CIPD Submission Guidelines

Student Edition - v1
Student Version - v1
Page 1 ICS Learn | CIPD Submission Guidelines
 Contents
Purpose of Guidelines......................................................... P3
1. ICS Learn Cover Sheet..................................................... P4
2. Format of Assignments.................................................. P5
2.1 Report Format.................................................................................... P5

2.2 Assignments Not in Report Format................................................. P5

2.3 What Does A Good Report Look Like?............................................ P5

3. Word Count...................................................................... P6
3.1 Word Count Allocations.................................................................... P6

3.2 Included and Not Included in Word Count..................................... P7

4. Marking Timescales....................................................... P11

5. Submission Guidelines.................................................. P11
6. Tutor Feedback Sheets................................................. P11

Page 2 ICS Learn | CIPD Submission Guidelines

 Purpose of Guidelines
For many of you, writing academic assignments is an unfamiliar activity and
even those who have studied at further or higher education may have worked
towards standards which differ to what we would expect as you undertake your
CIPD studies.

The purpose of this document is to provide you with clear guidance on submitting
ICS Learn CIPD assignments. It covers areas such as word count limit, referencing,
use of appendices and tables.

These guidelines also explore some recurring errors during the submission
process, which may result in work being returned unmarked.

If you feel that any part of these guidelines is unclear, or if you think there are
other areas we could usefully cover in this document, we would be happy to
receive your feedback.

Your CIPD Tutors

ICS Learn

Page 3 ICS Learn | CIPD Submission Guidelines

1. ICS Learn Cover Sheet
All assignments, whether formative or summative, must be accompanied by the relevant ICS
Learn Cover Sheet.

Please always download the cover sheet that appears with the assignment brief, as some
assignments require different information.

Your cover sheet needs to be fully completed and must form the first page of your assignment.
It should not be submitted as a separate document. We cannot accept an assignment for
marking which is either missing the cover sheet, has the wrong cover sheet, has information
missing, or has the cover sheet attached as a separate document. This is because the cover
sheet serves two main purposes:
1. It is your declaration that the work is yours and therefore needs to be part of the work itself.

2. It provides all the essential detail about your submission and provides a record or paper trail of
all of your submissions for that piece of work.

Cover Sheet Guidance

Please ensure you have fully completed ALL the information on the cover sheet.
Below is some guidance around how to complete your cover sheet correctly:

Sheet Section Our Guidance

Centre Name You should write “ICS Learn”
We have had several recent submissions without a student name on them. Please
Candidate Name
include your full name.
CIPD Membership This is also an 8-digit number. If you are not yet a member of CIPD, please state
Number ‘Awaiting membership number’.
ICS Student Number This is an 8-digit number which you will find on your dashboard
Qualification Title You should enter the name of your course.
This is the title of the module you are undertaking which appears on your course site,
Unit Title
after you click into the relevant unit.
This appears on your course site next to your module title:

Unit Code
The code will always be the number and three letters after the “OL”. So, in this example
the unit code is 3RTO.
You will find this at the top of the assignment brief (e.g. 40552/01). For formative
Assessment Number assessments, this will simply be ‘Formative 1’, ‘Formative 2’, and so on, based on the
order in which they appear in your materials.
Please put the date you attended the online classroom. If you have genuinely been
Online Class Date unable to attend a live classroom and have listened to the recording instead, please
enter the date the recording was made.
Tutor Name Please enter the name of the tutor who was running the online classroom.
Please take a moment to check this has been accurately completed before submitting
First Submission Date your assignment to your tutor, particularly if you have worked on it then put it away for
a few days before submitting it.
Resubmission Date If you are asked to resubmit a 2nd time, your resubmission date must be entered here.

Please ensure that you have included ALL the above information on your cover sheet. Always ask your tutor if
Page 4 ICS Learn | CIPD Submission Guidelines
you are unclear on what to include.
2. Format of Assignments
2.1 Report Format

If the assignment brief asks you to write a report or present your answer in a report-format,
then you should follow that advice. If an assignment is not presented as a report, then we
will return the assessment to yourself, and ask that you submit again in a report format.
Your report is normally structured as follows:

• A Contents page
• An abstract or executive summary
• An introduction*
• Main body of the report broken down via headings and subheadings
• A conclusion*
• A Reference/Bibliography List*

Although there isn’t a requirement to provide research and referencing at Level 3, we

do encourage you to get into the habit of carrying out research and including it in your
assessments. Doing this will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge around the subject.

You can refer to the Cheat Sheet called Report Writing: The Basics or for a more comprehensive
guide you can read the document called “ICS Learn Effective Report Writing” both which are
found in the Resources section of your course site.

