Predicting essay grades for the Swedish national writing test based on the new grading scale A-F

Sammanfattning: Based on the curriculum of 2011 a new grading scale ranging from A-F was introduced in the Swedish upper secondary school system. Previous research on similar data have focused on the earlier grading scale, and its crucial that the new circumstances are addressed to understand the impact on grading. Using 348 essays from the national writing test this study investigates the use of automated essay scoring as a way of grading in this new setting. Using various classication methods the models for younger students outperform the corresponding models for older students. This implies that it is harder to predict grades on essays written by older students. Based on the current data the result shows that with the new grading scale the use of automated essay scoring should be used with caution.