coursework is better than exams

Coursework vs Exams: What’s Easier? (Pros and Cons)

In A-Level , GCSE , General by Think Student Editor September 12, 2023 Leave a Comment

Coursework and exams are two different techniques used to assess students on certain subjects. Both of these methods can seem like a drag when trying to get a good grade, as they both take so many hours of work! However, is it true that one of these assessment techniques is easier than the other? Some students pick subjects specifically because they are only assessed via coursework or only assessed via exams, depending on what they find easiest. However, could there be a definite answer to what is the easiest?

If you want to discover whether coursework or exams are easier and the pros and cons of these methods, check out the rest of this article!

Disclaimer: This article is solely based on one student’s opinion. Every student has different perspectives on whether coursework or exams are easier. Therefore, the views expressed in this article may not align with your own.

Table of Contents

Coursework vs exams: what’s easier?

The truth is that whether you find coursework or exams easier depends on you and how you like to work. Different students learn best in different ways and as a result, will have differing views on these two assessment methods.

Coursework requires students to complete assignments and essays throughout the year which are carefully graded and moderated. This work makes up a student’s coursework and contributes to their final grade.

In comparison, exams often only take place at the end of the year. Therefore, students are only assessed at one point in the year instead of throughout. All of a student’s work then leads up to them answering a number of exams which make up their grade.

There are pros and cons for both of these methods, depending on how you learn and are assessed best. Therefore, whether you find coursework or exams easier or not depends on each individual.

Is coursework easier than exams?

Some students believe that coursework is easier than exams. This is because it requires students to work on it all throughout the year, whilst having plenty of resources available to them.

As a result, there is less pressure on students at the end of the year, as they have gradually been able to work hard on their coursework, which then determines their grade. If you do coursework at GCSE or A-Level, you will generally have to complete an extended essay or project.

Some students find this easier than exams because they have lots of time to research and edit their essays, allowing the highest quality of work to be produced. You can discover more about coursework and tips for how to make it stand out if you check out this article from Oxford Royale.

However, some students actually find coursework harder because of the amount of time it takes and all of the research involved. Consequently, whether you prefer coursework or not depends on how you enjoy learning.

What are the cons of coursework?

As already hinted at, the main con of coursework is the amount of time it takes. In my experience, coursework was always such a drag because it took up so much of my time!

When you hear that you have to do a long essay, roughly 2000-3000 words, it sounds easily achievable. However, the amount of research you have to do is immense, and then editing and reviewing your work takes even more time.

Coursework should not be over and done within a week. It requires constant revisits and rephrasing, as you make it as professional sounding and high quality as possible. Teachers are also unable to give lots of help to students doing coursework. This is because it is supposed to be an independent project.

Teachers are able to give some advice, however not too much support. This can be difficult for students who are used to being given lots of help.

You also have to be very careful with what you actually write. If you plagiarise anything that you have written, your coursework could be disqualified. Therefore, it is very important that you pay attention to everything you write and make sure that you don’t copy explicitly from other websites. This can make coursework a risky assessment method.

You are allowed to use websites for research, however you must reference them correctly. This can be a difficult skill for some students to learn also!

What are the pros of coursework?

Some of the cons of coursework already discussed can actually be seen as pros by some students! Due to coursework being completed throughout the year, this places less pressure on students, as they don’t have to worry about final exams completely determining their grade.

Some subjects require students to sit exams and complete some coursework. However, if a student already knows that they have completed some high-quality coursework when it comes to exam season, they are less likely to place pressure on themselves. They know that their coursework could save their grade even if they don’t do very well on the exam.

A lot of coursework also requires students to decide what they want to research or investigate. This allows students to be more creative, as they decide what to research, depending on the subject. This can make school more enjoyable and also give them more ideas about what they want to do in the future.

If you are about to sit your GCSEs and are thinking that coursework is the way to go, check out this article from Think Student to discover which GCSE subjects require students to complete coursework.

What are the cons of exams?

Personally, I hated exams! Most students share this opinion. After all, so much pressure is put on students to complete a set of exams at the end of the school year. Therefore, the main con of sitting exams is the amount of pressure that students are put under.

