Benchmarking in geography: some implications for assessing dissertations in the undergraduate curriculum

Internationally there is concern about assessment standards and the qualiti es of graduating students. In the UK this is resulting in the introduction of benchmarking by disciplinary communities, including that of geography. I n that context the authors report on a project across social science discip lines, including geography, in one UK university, to examine and improve th e assessment of undergraduate dissertations. The project examined what asse ssment criteria are currently published to students and identified some sou rces of inconsistency in applying them. It identified some potential core c riteria and recommended ways of increasing transparency in applying them, s o as to reduce inconsistencies and potential unfairness in marking. Implica tions for geography departments and the international disciplinary communit y are suggested and for the benchmarking exercise in British geography.