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Find the support and resources to help you successfully tackle your assignments at UCL.
Essays and Dissertations
- Planning your assignments
- Planning your assessments: a guide for UCL students.
- Plan your assignment, IOE Writing Centre.
- Plannning and Structuring your essay, Royal Literary Fund: includes a breakdown of how to structure your introduction, the main body of your essay and conclusion.
- Academic integrity, plagiarism & referencing
- UCL guidance and resources for academic integrity: includes information and access to the Academic Integrity Moodle course.
- References, citations, and avoiding plagiarism, UCL Libguides.
- Referencing and Plagiarism, UCL PDF.
- Reference Management Software, UCL Libguides.
- Direct quotation, paraphrasing & referencing, Royal Literary Fund.
- Setting out and using quotations, Royal Literary Fund.
- Finding and using information
- Independent research, Libraryskills@UCL.
- Searching for information, Libraryskills@UCL.
- Evaluating information, Libraryskills@UCL.
- Kick-starting your literature review, UCL Digital Skills Development.
- Academic Writing
- Introduction to Academic Writing, UCL Writing Lab.
- Essay writing tips, Academic Communications Centre.
- Essay and Report Writing, The Open University.
- Develop your academic voice, IOE Writing Centre.
- How to write in Plain English, the Plain English Campaign (pdf).
- Writing academic essays: a few tips, UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.
- Thinking and writing critically
- Presenting an argument, IOE Writing Centre.
- Critical Reading and Writing, UCL.
- Critical analysis, IOE Writing Centre.
- Different types of argument, Royal Literary Fund.
- Critical Thinking, The Open University.
- Developing your Thinking Skills, The Open University.
- How to be a Critical Reader, The Open University.
- Critical Thinking, LinkedIn Learning.
- Editing and Proofreading
- Editing tips, IOE Writing Centre.
- Getting Started with Markdown, Digital Skills Development.
- Creating accessible Word documents, UCL Digital Skills Development.
- Managing Long Documents in Word 2016, UCL Digital Skills Development.
- Styles and table of contents in Word, UCL Digital Skills Development Demo.
- Styles and table of contents in Word, UCL Digital Skills Development workshop.
- Tips for effective proofreading, Little Rock University*
- Ten Tips for better proofreading, University of Reading*
*be aware of UCL's Guidelines on Plagiarism by reading the information on the academic integrity pages.
Other kinds of assessment:
- Scientific and Report Writing
- Writing scientific reports, Institute of Archaeology.
- Writing reports, University of Plymouth.
- Reflective writing & blogs
- UCL Reflect (UCL's blogging tool for teaching & learning).
- Blogging with Reflect (WordPress-based), UCL Digital Skills Workshop.
- Self-reflection, The Open University.
- Introducing reflective learning, The Open University.
- Reflective Writing, University of Plymouth.
- Presentations
Oral presentations
- Creating accessible PowerPoint presentations, UCL Digital Skills Development.
- Giving a presentation, UCL Institute of Archaeology.
- How to give a good (enough) presentation, UCL.
- Creating accessible content, UCL.
- Talk the Talk, The Open University.
- Develop your Presentation Skills, LinkedIn Learning.
- Presentations and posters, University of Edinburgh.
Poster presentations
- Poster presentation tips, Undergraduate Research Poster Conference (IOE Social Science).
- Poster preparation, UCL CoMPLEX.
- Poster design tips, London School of Economics.
- Group work
- Groups and Teamwork, The Open University.
- Working with Diverse Teams, The Open University.
- What's the difference between collaboration and collusion? UCL Academic Integrity course.
What to do with your feedback
Make sure you understand and use the feedback from your assignments. You may also want to discuss your feedback with someone, like your personal tutor.
- Feedback: a UCL ChangeMakers guide, a guide created by student for students.
- Responding to Feedback, UCL IOE Writing Centre.
- Giving and Receiving Feedback, LinkedIn Learning.
Preparing for your exams
To ensure you are prepared and ready to succeed in your exams, read through UCL’s student guides below:
- Assessment Planning.
- Assessment and Feedback, a UCL guide for students.
- UCL Exam Success Guide.
- Your Assessment Wellbeing Guide, Student Support and Wellbeing Services.
- Online Exam Success Workshops.
- Exam Techniques, Open University.
Assessment Criteria
Always follow the guidance given to you by your department. If there is anything you don't understand about your assessments, make sure you talk to someone in your department like the Module Leader or your Personal Tutor. Also review UCL’s Assessment Criteria Guide. Pay attention to the differences in criteria between assessment levels/years.
Exam Adjustments
UCL will make reasonable adjustments to assessment to support students who are disabled or have any other health condition that may impact on their exams.
