Common Awards Assessment Guidelines
WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS
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COMMON AWARDS: ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES
Written Examinations
PURPOSE
The purpose of written examinations is to encourage you to review all the learning you have
achieved in a module, so that you have formed and retained a broad understanding of the module
subject area. In addition, examinations assess your ability to encounter and respond appropriately
to new or unexpected questions, using the knowledge and understanding you have acquired in
your study and revision.
Most often, the examination questions or tasks resemble those of essays or other written
assignments (though they may also include multiple-choice or short answer questions). Thus
examinations are likely to require you to draw upon the reading and study that you have done for
the module to respond to a particular question or task. You will need to know how to summarise,
synthesise, analyse and evaluate your knowledge and understanding. Naturally, examinations test
your ability to communicate well in writing under time pressure – a skill that will be useful in a
range of vocational and professional contexts.
CONTENT
Written exams usually occur at the end of a module and take place under timed conditions. They
may be 'seen', where the student is aware in advance of the question(s) they are expected to
answer, or 'unseen', where the questions are only revealed 'on the day'. In an 'open-book' exam,
you are allowed to use a selection of reference materials during the assessment.
Exams are designed to give you an opportunity to write about what you have learned: they are not
designed to “catch you out”. There may be a range of past papers that you can use for practice.
However, it’s good to remember that the most significant and important part of an examination is
the revision and learning that you will have done in preparation for it, not the examination itself.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
First and foremost, we are looking to see whether you have answered examination questions or
addressed the task(s) set in the examination. We are also looking to see whether you have
demonstrated that you have met the relevant learning outcomes of the Module Outline. The style
and content of examinations may vary considerably, depending on the subject matter and the tutor.
However, we are likely to be looking for similar attributes to written assignments, recognising that
the timed conditions of an examination mean that the level of detail that you can offer will be
limited. In a written examination we will be looking for you to
1. demonstrate that you have read and understood an appropriate and relevant range of texts
…by interacting with what you have read in your responses to the examination questions.
