Assessments: Quick FAQ

Avoiding Penalties:

• Follow the assignment brief for each coursework assignment. If an assignment has
specific requirements, you must meet these.
• You must complete the History assessment cover sheet and submit this with your work.
Any work submitted without the cover sheet will be penalised one step on the
marking scale.
• Your answer should be fully referenced and include a bibliography, with citations
conforming to the History style sheet. This is available on every unit’s Moodle page.
• You will be penalised for not following the required referencing style in Second and
Third Year.

Word Counts:

Word counts for assignments include references but do not include bibliographies. You should
aim to be within 10% of the stated word count for each assignment (whether under or over).
Although there are no specific penalties for going over or under by more than this, assignments
substantially below the word count will usually be unable to fully answer the question, while
assignments substantially over usually suggest issues in synthesising information.

As a rough guide, essays at first and second year should be 3,000 words. Essay at third year
should be 3,500 words. These may differ depending on the specific requirements of the unit
you’re taking.

Applying what you learn:

Classes help to prepare you for your assignments and give you skills for life as a graduate. Your
tutors will be looking to see that you have learned the key topics discussed in class and gone
beyond them in your own research. Tutors will comment on how well you’ve developed these
themes.

As well as expertise on areas covered in particular units, they will also look to see that you are
applying general skills learned throughout your degree. These include those skills applicable
specifically in History (e.g. appropriate source analysis, methodology, and historiography), as
well as those you’ll use in graduate employment (e.g. professional standards of writing,
presentation, research and IT skills).

Extensions

A seven-day extension can be applied for through Moodle. Any further extension will require
evidence (e.g. a GP’s letter), and you should follow the Moodle process to submit this. Please
note that this evidence is considered by a specialist team separate from the department – your
tutors cannot grant extensions.