Unlike coursework, students are unable to go back and revisit the answers to their exams over many weeks. Instead, after those 2 (ish) hours are up, you have to leave the exam hall and that’s it! Your grade will be determined from your exams.

This can be seen as not the best method, as it doesn’t take student’s performances throughout the rest of the year into account. Consequently, if a student is just having a bad day and messes up one of their exams, nothing can be done about it!

If you are struggling with exam stress at the moment, check out this article from Think Student to discover ways of dealing with it.

Exams also require an immense amount of revision which takes up time and can be difficult for students to complete. If you want to discover some revision tips, check out this article from Think Student.

What are the pros of exams?

Exams can be considered easier however because they are over with quickly. Unlike coursework, all students have to do is stay in an exam hall for a couple of hours and it’s done! If you want to discover how long GCSE exams generally last, check out this article from Think Student.

Alternatively, you can find out how long A-Level exams are in this article from Think Student. There is no need to work on one exam paper for weeks – apart from revising of course!

Revising for exams does take a while, however revising can also be beneficial because it increases a student’s knowledge. Going over information again and again means that the student is more likely to remember it and use it in real life. This differs greatly from coursework.

Finally, the main advantage of exams is that it is much harder to cheat in any way. Firstly, this includes outright cheating – there have been issues in the past with students getting other people to write their coursework essays.

However, it also includes the help you get. Some students may have an unfair advantage if their teachers offer more help and guidance with coursework than at other schools. In an exam, it is purely the student’s work.

While this doesn’t necessarily make exams easier than coursework, it does make them fairer, and is the reason why very few GCSEs now include coursework.

If you want to discover more pros and cons of exams, check out this article from AplusTopper.

What type of student is coursework and exams suited to?

You have probably already gathered from this article whether exams or coursework are easier. This is because it all depends on you. Hopefully, the pros and cons outlined have helped you to decide whether exams or coursework is the best assessment method for you.

If you work well under pressure and prefer getting assessed all at once instead of gradually throughout the year, then exams will probably be easier for you. This is also true if you are the kind of person that leaves schoolwork till the last minute! Coursework will definitely be seen as difficult for you if you are known for doing this!

However, if, like me, you buckle under pressure and prefer having lots of time to research and write a perfect essay, then you may find coursework easier. Despite this, most GCSE subjects are assessed via exams. Therefore, you won’t be able to escape all exams!

As a result, it can be useful to find strategies that will help you work through them. This article from Think Student details a range of skills and techniques which could be useful to use when you are in an exam situation.

Exams and coursework are both difficult in their own ways – after all, they are used to thoroughly assess you! Depending on how you work best, it is your decision to decide whether one is easier than the other and which assessment method this is.

Rethinking educational assessments: the matrimony of exams and coursework

Standardised tests have been cemented in education systems across the globe, but whether or not they are a better assessment of students’ ability compared to coursework still divides opinions.

Proponents of exam assessments argue that despite being stressful, exams are beneficial for many reasons, such as:

• Provides motivation to study;
• Results are a good measure of the student’s work and understanding (and not anyone else’s); and
• They are a fair way of assessing students’ knowledge of a topic and encourage thinking in answering questions that everyone else is also taking.

But the latter may not be entirely true. A  Stanford study says question format can impact how boys and girls score on standardised tests. Researchers found that girls perform better on standardised tests that have more open-ended questions, while boys score higher when the tests include more multiple-choice questions.

Meanwhile, The Hechinger Report notes that assessments, when designed properly, can support, not just measure, student learning, building their skills and granting them the feedback they need.

“Assessments create feedback for teachers and students alike, and the high value of feedback – particularly timely feedback – is well-documented by learning scientists. It’s useful to know you’re doing something wrong right after you do it,” it said.

Exams are important for students, but they must be designed properly to ensure they support student learning. Source: Shutterstock

Conversely, critics of exams say the obsession with test scores comes at the expense of learning – students memorise facts, while some syllabi lack emphasis of knowledge application and does little to develop students’ critical thinking skills.

Meanwhile, teachers have argued that report card grades aren’t the best way to measure a student’s academic achievement , adding that they measure effort more than achievement.

