It's time to drop the dead parrot 4

You report that one academic thought an essay was first class while three others graded the work as third class. You could as well say that 96 of the 100 graded that essay as a second, the mark awarded. In the other essay five awarded an upper second and one a fail: 94 per cent were apparently agreed on a lower second. Such results certainly do not deserve the description of a "lottery".

Edwin H. Cox
School of Pharmacy
University of London