Coursework

Guideline, length and submissions

1. The marks for coursework received up to two working days after the published date and time will incur a 10 percentage point deduction in marks (but no lower than the pass mark);
2. The marks for coursework received more than two working days and up to five working days after the published date and time will receive no more than the pass mark (40% for UG modules, 50% for PGT modules);
3. Work submitted more than five working days after the published date and time but before the second week of the third term will receive a mark of zero but will be considered complete.

If a student experiences circumstances which prevents them from meeting a deadline that are sudden, unexpected, significantly disruptive and beyond their control, they should submit an Extenuating Circumstances (EC) Form to the Department of Geography. If the request is accepted, the student may be granted an extension. If the deadline has already passed, the late submission may be condoned (i.e. there will be no penalty for submitting late). Students are strongly advised to notify the department in advance if Extenuating Circumstances are likely to prevent them from meeting a coursework submission deadline.

Students wishing to apply for Extenuating Circumstances must complete the Extenuating Circumstances form found on the GEOGRAPHY UNDERGRADUATE e-NOTICEBOARD and email it to geog.office@ucl.ac.uk with appropriate supporting evidence (e.g. Letter from your doctor or medical practitioner).

All Extenuating Circumstances applications will be considered by the Departmental Extenuating Circumstances Panel and students will be advised of the outcome within one week of the meeting to discuss your case.  See also Extenuating Circumstances and Reasonable Adjustments (section 10).

Coursework Guidelines

The specific requirements for coursework vary between different modules, and you should seek advice from course teachers and/or personal tutors. Most course teachers expect students to discuss with them proposed topics for individual study, the methods of approach, and the sources or literature available; you can see course teachers for this purpose during their office hours; however they will not read drafts of coursework.  After that, it is your work, and we normally see it only in our capacity as examiners.

Although we encourage you to discuss coursework with others, the final product must be your own work. You are welcome, for example, to discuss coursework papers with other students, but there should not be substantial overlap in the text of the coursework papers submitted.

Course lecturers will advise you of the word limits and format to be followed in their individual courses, but the normal format for presentation is as follows:

• Page size should be A4.
• Illustrations should be included within the text, to fit within the A4 format. All illustrations must be discussed in the text. They should be identified as ‘Table 2’ or ‘Figure 1’ etc, and all must have a short descriptive title. The source should always be stated below the table/figure.
• Scans or electronic copies of maps, tables, etc., are often acceptable, but the source must be noted.
• Appendices of statistical data, etc., may be used, but tables or figures should normally be placed within the text. Appendices should be kept to a minimum and should not be used to get round the word limit.
• Title, as well as the course number, course title, and the candidate’s name and year of study, should appear on the front outside cover.
• You must proof-read and correct all errors. Only one side of the paper should be used; double or 1.5 times line spacing should be used; and the print size should not be smaller than that used for this document (12 point).
• References in the text should be in the author/date (‘Harvard’) format. A list of references cited should be provided at the end of the paper, using the format described in classes for course GEOG1008 Writing and Analysis in Geography.

Coursework Length

Please refer to the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences Guidance for penalties for over-length work.

For all submitted coursework students should state the number of words in the text (excluding tables and figures, footnotes, the bibliography and appendices but including quotations and references in the text) in their cover sheet.

For submitted coursework, where a maximum word count has been specified, the following procedure will apply:

1. The length of coursework will be specified in terms of a word count or number of pages;
2. Assessed work should not exceed the prescribed length;
3. For work that exceeds a specified maximum length by less than 10%, the mark will be reduced by five percentage marks, but the penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass mark, assuming the work merited a Pass;
4. For work that exceeds a specified maximum length by 10% or more, the mark will be reduced by 10 percentage marks, but the penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass mark, assuming the work merited a Pass;
5. In the case of coursework that is submitted over length and is also late, the greater of the two penalties will still apply.

In addition to these regulations, the Department of Geography specifies the following rules:

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Abstracts, appendices and text boxes

• If an abstract is included in the assignment, it must be included in the word count unless the instructions for the specific assignment state explicitly otherwise.
• If appendices form part of the assignment, they must be included in the word count unless the instructions for the specific assignment state explicitly otherwise (e.g. dissertations — refer to the dissertation handbook for specific guidance).
• Unless instructions for the assignment explicitly state otherwise, blocks of prose placed in boxes, whether labelled as textboxes, figures or tables, must be included in the word count

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The following will not be included in the word count:

• Assignment title
• Author name/examination code
• Page numbers
• Reference lists
• Footnotes, but only when used to reference primary source material
• Figures captions and table titles. A figure caption or table title should be restricted to a succinct description of the figure or table to which it refers. Figures and tables themselves are not counted as part of the assignment length (although see note above about text boxes). All other material not covered in the above lists will be included in the word count unless the instructions for the specific assignment state explicitly otherwise.

If you have any doubts about this, please check with the course convenor.

Submission Dates

Coursework and project submission dates are all available on the Moodle pages for each module. Please pay careful attention to details in individual modules and make sure you are aware of the deadline stated on Moodle. All coursework, projects and dissertations must be submitted via Moodle to Turn-It-In before 12pm on the due date. It is your responsibility to ensure that the work is submitted on time. Work will not be accepted by email.

Late Penalties

1. The marks for coursework received up to two working days after the published date and time will incur a 10 percentage point deduction in marks (but no lower than the pass mark);
2. The marks for coursework received more than two working days and up to five working days after the published date and time will receive no more than the pass mark (40% for UG modules, 50% for PGT modules);
3. Work submitted more than five working days after the published date and time but before the second week of the third term will receive a mark of zero but will be considered complete.

If a student experiences circumstances which prevent them from meeting a deadline that are sudden, unexpected, significantly disruptive and beyond their control, they should submit an Extenuating Circumstances (EC) Form to the Department of Geography. If the request is accepted, the student may be granted an extension. If the deadline has already passed, the late submission may be condoned (i.e. there will be no penalty for submitting late). Students are strongly advised to notify the department in advance if Extenuating Circumstances are likely to prevent them from meeting a coursework submission deadline.

Students wishing to apply for Extenuating Circumstances must complete the Extenuating Circumstances form found on the GEOGRAPHY UNDERGRADUATE e-NOTICEBOARD and email it to geog.office@ucl.ac.uk with appropriate supporting evidence (e.g. Letter from your doctor or medical practitioner).

All Extenuating Circumstances applications will be considered by the Departmental Extenuating Circumstances Panel and students will be advised of the outcome within one week of the meeting to discuss your case.  See also Extenuating Circumstances and Reasonable Adjustments (section 10).