2.2 Assignments Not in Report
Format
If you read an assessment brief and
it doesn’t state that you need to
produce a report, you should still
look to structure it professionally
with a contents page, headings and
subheadings and include reference/
bibliography pages if required.
Please note that, as well as looking
professional and being far easier to
read, breaking down your work into
headings and sub-headings massively
helps you as you can easily identify if
there are areas of the question and/
or assessment criteria that you may
have inadvertently missed out.
It also clearly signposts to the tutor
(and any other readers) which part of
your work relates to the assessment
tasks and criteria.
Page 5
2.3 What Does A Good Report Look Like?
Although we have given you the format of how
to construct your assignment, it is important to
focus on the presentation of your assignment.
Below we have provided some handy guidance
around what a good report will look like.
• Use Font Size 11 or 12 (never 10 or below)
• Use 1.15 line spacing
• Use a sensible business font style (i.e. nothing that
looks like handwriting)
• Write the main parts of assignments in ‘normal’ font
(i.e. not bold or italics)
• Always leave white space between sections (i.e.
paragraphs)
• Always presented in portrait format unless the live
class advises that part of it needs to be landscape
• Try to write in full, flowing sentences.
• Look to introduce what you are going to be talking
about instead of diving straight into your answer.
Set the scene and some context where possible
(i.e. could you identify the subject area and provide
a definition)
ICS Learn | CIPD Submission Guidelines
3. Word Count
3.1 Word Count Allocations

All the summative assignments that you complete as part of your CIPD qualification carry
a strict word count. This can range from 500 words to 3,900 words. The word count is the
number of words that CIPD believe you need to write to competently answer the question(s)
in the assignment.
+/- 10% Rule

The CIPD recognise that delivering your assignment at exactly that word count is challenging
and there is therefore, a leeway available of plus or minus 10% of that word count.

By way of illustration, here are some examples of typical assignment lengths, showing the
impact of this leeway:

Word Count 10% Leeway Minimum Words Maximum Words

500 50 450 550

1,000 100 900 1,100

1,500 150 1,350 1,650

2,500 250 2,250 2,750

3,000 300 2,700 3,300

3,500 350 3,150 3,850

3,900 390 3,510 4,290

So, for example, if you had an assignment of 3,000 words, you could write anywhere between
2,700 words and 3,300 words and this would be acceptable. It is worth noting that some
assignments only carry a word count for part of the work e.g. Task 1 may have a word count of
500 but Task 2 does not carry a word count.

Tutors will adopt a common sense approach to reviewing your work, but they do hold the right
to send the assessment back to you unmarked if you do go over the allotted 10% +/- leeway. If
this is the case, the assessment will be sent back to you and we will ask you to either increase
or decrease the word count.

Formative assessments
For formative assessments we are not as strict on word count and the +/- 10% rule
doesn’t not apply for these types of assessments. Some do not carry a word count at all,
although you should give a reasonable level of detail in your answers. It is, however, good
practice to get into working within the word count as it is strictly imposed when it comes
to the summative assignments.

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3.2 Included and Not Included in Word Count

It is very important to understand the guidelines around what is and is not included in word
count, especially as this can make a massive difference as to whether your assignment is within
word count or not and therefore whether it can be accepted for marking or not.

Here is a quick summary of what is and is not included in word count, but please read on for
more detail around some of these points:

Included in Word Count Not Included in Word Count

• ICS Learn Cover Sheet

• References Page
• Bibliography
• The narrative
• Contents Page
• Academic references either presented as quotes
• Abstract/Executive Summary
or paraphrasing
• Charts/Diagrams/Graphs which enhance your
• Tables with full sentences which enhance your
answer
answer
• Tables with bullet point information that doesn’t
• Tables which are the answer
total more than 7 words
• Headings and sub headings
• The actual question
• Appendices

Not Included - Abstract/Executive Summary

This does not get included in word count. However, your abstract or executive summary should
not include any new information but merely be a summary of your report. All your information
should be in the main body of your report, included in word count.

Not Included - Use of Charts/Diagrams/Graphs

The use of charts/diagrams/graphs is acceptable as these generally will have limited
written information on them and will be used to enhance your answer with a word-
counted narrative explaining them. Some typical examples of charts/diagrams you may
use during your studies include the following, all of which would be word-count free:

• CIPD HR Profession Map

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Kolb’s Learning Cycle
• Covey’s Time Management Grid
• Kubler Ross Change Curve

Please note that you always need to explain any charts/diagrams/graphs inserted into
your assignment. Your explanation would be included in word count.

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Use of Tables
If you use a table to provide a brief snapshot of information, then it does not get included in
your word count as long as it meets the following guidelines:

• There are no full sentences (defined as being 7 words or more)

• It is no more than a quarter to a third of a page in size
• It enhances your answer and you provide a more detailed explanation of the information in the
table, either above or below the table.

For example, the following PESTLE analysis would NOT be included in word count providing
there is a more detailed explanation in the word-counted narrative. This is because all the bullet
points are 6 words or fewer:

PESTLE Factor Issue Risk Level

Political Change in government Low
High unemployment in North East
Economic Medium
England
Social Ageing workforce Medium

Technological Competition from Apps High

Introduction of National Living
Legal High
Wage
Pressure to reduce carbon foot-
Environmental/Ethical Medium
print

However, you might decide that you are going to present your full, detailed PESTLE analysis as
a table (instead of having a snapshot and a separate narrative), because you believe that this is
a clear and logical way of presenting the information. You can do this, but this will be counted
in the word count due to the table being the answer and not just a short snapshot.

