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Coursework Submission

Assessment Deadlines

The dates and times by which you should submit your work for assessment are given on Tabula. Please also see our schematic map of all student deadlines.

Work should be uploaded to Tabula by the date and time specified on the system and following the online instructions. Please note that since this is an electronic system, it is very accurate, so even if you submit your work just one second after the deadline, it will be marked as late and penalties will be imposed accordingly.

Make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to upload your work and try not to leave this until the deadline day itself. If you encounter any technical problems with your IT equipment or with uploading your work which mean that you are unable to meet the deadline, these cannot be accepted as a valid reason for late or non-submission and penalties will be imposed accordingly. Work submitted by any other means (e.g. emailed to the Office or a tutor) will not be accepted.

Last submission date policy:

Students will not normally be able to submit coursework once feedback for that assignment has been released. The History Office can only reopen a specific assignment for a student if the student has support to do this from their personal or senior tutor. In this instance, students should note the following: 

The submission will be a late submission, so late penalties will be imposed. 

Late penalties can be waived with an approved mitigation application, but the department cannot guarantee whether late penalties will be waived, because this decision is made by the mitigation panel and exam board in the summer. 

As a late submission, work will not be subject to the same 20 working day marking turnaround university policy and therefore feedback may take longer than usual. 

Students are encouraged to submit late work as soon as possible, so that it doesn’t impact other deadlines.  

In addition to this, students should note that any work submitted after 12 noon Wednesday 4th June 2025 will not be marked, will receive an automatic mark of zero, and will not be considered by the summer exam board. 

File Naming

While there is no "correct" way to name a file, we strongly urge you to adopt a robust convention for naming and organising your files before submitting work - this will help prevent you from accidentally submitting the wrong file. Submission of the wrong file will result in penalties (for more information please see below)

A meaningful filename would contain your student number, the module code, assignment name and an indication that it is the final version, for example:
1234567 - HI127 - Source Review - FINAL.pdf

It is essential that you do not include your own name in the document or file name.

Word Counts

This text was updated on 29-11-2023

The word limits for assignments are strict upper limits, and marks will be deducted if the assessment is over-length (see below).

The following are included in the word count:

• Main text of the assignment, including quotations
• Subtitles or chapter titles in the text (these are optional)

The following are not included in the word count:

• Assignment Title
• Footnotes
• Bibliography
• A brief glossary of terms or note on translation (this is optional)

The following are not normally expected in an undergraduate assignment, but if you do use them (e.g. in your dissertation):

• Abstract is included in the word count
• Contents list is included in the word count
• Lists of abbreviations or appendices is not included in the word count
• Appendices are not included in the word count
• Brief acknowledgements are not included in the word count.

Penalties

Penalties for Late Submission or Non-Submission of Written Assessed Work

Deadlines for the submission of work are available on Tabula. According to University rules, late submission of an assessed essay will, unless an extension has been approved, result in a penalty deduction from your mark for the work of 5 marks per day. Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and bank holidays are NOT included when calculating penalties for late submission. There is no upper limit to the total penalty for late submission. If, for medical or other compelling reasons, you require an extension on an assessed essay or dissertation please see the extension policy.

Please note that late submissions will not be accepted for 7 day take-home assessments, and these assignments are not eligible for self-certifications or extensions. Any late submissions will receive a mark of 0. Further information about 7 day take-home assessments can be found here.

 

Penalties for Non-Submission/Attendance of Assessed Presentations/Group Projects

If students are unable to attend a scheduled presentation they will receive a mark of 0 (in the same way as if they missed a scheduled examination). If they have mitigation for illness or other circumstances then they should submit this as soon as possible (see section of the handbook on mitigation policy). The mitigation panel which reports to the examination board may a) allow a further first attempt (usually an essay is substituted for the presentation/group project) b) allow a resit where the work is capped at 40%) c) in exceptional circumstances waive the need to take the component (usually only if the assessment component is worth less than 3 CATS).

 

Word Length and Penalties for Over Length Work

Essays and dissertations that are above the word limit will be deducted as follows:

• 9,000 word dissertation: 1 mark off for each 100 words (or part thereof) over 9,000 words
• Any plan or essay up to 4,500 words: 1 mark off for each 50 words (or part thereof) over the specified limit

"1 mark off" means one mark on the 100-point scale, not one mark on the 20-point scale. For example, an essay that receives an initial mark of 68, and is 90 words over the limit, will have two marks taken off, giving a final mark of 66.

You will not penalised for producing under-length work, provided quality is not sacrificed to brevity. Learning to write to a limit is one of the skills the degree is designed to encourage you to cultivate.

 

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Submission of Wrong File

Occasionally, a student will accidentally upload an incorrect file. The department allows a window of 2 working days after the deadline in which students who realise that they have uploaded an incorrect file can contact the department and have the incorrect file deleted and be allowed to upload the correct file.

It is the student’s responsibility to check Tabula and ensure that they have uploaded the correct file for all of their summative assessments.

If a student discovers that they have uploaded an incorrect file for a summative assessment they must email the History Office within 2 days of the original submission, stating they wish their initial submission to be deleted from Tabula.

Once an initial submission has been deleted by the office, Students must then submit the correct file on Tabula. If that submission is received within 2 working days from the original deadline, there will be a penalty of 5 marks per working day applied to the submission. If the submission is received after 2 working days, students who re-submit the correct file for the respective assignment before marking closes will receive a capped mark of 40%; if the mistake is not rectified before marking closes, the mark will be 0%. This policy does NOT apply to 7-day take home assessments or timed exams. Please see our take home assessmentsLink opens in a new window page for full details.

Please note that it is the student's responsibility to check that a correct file has been uploaded not the marker.