Coursework, on the other hand, assesses a wider range of skills – it can consist of a range of activities such as quizzes, class participation, assignments and presentations. These steady assessments over an academic year suggests there is fair representation of students’ educational attainment while also catering for different learning styles.

Quizzes can be useful as they keep students on their toes and encourages them to study consistently, while giving educators a yardstick as to how well students are faring. Group work, however, can open up a can of worms when lazy students latch on to hard-working peers to pull up their grades, or when work is unevenly distributed among teammates.

It becomes clear that exams and coursework clearly test students’ different ‘muscles’, but do they supplement and support students’ learning outcomes and develop students as a whole?

The shifting tides

Coursework can develop skills such as collaboration and critical thinking among students, which exams cannot. Source: Shutterstock

News reports suggest that some countries are gradually moving away from an exam-oriented education system; these include selected schools in the US and Asian countries.

Last year, Malaysia’s Education Minister, Dr Maszlee Malik, said students from Year One to Three will no longer sit for exams come 2019, enabling the ministry to implement the Classroom-Based Assessment (PBD), in which they can focus on a pupil’s learning development.

Meanwhile, Singapore is cutting down on the number of exams for selected primary and secondary school levels, while Georgia’s school graduate exams will be abolished from 2020. Finland is a country known for not having standardised tests, with the exception of one exam at the end of students’ secondary school year.

Drawing from my experience, I found that a less exam-oriented system greatly benefitted me.

Going through 11 years of the Malaysian national education system was a testament that I did not perform well in an exam-oriented environment. I was often ‘first from the bottom’ in class, which did little to boost my confidence in school.

For university, I set out to select a programme that was less exam-oriented and eventually chose the American Degree Programme (ADP), while many of my schoolmates went with the popular A-Levels before progressing to their degree.

With the ADP, the bulk of student assessments (about 70 percent, depending on your institution) came from assignments, quizzes, class participation, presentations and the like, while the remaining 30 percent was via exams. Under this system, I found myself flourishing for the first time in an academic setting – my grades improved, I was more motivated to attend my classes and learned that I wasn’t as stupid as I was often made out to be during my school days.

This system of continuous assessments worked more in my favour than the stress of sitting for one major exam. In the former, my success or failure in an educational setting was not entirely dependent on how well I could pass standardised tests that required me to regurgitate facts through essays and open-ended or multiple choice questions.

Instead, I had more time to grasp new and alien concepts, and through activities that promoted continuous development, was able to digest and understand better.

Mixed assessments in schools and universities can be beneficial for developing well-rounded individuals. Source: Shutterstock

Additionally, shy students such as myself are forced between a rock and a hard place – to contribute to class discussions or get a zero for class participation, and to engage in group and solo presentations or risk getting zero for oral presentations.

One benefit to this system is that it gives you the chance to play to your strengths and work hard towards securing top marks in areas you care about. If you preferred the  examination or assignments portion, for example, you could knock it out of the park in those areas to pull up your grades.

Some students may be all-rounders who perform well in both exam-oriented and coursework assessments, but not all students say the same. However, the availability of mixed assessments in schools and universities can be beneficial for developing well-rounded individuals.

Under this system, students who perform poorly in exams will still have to go through them anyway, while students who excel in exam-oriented conditions are also forced to undergo other forms of assessments and develop their skill sets, including creativity, collaboration, oral and critical thinking skills.

Students who argue that their grades will fall under mixed-assessments should rethink the purpose of their education – in most instances, degrees aim to prepare people for employment.

But can exams really prepare students for employment where they’ll be working with people with different skills, requiring them to apply critical thinking and communication skills over a period of time to ensure work is completed within stipulated deadlines, despite hiccups that can happen between the start and finishing line of a project?

It’ll help if parents, educators and policymakers are on the bandwagon, too, instead of merely chasing for children and students to obtain a string of As.  

Grades hold so much power over students’ futures – from the ability to get an academic scholarship to gaining entry to prestigious institutions – and this means it can be difficult to get students who prefer one mode of assessment to convert to one that may potentially negatively affect their grades.

Ideally, education shouldn’t be about pitting one student against the other; it should be based on attaining knowledge and developing skills that will help students in their future careers and make positive contributions to the world.

