HSC English essay feedback, module by module

English is the one subject every HSC student sits. Upload the marking criteria from your assessment notification — or a past HSC marking guideline — with your essay, and Mark shows you exactly where the marks are, line by line.

Mark my essay freeTakes about a minute.

Not generic writing tips: a mark per criterion with the quoted sentence that earned it.

One thing before we start: I never write a word for you. I mark your draft against your rubric — like a teacher's first pass — so youdo the improving. Check your school's policy on AI feedback, and acknowledge your use of it where required.

How to use Mark honestly (and acknowledge it properly) →

How it works

Add your rubric

Upload or paste the criteria your work will actually be marked against — e.g. your Module B assessment notification, or a past HSC English marking guideline.

Upload your draft

Drop in the PDF (or paste the text). Mark reads it against every criterion and scores it, quoting the exact lines that earned the marks.

Improve and re-mark

Fix what he flagged, run it again, and watch the mark move. That loop is how essays climb to the top grades.

New — chat with Mark about your essay

Not sure why you lost marks? Just ask him.

Every marked essay now has a chat. Ask Mark why a criterion landed where it did, what “more analysis” actually means, or where to start on your re-draft — and he'll talk it through with you, pointing to the exact lines in your essay.

He'll never write it for you. He asks the questions a good teacher would, so the improving stays yours.

See it before your marker does

Mark your draft, fix what he flags, watch the mark climb.

Mark scores your draft against your rubric and quotes the exact line behind every mark. You fix the two things holding it back, run it again — and the number moves. That loop is the whole game.

Marked against your rubric. Your criteria, not a generic template.
Evidence for every score. The exact line that earned it — or cost you the mark.
Revise and re-mark. Improve the draft, run it again, and see the mark climb.

Draft 2 · +3 marks

Fix these two lines and this is a 5.

markthatpaper.com/essay/my-railways-draft

Your essay

“How did railways change everyday life in Victorian Britain?”

Your rubric · 4 criteria

Mark is reading your draft…

842 words

The line Mark quoted

“The railways did not simply move people faster — they reshaped the ordinary rhythm of the day, standardising the clocks between towns and turning a distant city into somewhere you could visit and be home from before dark. Bradshaw's timetable soon sat in every household.”

Analysis & argument

Builds a reasoned, evidenced case

01234

NOW SITTING AT 4 / 5here's the top band

You name the cause — now push it. Add one sentence on the consequence you hint at, and this criterion tips into the top band.

Draft 1

14 / 20

Draft 2

17 / 20

Works across Module A, B and C

The current prescriptions — including Modules A, B and C for Standard and Advanced — apply through the 2026 HSC (a new syllabus is first examined in 2027). Whichever module your assessment sits in, the method is the same: Mark reads your essay against the exact criteria your marker will use and scores each one with quoted evidence, so you can see whether the marks are being lost to argument, evidence or expression.

Where English essays actually lose marks

Most drafts don't fail on ideas — they lose marks on the criteria: a thesis that describes instead of argues, evidence that's quoted but not analysed, or paragraphs that drift from the question. Because Mark ties every point to a criterion and a line in your work, you find out which of those is costing you — instead of getting a vague "add more analysis".

The redraft loop is how bands move

One practice essay with one round of feedback rarely shifts a band. Mark's loop — draft, mark, fix what the criteria flagged, re-mark — lets you run three or four rounds on the same essay before an assessment or trials, at a fraction of the $30+ per essay a human marking service charges.

Start free. Most students go for the plan.

Start with 2 free marks — enough to mark a draft, improve it, and mark it again. Then keep going for less than the price of one human-marked essay.

Your next draft could be a grade higher.

Mark my essay free

Are you a teacher? Mark works for you too →