Department of English
English Assessment Toolkit
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This guide provides concise answers to some of the questions that students ask us most frequently about assessment, under the following headings:
Useful University / Faculty Links
English-Specific Guidance
Useful University / Faculty Links MMU Commitment.
Here is a link to the University’s Assessment Regulations. MMU provides generic Guidance on Coursework and Assessment here and, with different emphases, here. Here is the HLSS Faculty page for Student Support. Here is a link to the University’s E-Learning guidance. IT Services Twitter keeps you up to date with system problems.
1. Repetition of Material
Students must not use substantially the same material in more than one piece of assessed work: this includes both assessed coursework and examinations. If a piece of work is found to repeat material from an earlier assessment, the mark will be reduced, and may even be reduced to zero. What this means is that you cannot repeat material and gain credits for it twice. If in doubt, it is best to avoid writing on the same text twice, and our advice is usually that students should take the opportunity to research and write about ‘new’ texts. However, the rule does not prevent you from writing again about the same text, as long as you are taking a different approach and are not repeating material. For example, it is perfectly OK for a student on the L6 ‘Shakespeare’ unit to write an essay on Hamlet, having already written a film review related to the play in Level 4 … as long as you do not repeat material. A L6 Dissertation student may want to explore in detail the works of a writer who was studied on a L5 unit: that is perfectly OK, as long as you do not repeat material (and, in the Dissertation, are moving significantly beyond material introduced in class).
2. Word Count
Your coursework assignments are likely to indicate a MAXIMUM length. That maximum includes footnotes but does not include title or bibliography. Penalties will be imposed if you exceed this maximum, on a sliding scale. Please consult this Guidance on Word Count document.
3. Plagiarism
This is (part of) the formal definition of plagiarism in the university regulations: i. The representation of another person’s work, without acknowledgement of the source, as one’s own; or ii. The unacknowledged incorporation in a students work of material derived from the work (published or otherwise) of another, examples of which are: a) the unacknowledged inclusion of another person’s work; b) the unacknowledged summarising of another person’s work; c) the unacknowledged and/or unauthorised use of the ideas of another; d) copying the work of another person with or without that person’s knowledge or agreement and presenting it as one’s own.
English-Specific Guidance: 1. Repetition of material
8. Examinations
2. Word count
9. Assessment: Grading & Moderation
3. Plagiarism
10. Feedback
4. Referencing & Bibliography
11. Exceptional Factors
5. Improve your writing
12. Disability & PLPs
6. Coursework deadlines 7. Submission of coursework
13. Reassessment
NB University penalties for plagiarism are applied on evidence alone; no judgement is made about a student’s intention to deceive. In other words, you can and will be penalised for plagiarism even if you didn’t intend it. You are advised to consult the penalties for plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice here, in the University Assessment Regulations.
4. Referencing & Bibliography
The English department requires all students to use the MHRA referencing system in coursework submissions. Referencing using the MHRA system is taught as part of our Level 4 Core, Critical Dialogues. Bibliographies should contain all works cited in your coursework (it is not a list of all secondary reading you did!). A brief guide to the MHRA system can be found on pp3-8 of this document.
5. Improve your writing
Beyond the support provided by your English tutors, MMU and HLSS offer various means of helping you to improve your writing skills. • David Peters is the HLSS Faculty student support officer, and runs various skills sessions. • The Writing Project is a very highly rated course and is free to enrol. • For International Students, ELSIS provides support in various ways.
6. Coursework deadlines
Coursework deadlines are published on unit Moodle areas. All deadlines are final and absolute, and no extensions will be granted unless an appeal is upheld on the grounds of Exceptional Factors (see below). Some PLPs (Personal Learning Plans) also allow for extended deadlines - please consult the English Department Disability Officer, Dr Sarah MacLachlan. Without such an appeal or PLP, a missed deadline will result in a grade of 0% for the work.