Exams are still a crucial part of education as some careers depend on a student’s academic attainment (i.e. doctors, etc.). But rather than having one form of assessment over the other, matrimony between the two may help develop holistic students and better prepare them for the world they’ll soon be walking into.

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•    The Preferable Option: Coursework vs Exams

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• The Preferable Option: Coursework vs Exams
• Chloe Daniel
• Published On: July 13 ,2024

Coursework and exams are two assessment modules taken by teachers to grade a student’s progress at the end of the term. Some students who hate exams go for options that involve detailed coursework assessments. Whereas the ones who do not like yearly project-based assessments, choose subjects that offer exam-based assessments. 

But is there a definite answer as to which one is the easier and more preferable option? Well, the opinions differ from person to person.

We will discuss here the nitty-gritty of coursework and exams and describe how these two benefit students separately. 

What is Coursework?

Coursework is practical work assigned to university students to express their thoughts on a specific topic. It's part of their studies and is given by professors or instructors. University coursework can include tasks like writing articles, essays, reports, and dissertations.

It is a learning activity that allows students to showcase their work and share their ideas on a subject matter. It encourages students to engage with their professors. Doing coursework helps students practice different academic tasks, helping them think critically and become smarter. They can also use essay writing services to enhance their writing abilities.

Year-End Exams

A year-end exam is a final test that usually happens at the end of the school or college year. It's meant to see how much a student knows and understands from everything they learned throughout the year.

These exams cover all the subjects studied over the year and can have different kinds of formats, like multiple choice, essays, or short answers. Their length and content depend on the institution and the subject they’re studying.

Year-end exams are super important because they affect a student's grades. That's why it's a good idea for students to study regularly throughout the year and prepare for these exams thoughtfully.

Read More: Types of Assessment in Education

Popular Choice Among Students

According to research, the top choice among students is coursework. They think coursework is easier because of how it's structured. Maybe because you work on it all year long and have lots of help available throughout the year.

With coursework, there's less pressure at the end of the year because you've been working on it in small steps. Your grade is based on the effort and hard work you put forward. For example, in GCSE or A-Level, you might have to write a long essay or do a project and you will be graded because of that.

Students find this easier because they have time to research and edit their work. This lets them produce the best quality of work without having to worry about last-minute preparation and exam stress. 

Pros of Coursework over Exams

Coursework and Exams are both important aspects of education. Research shows that combining these two results in a 12% increase in average student grades. Still, a majority of students prefer coursework over exams for various reasons.

1. Coursework is Relaxing

Exams can be stressful for students, whereas there’s no anxiety hanging around coursework. Though it also has its deadlines, the environment in which students work is easy and flexible. 

Exam stress is a real phenomenon that makes students ask multiple questions like "Have I studied enough?" and "What if I can't remember anything?" causing worry. This anxiety can make it hard for students to relax or eat properly. There are multiple things students will have to do to cope with exam stress.

On the other hand, coursework, if planned well, can be relatively stress-free. It allows students to build their work gradually, receive feedback, and express their creativity. There’s no added pressure to memorize things and cram concepts you don’t understand.

2. No Time-limit

Students often cram the entire syllabus during exam time, leading to stress and forgetfulness. Fear of failure and memory lapses can affect their focus. The worst thing is when you haven’t studied the whole year, the last few weeks and days can be awful for you because the syllabus left will be more than your capacity to retain information.

In contrast, coursework allows students to thoroughly research their topics and refer to their work at any time. This flexibility helps students minimize errors and improve their work. The no-time limit also allows students to work to their full potential, leaving no stone unturned.

3. Proper Planning 

Exams come with time constraints, forcing students to decide which questions to answer quickly and leaving little room for revisions. Less organized people will sit there worrying about the syllabus without proper planning. You will need more time to revise easy concepts and learn new ones. 

Conversely, coursework provides ample time for research and planning. Students can explore their topics in depth, make changes, and innovate as they work on their projects. Some students take time before starting something. Exams don't provide that opportunity; it’s a quick process where presence of mind is necessary. With coursework, that anxiety is reduced and replaced with quality work.

Learn Better: How Can You Learn Without Forgetting?

