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How do I prepare for my assignments?
Understand the task. Look for the key words and pay attention to all the advice you’re given about the assignment – it might come from your Handbook, from Moodle or during lectures. Talk to other students: sometimes explaining what you think the assignment is about to others can really help you sort out your own ideas.
Understand the marking/assessment criteria that your work will be judged against. Your tutors must make sure you are aware of those criteria and the marking scales in advance. The IoA Marking Criteria can be found here.
Find out when and where your written exam, presentation, lab test or other assessment will take place. For exams, make sure you know how to get there, leave plenty of time, and make sure you bring along a note of your student identifier (available from Portico).
If your assignment includes collaborative or group work, your tutors must make clear how the contribution of each individual will be assessed.
Plan your work. Think about how to organise and structure your answer. Whether it’s an essay, a lab report, a presentation or a proof, the way you present the information affects how well the assessor can follow your line of thought.
Self-assess before you hand in your work. Think about the criteria for the assessment – how far do you think you have met them? Where have you done well and what not so well and how do you know?
Check you are meeting the requirements like word count, format, submission deadline, where and how to submit. There will be instructions about including footnotes, diagrams, images, tables, figures, bibliographies and so on. Before you start the piece of work, check that you know what the requirements are. Before you hand in the work, check again!
Further Resources
What if I need extra support?
Reasonable adjustments If you have a disability or other ongoing medical or mental health condition that might affect your assessments, ask for support from Disability, Mental Health and Wellbeing Team (SDS). Ideally, you should notify UCL of any such condition when you enrol so that the university can put in place the support that you need. See the Student Guide to Applying for Reasonable Adjustments.
Extenuating circumstances You must notify UCL of any circumstances which are sudden, unexpected, significantly disruptive and beyond your control that could affect your assessments, such as a serious illness or the death of a close relative. UCL will make sure that alternative arrangements are put in place for you in these cases, such as an extension or deferral of assessment to a later date. See your Student Handbook and the Student Guide to Applying for Extenuating Circumstances.
Further resources:
- UCL Academic Manual: Assessment Framework for Taught Programmes
- Exams and assessments
- Personal Tutoring
- Student Support and Wellbeing