LISTENING COMPREHENSION – MARKING CRITERIA – LEVEL 1 – Post A-Level
The criteria below give an indication of how examiners grade listening comprehension in the language of study. The criteria are cumulative (a higher grade implies possession
of the skills described at lower grades, as well as the absence of deficiencies described at lower grades). At the same time, the grade profiles are necessarily general and
typical: a candidate need not fit all aspects of a profile to fall into that grade band and there may be elements that do not apply to every listening comprehension assessment.
Students should be aware that different languages may have different learning outcomes. Moreover, depending on the exercise being assessed, a proportion of the overall
mark may be awarded for related skills. Students can expect to be told by their language discipline if this is the case and how the mark is split. There may be elements that do
not apply to every listening comprehension assessment task.
1st
High 1st
90-100
Good 1st
80-89
Low 1st
70-79
High 2:1
65-69
2nd
Low 2:1
60-64
High 2:2
55-59
Low 2:2
50-54
3rd
40-49
26-39
Fail
0-25
Exemplary standard of understanding of extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled
explicitly. Virtually effortless comprehension of complex interactions and authentic spoken interactions.
Outstanding ability to comprehend extended speech and follow complex lines of argument. Student can understand news and current affairs segments
without problems if they are in standard dialect. Evidence of drawing valid inferences about the speaker’s intent or the general context.
Excellent level of comprehension of a range of audio or video input of standard speech, provided the topic is reasonably familiar. Student is able to
understand the gist and successfully listen for details. Higher levels of complexity with regards to vocabulary, constructions or inferring meaning may cause
minor miscomprehensions.
A very good level of comprehension of standard speech is displayed. The student possesses a sufficiently broad vocabulary and understanding of more
advanced structures, and has the ability to follow spoken interactions and make some successful inferences. The student can understand the main points
of a range of authentic audio-visual material on current affairs or topics of personal or professional interest, but there may be difficulties with nuanced
understanding.
An overall good level of comprehension is demonstrated. Students’ comprehension is appropriate to understand a range of spoken interactions.
Comprehension may be impeded at times due to a less broad vocabulary base or less secure knowledge of grammar, syntax or the particularities of
spoken interactions, especially when speakers converse more quickly or with non-standard accents.
Evidence of an overall competent level of comprehension. The student typically demonstrates the ability to follow the essentials of spoken interactions
accurately and to possess the ability to cope with less familiar spoken input. However, less frequent vocabulary or more complex statements tend to cause
comprehension problems and there usually are difficulties regarding the understanding of nuances and inferring meaning.
Evidence of an adequate level of comprehension. Comprehension of slower speech tends not to cause problems and there is solid evidence of
understanding of standard speech. However, at this level there are typically some problems with understanding the main points or speakers’ attitudes and
comprehension may break down at times due to a lack of compensating skills or strategies.
Satisfactorily understanding of phrases and high-frequency vocabulary related to familiar topics. Generally, the student is able to understand the gist and
speakers’ attitudes in clear and simple conversations, but struggles to understand the main points of clear standard speech and to sustain understanding in
longer utterances or less familiar topics.
Poor comprehension of many statements in the target language. The student is able to understand some main points in clear and simple messages and
recognise the main syntactic patterns and morphological forms characteristic of simple spoken language, but struggles consistently to comprehend
statements made at normal speed.
Inability to comprehend the majority of statements, even when people speak slowly and clearly. The student may be able to recognise familiar words and
basic phrases, but overall listening comprehension is severely limited.