8 February 2026
What Do University Markers Actually Look For?
An honest account of what goes through a marker's mind when reading a student essay, and the things that consistently separate good work from great work.
Marking essays is a skilled but repetitive task. A typical university lecturer might read sixty to a hundred student essays in a single assessment period, while also running seminars, keeping up with their own research, and dealing with the kind of administrative load that makes marking feel like a luxury. Understanding that context isn't cynical. It's useful. It tells you something about how to make your essay easy to mark well.
I say this as someone who has been on both sides of that process.
The First Impression Is Real
Most experienced markers form an initial sense of an essay's quality within the first two paragraphs. This isn't bias; it's pattern recognition. A well-structured introduction that clearly states the argument, scopes the discussion, and signals the approach is a reliable predictor of what follows. Markers know this, even if they don't say it out loud.
Investing time in your introduction pays disproportionate returns. A clear, confident opening tells the marker that you understand what the question is asking and that you have something coherent to say about it. A vague, hedging introduction tells them the opposite.
An Argument, Not a Tour
One of the most consistent frustrations in marking is essays that present information without an argument. A student who writes "Smith (2018) argues X. Jones (2020) argues Y. There are many perspectives on this issue" has demonstrated reading. They have not demonstrated thinking.
What markers want to see is that you've formed a view, and that you're prepared to defend it with evidence. Even in disciplines where objectivity is prized, the process of weighing evidence and reaching a conclusion is an argument. You're not being asked to be polemical. You're being asked to think.
Evidence Used Purposefully
A common habit in student writing is using quotations or citations as padding, as proof that sources exist, rather than as evidence for a specific point. Markers see this constantly, and it rarely scores well.
The better approach is to use each source purposefully. Introduce it, explain what it shows, and connect it explicitly to your argument. Ask yourself: if I removed this citation, would my argument be weaker, or the same? If the answer is "the same," the citation isn't working.
Structure That Serves the Argument
Good markers look at whether the essay hangs together as a whole. Does each section follow logically from the last? Does the conclusion actually conclude something, or does it just summarise what was already said?
The most common structural failure I see is the "list" format: five or six points made in sequence, none of them connected to each other. Strong essays have a through-line, a central argument that each section develops or interrogates. If you removed one of your sections and the essay still made complete sense, that section isn't load-bearing.
Honest Engagement With Complexity
Contrary to what many students assume, markers are not looking for certainty. Acknowledging the limits of your argument, noting where evidence is contested, conceding a point before refuting it, these are signs of intellectual maturity. What markers don't want is for you to pretend a question is simpler than it is.
A hedge used well demonstrates critical thinking. Excessive hedging to avoid taking any position at all is a different matter entirely, and experienced markers can tell the difference.
Referencing, Invisible When Right
Experienced markers can spot referencing errors without looking closely. Inconsistent citation styles, misformatted in-text citations, incomplete reference lists, all of these signal carelessness. And carelessness in academic writing undermines credibility.
Referencing should be invisible to the reader. When it's done correctly, they don't notice it. When it's done badly, it creates friction and raises questions about the care taken with the work as a whole, and invites greater scrutiny of everything else.
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