The 8-Mark Inference Question: Two Answers on the Desk
A class is practising an 8-mark inference question. The passage given to students reads, in part: "The bus was late again. Mr Ellison stood at the gate with his newspaper folded under his arm, checking his watch every few seconds, though he had nowhere to be until ten." The question asks: "What does the writer suggest about Mr Ellison? Support your answer with two pieces of evidence from the passage."
The mark scheme awards up to 3 marks for each valid point that is stated, supported by a quotation, and explained, plus 2 marks for the overall quality of the response. Two answers are on the desk.
Answer A: "He is impatient. The bus was late again and he checked his watch every few seconds. This shows he does not like waiting."
Answer B: "Mr Ellison is a man of routine who cares how he appears. His newspaper is 'folded under his arm', so he is neat even while waiting, and he 'stood at the gate', which shows he arrived early."
The teacher has ten minutes to write comments on both before the next lesson begins.
1. Award marks to Answer A and Answer B and justify the difference in your own terms.
Read the worked answer
A defensible split is A 5/8, B 4/8, and the reasoning matters more than the numbers.
Answer A - 5/8. "Impatient" is a valid inference and "checking his watch every few seconds" genuinely supports it, so this is a complete point: statement, evidence, explanation (3 marks). The explanation ("does not like waiting") only restates impatience, so it earns little extra. The second sentence adds no new point, and "the bus was late again" appears in the question stem, so it cannot count as evidence the candidate has selected. The overall response is thin but disciplined: every claim is anchored in the text.
Answer B - 4/8. "Cares how he appears" is the sharper inference on the desk, and the folded newspaper is well chosen. But the explanation stops short: it should say why the detail works - the paper is tidied away rather than read, which suggests a man managing himself in public. That is a 2-mark point rather than 3. The second point invents evidence: standing at the gate does not mean he arrived early, and unsupported inference earns nothing, however plausible.
Neither candidate uses "though he had nowhere to be until ten" - the detail that turns simple impatience into habit or status anxiety, since there is no practical reason to hurry. A fuller answer would build its first point on that line.
2. Write the comment you would put on Answer B (2–3 sentences) so that the student knows what to repeat and what to stop doing.
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"Your opening idea - that he cares how he appears - is the best sentence I marked today, and the folded newspaper is exactly the right detail to choose. The problem is your second point: 'arrived early' is not in the passage, and a marker can only credit what is actually there, however likely it seems. Before your next attempt, underline the words you intend to quote and check that each one is doing the work you claim for it."
Notice the shape: name the strength specifically (not "good work"), name the flaw as a procedural error rather than a failure of intelligence, and give one transferable action. Two sentences of praise without the correction teaches nothing; correction without the named strength gives the student no reason to keep the good habit.
3. Write the full-mark response the class should be aiming at.
Read the worked answer
"The writer presents Mr Ellison as a man of fixed habits whose routine matters more to him than its purpose. His newspaper is folded under his arm rather than being read, and he checks his watch every few seconds - repetitive, mechanical actions that suggest a private timetable he is anxious to keep. The aside though he had nowhere to be until ten confirms that the hurry is not practical: he is hurrying because hurrying is what he does, or because being seen to wait efficiently matters to him. The effect is gently comic rather than critical - the writer invites us to smile at him, not to dislike him."
Why this reaches the top band: two distinct points, each with a short embedded quotation rather than a block quote; each quotation is explained ("mechanical actions", "no practical reason"), not simply repeated; and the response comments on tone, which is where the final quality marks usually sit. Length is not the issue - this is about 110 words, and it would score higher than a 250-word retelling of the passage.