ANONYMOUS MARKING SYSTEM

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Student anonymity marking system is a system used in marking of examinations or assignments whereby the identity of the student is not disclosed to the examiner. This is mainly used to ensure that the students’ performance is only based on their merit in exams. Bias in marking may occur due to various reasons. Some of the most significant reasons are race, gender and personal knowledge of the student. This system has been in practice in many universities across the world. The same principles are also being applied to coursework which forms a large part of students’ cumulative assessment. Anonymous marking is not only helpful to the students but also to the stakeholders and examiners since it prevents them from accusations of bias and bullying. Universities and institutes that use this system issue random identification codes to candidates prior to examinations or simply use the student’s number which appears in the student’s identification cards. While this policy may be time consuming, it is more preferable since it prevents possible cases of conscious or unconscious bias. And, more importantly, it creates satisfaction among students and upholds the integrity of examiners. Therefore, Universities needs to implement this system to ensure fair and honest marking practices. From a series of studies conducted in the 1990s, it was proven that bias in marking may occur due to various reasons. The main reasons were found to be knowledge of the student’s ability, race or gender. Where the student’s identity is known to the examiner, bias in marking is almost inevitable. However, the concept of anonymous marking may not be applicable in some areas such as oral assessments. The effect of introduction of the anonymous marking system has been well documented. Between the year 1977 and