Curriculum for Excellence

[deste]

Does anyone have any experience of Curriculum for Excellence, DD has failed an essay but does not know where she has gone wrong. Anyone out there who could read what she has written and give some pointers. The feedback does not explain where she is lacking.
Thanks

How old is your dd and what subject is it? If she is in S3 or above, C for E is not really that relevant, you would be looking to understand the requirements of Higher, standard grade or whatever she is doing.

She would really be much better talking to her own teacher about this. It she is embarrassed in front of friends or something, she should ask if she could spend 10 mins one lunchtime going over the essay with the teacher.

Hi this is an essay for a post grad in Drama teaching but she has no idea what she has done wrong. She is working in a school for the next two weeks so has no chance to get back to university to discuss it. It has to be handed back in the following week. She keeps saying she is obviously no use at writing essays.

That's ridiculous. I'm afraid I don't know anything about the CfE, but I do know that the university has an obligation to give constructive feedback showing how a student can improve. Your daughter should e-mail her tutor and say (in a non-defensive way) that she is really wanting to do better but could she please have some more feedback on how she should go about this. Essay writing is a learned skill, not an innate ability. There are lots of sites on the internet that will give really good advice on writing an essay (also the OU 'Good Study Guide' is well worth buying). Most common reasons contributing to failing an essay include not referencing properly (or not doing enough background research for the topic), not having a logical flow of ideas, misinterpreting the question, and poor essay structure. Universities are collectively receiving a lot of criticism for not giving adequate feedback, especially as fees are now so high. If your daughter gets no joy from whoever marked the essay, she should not hesitate to e-mail or phone the course leader. If she approaches all communication with the attitude of really wanting to learn from the process, I can't think that they will hold it against her.

Thank you for that I will pass it on. Lots of good advice.