Writing and submitting assessments

Common assessments types you might have to do include:

• Writing essays, reports or short answer questions
• Practical tasks such as recording workplace activities
• Presentations, including video or audio submissions
• Portfolios of evidence
• Online quizzes
• Participating in an online or in-person assessment.

When you start working on your assessment read what you need to do carefully, including the marking schedule. This will tell you what you need to cover, what the marker will be looking for, and the word limit and count guidelines. 

Assessment writing tips

Academic writing and research support

Word limit and word count guidelines are stated for all assessments in the assessment instructions in your course in iQualify.

The difference between word count guidelines and word limits

Word count guidelines

• Word count guidelines are the recommended word count for an assessment.
• They help you to understand the expectation of workload for an assessment.
• There are no penalties for not meeting the word count guideline. 

Word limits

• Word limits are the word count that you must keep within to avoid a penalty.
• We use them when writing in a concise and focused manner is an important skill to develop. 
• Some assessments will have a word limit, then each question within the assessment will also provide a word count guideline so you know what is expected to keep within the overall word limit. 

Applying word limits

Your completed assessment should not be more than 10% over the word count guideline or word limit.

• If you submit an assessment longer than 110% of the word limit, marking will stop at 110% of the word limit. 
• This is the penalty for going 10% over the word limit. We will give you feedback on the marked part of your assessment. 

If you get a fail grade check your course's assessment information to see the course pass requirements and if you can resubmit the assessment. Resubmission rules are based on the course regulations.

Including a word count

• For most assessments write your word count at the end of the assessment. This goes before the references and appendices.
• If we provide a title page template to use, the word count goes on the title page. For example, many psychology courses assessments use a title page.

What to include in your word count

A word count is the number of words in your assessment, including any headings.

Microsoft Word and similar software provide a word count. In Microsoft Word this is on the bottom left of the page, but for more accuracy select the text you want to check go to the 'Review' tab and click ‘Word Count’.

What not to include in your word count

Do not include the following in the word count:

• title page
• reference list
• abstracts
• tables and table headings
• figures and figure headings
• footnotes and endnotes
• appendices. 

Got a question? 

If you have any questions about word limits and word count guildelines contact our our Library and Learning Centre | Te Whare Pukapuka Wāhanga Whakapakari Ako team.

Contact the Library and Learning Centre 

You can upload and submit most of your assessments online from your course page in iQualify.

File types

• Most file types can be uploaded
• You can submit PDFs if they are saved from a Word (or similar) document, but please do not submit PDFs that are scanned or print-to-PDF.
• Some assessments may require a specific file type, which will be made clear in the assessment task.

To submit an assessment in iQualify

• In your course go to 'Tasks' in the left menu (in some courses this may be called ‘Assessments’).
• On the relevant assessment click 'Go to page'.
• Click ‘Add file’. This will let you choose where you want to upload the file from (e.g. your computer or online files).
• Your uploaded file will then appear under the ‘Uploaded file’ section. This confirms the file is uploaded, but not submitted. If you want to change the file, click 'X' to remove it, and upload a new file.
• Push 'Submit' to submit your assessment for marking.

Remember - Do not email your assessment to your Course Facilitator or anyone else at the Open Polytechnic. It may not go into our system or may get lost. 

Resubmissions

If your advises you that you can resubmitting an assessment and it is after the course end date, your course will move to the ‘Past Courses’ tab in iQualify. You need to go there to resubmit your assessment.

Remember, you need to resubmit your assessment within seven days after the assessment was marked, and you were notified. Late resubmissions after the course end date may not be marked. 

Get text notifications that your assessment is marked

If you would like to get a text notification that your assessment is marked, you can set this up in iQualify:

How to set up notifications in iQualify 

We recommend you do this so that if you do not pass and have a resubmission opportunity you will be notified. You must resubmit within the time frame stated in your feedback. 

Before you post your assessment:

• Number all pages and include your name and student number on each page
• Make sure all the pages are included and staple the assignment in the top left corner only
• Make sure you include the correct ‘Assessment return sheet’ (coversheet) that was sent to you with your course material. Check your name, address and student ID. If the information is incorrect, please let us know.
• If you don’t have an Assessment Return Sheet, contact your course leader to ask for one. 

Post your assessment in the freepost, addressed envelope provided.  

Remember

• Don’t post, fax or email assessments to your lecturer or the Open Polytechnic, as they may not be tracked, read or marked.  
• Only send in one copy of your assessment.