Report cards and grading

What an analytical rubric actually looks like

A worked History item, its six bases, and how each one is scored from 1 to 4.

Irumba Sharif · 30 August 2026 · 2 min read

The word rubric gets used loosely. Under the new curriculum it means something specific: a table that names each skill the item assesses and describes what a 4, a 3, a 2 and a 1 look like for that skill. Here is a real one.

The item

A History Paper 1 item on Kabalega's resistance to British colonial rule in Bunyoro. It opens with a scenario: Kabalega led sustained resistance between 1872 and 1899, supported by his standing army the Abarusura, delaying British consolidation for almost a decade before his capture at Kangai. A British officer writing in 1897 is quoted describing his forces as striking and vanishing before any column could engage them.

The tasks then run in parts, and each part exists to assess a different skill.

The six bases

• Comprehension and source interpretation: reading the extract and pulling evidence out of it
• Explanation of causal factors: why the resistance was sustained for so long
• Explanation of causal factors: why it ultimately failed
• Chronological and organisational skill: placing events in order and stating their significance
• Analysis of consequences: what the resistance and its defeat meant for Bunyoro
• Historical evaluation and judgement: weighing the claim that it was a heroic nationalist struggle rather than a delay

Six bases scored 1 to 4 gives a range from 6 to 24.

Notice what the bases are not

They are not the questions. Two separate bases both cover explanation of causes, because the item asks for causes twice and they are genuinely different pieces of thinking: why something lasted, and why it failed. A learner can be strong on one and weak on the other, and the rubric has to be able to say so.

They are also not topics. There is no base for "knowledge of Bunyoro". The knowledge is the material; the bases are what the learner does with it.

Converting the total

Sum the six base scores, then read the level:

• 22 to 24: Exceptional, weight 5
• 18 to 21: Outstanding, weight 4
• 14 to 17: Satisfactory, weight 3
• 10 to 13: Basic, weight 2
• 6 to 9: Elementary, weight 1

Why the descriptors matter more than the numbers

The reason to write out what a 4 looks like for each base is that it makes two examiners agree. "Score 4 on evaluation" means nothing on its own. "Reaches a reasoned judgement that weighs both sides and is supported by evidence from the scenario" is something two people can apply to the same script and reach the same number.

It is also the only version a learner can act on. A rubric handed to learners before the item is not giving away the answer. It is telling them what thinking is being asked for.