7. Submission of Coursework All English coursework should be submitted electronically, through Moodle / Turnitin. (NB. Combined Honours students may find different submission arrangements in their other subject.) Electronic submission of coursework means that you don’t have to be on Campus to hand work in, or to pick up your feedback. Feedback is normally released from midnight at the four-week point, and may be accessed via Moodle. With effect from the 2014/15 academic year, the University has taken a decision to set all assignment deadlines, whether submitted electronically or in hard copy, to 9 p.m. on deadline day. However the English department strongly advises students to submit their assignments by 12 midday. Submission by midday will allow you enough time to compensate for any problems you may experience with personal computer equipment, which would not be accepted as mitigation for a late submission. Submission by midday will also give you time to contact a Student Hub if you believe there is a wider systemic problem preventing you from submitting your work. Submissions between 12 midday and 9 p.m. will not be counted as late, but the later you leave your submission the less opportunity you’ll have to seek support if you encounter problems. Submissions after 9 p.m. on deadline day will be counted as late. Remember that it is your responsibility to ensure that your work is submitted by the deadline. PLEASE leave plenty of time before the deadline and PLEASE retain a backup / hard copy of your assignment. In the event that a documented problem with the University systems prevents you from uploading your work in time to meet your deadline, please rest assured that you will not be penalised. If this occurs, it is important that you STILL submit via Turnitin immediately the problem is solved. Email submissions cannot be accepted. If you have problems with the Turnitin submission mechanism, please refer to the MMU guidance here. You can check for system problems on IT Services Twitter. If you need to speak to someone, the Student Hub is the place to contact. If you have genuine (ie. PLP-related) reasons for being unable to use Moodle / Turnitin, please consult the Programme Leader, Dr Aidan Arrowsmith (a.arrowsmith@mmu.ac.uk) at the beginning of the academic year.
8. Examinations
Formal examinations take place in Term 3, after Easter. Where relevant, you will find links to past papers on your unit Moodle area. It is very important that you are available throughout the Term 3 exam period. Timetables, and other information about Examinations including Exam Support podcasts are made available on the HLSS Faculty Student Support pages.
9. Assessment: Grading & Moderation
Tutors assess your work accurately and fairly, with reference to a set of assessment criteria that are linked to the Unit Learning Outcomes (available on each unit Moodle area), and to the University Standard Descriptors. All student work is moderated internally, by a member of the English team, and externally, by our external examiners (whose details can be found on Moodle English Students). This Moderation Map shows the journey taken by your assignment once you submit it. The University is a degreeawarding body, which means that the processes of University examination and moderation are far more intensive than in secondary or further education, so we ask that you are patient in awaiting your grade and feedback.
10. Feedback
Tutors work to provide meaningful feedback on your assignments, and this may take a variety of forms. In some cases, a tutorial discussion is the best way for you to understand what you have done well and the areas in which you can improve; equally, a creative writer might benefit most from detailed annotations on the script itself. It is very important that you engage openly and positively with your feedback – read it carefully; make sure you understand areas for improvement AND things you’ve done well; and, if you wish to, make an appointment by email to see your tutor to discuss the work. Unsurprisingly, we find that the students who respond most positively to their feedback are the ones who make the most improvements, and end up with the best degrees! We are tasked with balancing quality of feedback with speed of return, at the same time as ensuring that the examination process is rigorous and fair. The MMU Commitment states that we will return feedback to you within 4 calendar weeks (allowing for University closure over Christmas). Feedback will normally be released at midnight and tutors will respond to queries or requests for feedback tutorials during the working week. Where unavoidable circumstances result in a short delay, the unit leader will be in touch. If you feel that your feedback has been unreasonably delayed, please contact the unit leader in the first instance, and the Programme Leader thereafter.
11. Exceptional Factors
If you believe that your assignment has been affected by exceptional factors beyond your control, you may be eligible to make an appeal to have your deadline extended. EF appeals must be supported by written evidence of the relevant circumstances, and are considered by a Faculty panel that meets on a regular basis throughout the academic year. NB. This is the only method of extending a coursework deadline. Detailed advice about making an EF appeal is available here. You may also contact David Peters, the Faculty Student Support officer. Here is an Interactive Checklist to help you prepare an EF claim.
12. Disabilty and PLPs
The English Department’s Disability Officer is Dr Sarah MacLachlan (s.maclachlan@mmu. ac.uk). Sarah will be happy to offer advice about issues around disability or Personal Learning Plans (PLPs). You should also consult the webpages of the Learner Development Service.
13. Reassessment
If you fail an assignment, either through non-submission or by not meeting the pass grade of 40%, you are likely to be granted a resubmission opportunity, although that opportunity is at the discretion of the assessment board, which meets in June and September. The decision of the assessment board will be communicated to you by mail, and you will find assignment instructions on the relevant unit Moodle area. More information can be found here. NB. A second resubmission opportunity may also be granted at the discretion of the assessment board, but this is absolutely dependent on full engagement with the first resubmission opportunity. (In other words, if you do not engage FULLY with the first reassessment opportunity, you will not be granted another.) ‘Full engagement’ means • Re-submission of all required items of coursework; • Attendance at all required re-sit examinations and full compliance with University examination rules; • Attendance or participation in any other required re-assessment events or activities.
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