4. Assistance Available

During exams, students have no assistance and cannot seek clarification from their professors. You can try all you want, but you won't be allowed to ask for help. Asking questions during exams comes under cheating — which isn't permissible.

In contrast, coursework allows for discussions and detailed guidance. Students can collaborate with peers, seek help from coursework writing services, and receive feedback to improve their work. Professors are there to guide students throughout the year, and their input can greatly enhance the projects.

5. Abundance of Resources 

Exams often restrict students from using external resources, relying solely on their knowledge, which, too, is retained after continuous cramming. Even if they want to, students cannot think outside the box in the limited time available. While they’re prepping for their exams, taking help from additional resources seems far-fetched, considering time constraints and stress.

In contrast, coursework offers access to a wealth of resources. Students can conduct extensive research, engage in discussions, and utilize various materials to enhance their assignments. Additionally, professional essay writing services can provide further assistance by proofreading and editing coursework essays.

The Downside of Coursework

While coursework has been a popular choice among students with its pros, there are some cons of it as well. 

Requires Too Much Time: One major downside of coursework is the significant time commitment it requires. To some students, coursework always feels like a burden because it consumes so much of their time.

Initially, the task of writing a long essay, say around 2000-3000 words, seems manageable. However, the extensive research needed and the subsequent editing and review process add up to a considerable amount of time.

Extensive Attention Without Assistance: Unlike exams that are typically completed within a short timeframe, coursework demands ongoing attention and refinement. It demands constant revision and rephrasing to make sure of a professional and high-quality outcome. 

While teachers can offer some guidance, coursework is designed to be an independent project, limiting the extent of their support. This independent nature can be challenging for students who are used to receiving more help from their teachers.

Plagiarism: Additionally, there's a heightened risk associated with coursework: plagiarism. Any instance of copying content from other sources can result in disqualification of the coursework. Thus, students should be vigilant about their writing and avoid direct copying from external sources. This risk factor adds an element of uncertainty to the assessment process.

Need Proper Citation: While students are allowed to use online resources for research purposes, proper referencing is important. Referencing is a complex and mind-numbing task when you are working on assignments. Carefully catering to APA, Harvard, MLA, or ACS requires extra attention to detail and sleepless nights. This skill can be challenging for students and they might think of dropping coursework altogether.

Why Some Students Like Exams?

There are always two sides to coins and that’s why there are always people who prefer exams over coursework. No wonder exams also have some pros, but a majority of students dread them because of the accompanying anxiety. 

Choosing coursework or exams is solely a student’s choice. So, here are some pros of exams so you can make an informed decision.

Instant Results: Exams offer the advantage of quick completion compared to coursework. Unlike the prolonged process of working on coursework over weeks, exams are typically completed within a few hours. Students simply need to stay in the exam hall for the designated duration, and it's done. You don’t have to go through the slow period of turmoil waiting to write the perfect assignment.

No Cheating: Another advantage of exams is the reduced opportunity for cheating. Unlike coursework, where instances of plagiarism or unfair assistance may occur, exams typically rely on the student's effort. This helps maintain fairness in the assessment process, as it ensures that each student's performance is based on their knowledge and skills.

Fair Evaluation: While exams may not necessarily be easier than coursework, their emphasis on individual effort contributes to a fairer evaluation process. This fairness has led to a decrease in the inclusion of coursework in many GCSEs, reflecting a shift towards exam-based assessments.

Students need to study properly throughout the year to prepare for the year-end exams. Some students prefer getting certified help from online tutors to upgrade their preparation and score well in exams.

Relevant reading: How Can You Extract Important Points in Text?

The Final Decision

Deciding upon exams or coursework and coming to a conclusion about which one is easier depends on your individual preferences and strengths. The pros and cons discussed in this blog can help you determine which assessment method suits you best.

If you can work under pressure and prefer being evaluated all at once rather than the slow and gradual poison of coursework, exams might be a preferable choice for you. However, if you feel overwhelmed by pressure and prefer having ample time to research and create your work, coursework might be a better fit for you. 

Despite this, exams remain a significant part of many courses, so it's important to develop strategies to handle them effectively!

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Are exams a more effective tool to assess students than coursework?

