What is a marking rubric?

A marking rubric breaks a writing score into separate criteria — ideas, structure, vocabulary, sentences, conventions — and describes what each level looks like for each one. It's how marking stays consistent between different examiners and different students.

For a writer, the rubric is a gift: it tells you in advance exactly what you're being judged on. The fastest way to improve is to find which single criterion is holding your score back and train just that.