Finishing your coursework can feel like a huge relief. You may want to hand it in immediately and not give it another thought. However, there are a few things you should double check before you do.
After all your hard work, you don’t want to lose points for mistakes that you easily could have avoided, which is why we have put together a short checklist to tick off before you submit your university coursework.
You have probably read the title of your coursework over and over again and feel like you know it off by heart – which is exactly when errors are made. The title is the first impression the person reading your work gets, so you need to make sure it is worded perfectly and is consistent throughout.
The spell-check on your computer is not always accurate and spelling and grammar mistakes can make your work look careless. To make sure you catch everything, print out a copy of your coursework once you have completed it and physically go through it with a pen, making notes of changes. You will be shocked at how many small oversights you find. Once you have been through the entire document and made the changes, take a break. Then go through it again.
Presentation is important and often coursework contains visual material such as images and graphs. Sometimes, these can shift as you edit your document making it look sloppy. Make all the changes you need to and then, once you are finished, check the spacing and placement of all the text and imaging.
You will have used other sources to back up your arguments or illustrate your points. This is incredibly important with coursework and shows you have done your reading as well as properly researched the topic. However, all this good work can be undone if you do not reference these sources properly. Read through your footnotes and make sure everything that is not your own work is clearly referenced, either by book title or website, depending on where it came from. You should also attach a bibliography to the end of your coursework with the full names of every source used.
At university, whether you are studying a pathway course, an undergraduate degree or a masters, any form of cheating is taken extremely seriously. Every single part of your coursework should have been written by you. Anything taken from anywhere else should be clearly referenced as a quote from a source and be included in the footnotes and bibliography. There are sophisticated scans in place that can find anything that is not your own work so, not only is plagiarising bad, it is also very likely to be spotted.
It may sound simple but all your hours spent studying and putting together your coursework will mean nothing if you don’t get it in on time. Check and double check your deadline. Make absolutely sure you know how and where to submit your work. Do you need to submit more than one copy? If you are unsure about a single one of these points, ask your tutor for help. Good luck!
If you want more information about studying at Northumbria University Pathway or about what undergraduate degrees you can study at Northumbria University, visit our website.
The pathway programmes detailed on this website are run in partnership with QA Higher Education - a UK higher education provider. All of our pathway programmes are validated by the University and taught by QA Higher Education and University staff.
