence. Code that does not execute, or is not coherent in terms of the problem being addressed or the methods to be employed in doing this.
Below 30% - Unacceptable (or not submitted)
Work is either not submitted or, if submitted, so seriously flawed that it does not constitute a bona-fide script.