How EST Essay is Marked

Is EST a difficult paper? In my school last year (2008), out of 54 SPM candidates who took EST, all but one passed. One student managed to get 2A while 32 got credits (3B - 6C).

Read this newspaper article:

Taiping’s Chong Huey Ee of SMK (P) Treacher Methodist, who took 16 subjects, missed out on the possibility of being the country’s top scorer when she obtained 15 1As but got a 2A in English for Science and Technology.

“Although I am disappointed that I did not score straight 1As, I can be proud that I scored 1As for the subjects I studied on my own – Science, Geography, Commerce, Principles of Accounting, Economics and Tasawwur Islam,” she said.

- The Star, 14 March 2006

The newspaper article above is not an isolated 'tragedy' concerning EST. There are many other students with the same fate as Chong Huey Ee - scored 1As in all subjects except EST. A student can get 1A in English Language and English Literature, but may not be able to get 1A for EST.

Most students who are unable to get 1A are victims of the essay section of the paper. Here, read on and get familiar as to how the EST essay is marked and what you need to do to get an A in the subject.

A* - Excellent (29-30 marks)

• All the criteria for Grade A are satisfied
• Appropriate tone and terminology are used
• A convincing piece of scientific writing

A - Excellent (24-28 marks)

• Full realisation of the task set
• All the content points given are utilised and elaborated
• Viewpoints are effectively analysed and justified
• Accurate use of language with a few first draft slips

B – Competent (19-23 marks)

• Full realisation of the task set
• All the content points given are utilised and elaborated
• Viewpoints are reasonably well analysed and justified
• Accurate use of language with some minor errors

C – Satisfactory (13-18 marks)

• Partial achievement of the task set
• Some of the content points given are utilised and elaborated
• Viewpoints are satisfactorily analysed and justified
• Some minor errors and gross errors in language

D - Modest (7-12 marks)

• Unsatisfactory attempt at the task set
• Some of the content points given are utilised and minimally elaborated
• Viewpoints are unsatisfactory analysed and justified
• Many gross errors in language

E – Weak (1-6 marks)

• Insufficient attempt at the task set
• Content points are merely mentioned
• Viewpoints are neither analysed nor justified
• Language is wrong

From this schema, candidates can easily score high marks (band A or B) by not making gross errors besides providing at least an elaboration for each point and adding some own information.

So, one final reminder before you step into the examination hall: double check your writing for grammatical and spelling errors before submitting it!