The simple rule is: If the information in the table IS your answer, it must be word-counted.

Please note, however, that tables should not be over-used in any assignment.
Assignments should be written in a way that flows and, although there may
be occasions where information is effectively presented on a table, please do
not use a table for several parts of an assignment as the flow of your work
will disappear. You should not use tables as a way of avoiding the word count.

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 Not Included - Headings/Sub-headings
As already stated, we expect to see headings throughout all assignments. However, please
do not over-use these, for example by using full statements as a way of avoiding word count,
knowing that headings are not included in word count.

Some students copy and paste the actual questions into their assignment, so they can keep
referring to it as well as signposting the reader to the relevant task. You do not need to do
this but, if you do, this will not be included in word count.

Not Included - Appendices

Most assignments will not need appendices but, if you are asked for appendices, please make
sure you do include them as directed. In this case, they will not be included in word count.

An appendix cannot be used as a way of including extra information whilst avoiding word count.
You need to ensure you have answered the question in the body of your assignment. Therefore,
please think carefully as to whether you really need to include any appendices or whether you
need to re-visit the wording in your assignment to ensure it covers the points you would have
raised in your appendices.

Not Included - Referencing

You are encouraged to read journal articles via the CIPD Online Resources section, Google
Books and Google Scholar in addition to your ICS Learn Course Materials and the eTextbook.
You should then use this research to provide references in your narrative, either in the form
of direct quotes or paraphrasing.

The use of non-academic websites (e.g. Wikipedia, Business Balls, Mind Tools) will always be
discouraged, as they aren’t seen as a reliable source of information.

You are expected to reference and to clearly cite your sources. All students across all levels
are expected to use Harvard Referencing, which is the referencing standard that CIPD
recognise.

The references page at the back of your assignment should be presented on a fresh page
and headed up ‘References’. This is not word-counted.

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Not Included - Bibliography
Every assignment, whether formative or summative, must include a bibliography. This appears
after your references page, on a fresh page of its own.

A bibliography is everything you have used for your research, but which you have not referenced
in your assignment.

As a minimum, we would expect the relevant module in the ICS Learn Course Materials and your
eTextbook to appear on all bibliographies, as they will have formed the starting point for your
wider research, although you may have directly referenced from your eTextbook.

Referencing In The Narrative

The actual reference in the body of the text (whether a quote or a paraphrase) IS included in
word count. The source of this IS NOT included in word count.

For example:
Marchington and Kynighou (2012: 3336) state, “Given that the global financial crisis (GFC) has impacted
on patterns of human resource management, it is likely that this has also shaped employee involvement
and Participation (EIP).”
In this case, the words in red - Marchington and Kynighou (2012: 3336) - would NOT be included in word
count. The rest of the words ARE included in word count.

Backslash
One thing to be mindful of when it comes to the word count, is the use of the backslash. In
assignments, you may decide to use a backslash between words e.g. policies/procedures/
paperwork.

When you check you word count, your computer will see the above as one word because there
are no spaces between it. In fact, it is three separate words and will be counted as such. To avoid
this moving forward we suggest you do one of the following:

a) decide which word is best and only use one word instead of two or three joined by a backslash
b) put a space one side of the slash so that their computer does recognise the separate words.

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4. Marking Timescales
Unless a tutor is on annual leave (and there is therefore a delay in marking), you
should usually receive feedback on their assignments within five working days
(Formative and Summative level 3 & 5. Formative Level 7) and ten working days
(Summative level 7). Responses to queries raised via the ‘contact your tutor’ system within
two working days.

You will be notified via the student community if a tutor is due to be on annual leave and
we kindly ask that you do not submit assignments during this time.

5. Submission Guidelines
All assignments – formative and summative – should be submitted in order and you need to
pass one before submitting the next. This is because:

• Assignments often have learnings which you need to incorporate into subsequent assignments (e.g.
around word count, presentation, use of references etc.) and this cannot be actioned if the student
submits several assignments at the same time
• If a student submits several at the same time and gets NYP for them all, that is a pretty de-motivational
message and a lot of re-work at the same time. We do not want to put you in this position
• Tutors expect to have a steady flow of assignment submissions. Large quantities from one or more
students will result in a spike which may mean they are unable to mark all assignments within the SLA,
resulting in delays in marking

If you submit two or more assignments at the same time, you may find
they are returned unmarked and you are asked to submit one at a time.

6. Tutor Feedback Sheets

All assignments will be marked using a Tutor Feedback Sheet. Your tutor will comment against
the assessment criteria for that assignment, indicating which criteria are a pass and any that
have Not Yet Passed (NYP). There is a more detailed grading system for those students studying
at level 7.

For criteria rated as a NYP, tutors will give guidance as to what you need to do in order to pass
on your next submission.

For some criteria that you have passed, you may still receive development points. These are
pointers to take on board for future assignments so please do learn from them and act on them
in future submissions.

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