Matthew Murchie, 15, St Joseph College

For thousands of years, exams have been used to assess students' abilities and intelligence. But recently, more schools have been opting for a different approach to assessment: coursework.

Exams seem, at first sight, to be an excellent way to assess students. They test a specific syllabus that everyone follows and they put students on an even footing as all students sit for the same exam papers.

Unfortunately, basing a student's academic abilities on a single exam paper is hardly an accurate method of assessment. What if the student is not on form on the day of the exam? What if the student is sick and can't make it to the exam? It is often the case that a talented student misses great opportunities purely because they couldn't turn up for a single important exam.

Coursework, on the other hand, provides a steady assessment over the course of months, guaranteeing the students' results to be an accurate summary of their academic standards.

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• How to Make Your Coursework as Good as It Can Possibly Be

Many GCSE and A-level subjects are assessed in part by coursework in addition to exams, meaning that the mark you receive for coursework contributes to your overall grade. Many students prefer coursework, because it’s a chance to showcase your academic abilities away from the high-pressured environment of the exam room, making it ideal for those who don’t perform to the best of their abilities in exams. However, the time you have available for coursework, in contrast with the time constraints of the exam room, can lull some students into a false sense of security. Coursework is arguably just as challenging as exams, just in different ways – and, given the fact that you have more time, much higher standards are expected of you in coursework than in exams. Careful planning and research are needed for successful coursework, as well as strong data-gathering and essay-writing skills. In this article, we look at how to produce excellent coursework, from planning to proofreading. This information might also be useful to you if you’re planning on attending an Oxford Summer School this summer.

What is coursework?

GCSE and A-level coursework typically takes the form of an extended essay or project. Its objectives vary from one subject to another, but there’s usually an emphasis on the student conducting independent research into a topic of their own choice. Thus coursework often takes the form of some sort of investigation; it may, therefore, help to have your ‘detective’ hat on as you explore, investigate and analyse your topic. You can usually work on your coursework at home, though it’s sometimes completed under controlled conditions through sessions at school. To give you a better idea of how coursework varies from one subject to another, here are some examples:

• English – English coursework usually takes the form of an extended essay with a title of your choice. You’re usually given a choice of themes and/or texts to explore, and you could choose a format such as a comparison between a set text and another one.
• Geography – Geography coursework usually focuses on the gathering, reporting and interpretation of data designed to answer a particular geographical question. You could investigate usage of a shopping centre, for example, or look at erosion on a particular beach.
• Sciences – coursework for science subjects often takes the form of a scientific project or experiment that you conduct and report on yourself.

Before you start work on your coursework, it’s essential that you have a thorough understanding of the rules. Failing to conform to the rules – inadvertently or not – may result in your coursework (or possibly even your entire qualification) being disqualified, so it’s a serious matter.

• No plagiarism – this is particularly dangerous given the ready availability of relevant information on the internet these days. Make sure everything is in your own words; you’ll need to sign a declaration stating that it’s your own original work.
• There’s only so much help your teacher can give you . They can provide guidance on what you need to include, and on what the examiners will be looking for. You can ask them questions, but they’ll usually only be able to check through your first draft once and offer broad hints on updating it.
• Check the word count , and stick to it. Find out whether footnotes, appendices and bibliographies are included in the word count.
• Check what topics you’re allowed to do your coursework on; if there’s an exam on this topic, you’ll almost certainly have to choose a different one for your coursework.

Choose your topic wisely

Ideally, choose something you’re genuinely interested in, as your enthusiasm will come across and you’ll find it more enjoyable to write. If there’s something you’ve been working on for the course so far that you’ve particularly enjoyed, you may be able to focus more on this as part of your coursework. For science coursework, you’ll need to choose something to investigate that you can measure, change and control; it should be what’s called a ‘fair test’, meaning that you have to acknowledge all the controls you use in the experiment and why. Try not to pick a topic for which the scope is too vast, as you’ll struggle to research it properly and you’re unlikely to do it justice, and it’ll be hard to keep within the word limit. Ask your teachers for some guidance on choosing your topic if you’re not sure what to write about; they might even tell you a bit about what previous students have done to give you some inspiration.

Plan how long it’s going to take

Never leave your coursework until the last minute, even if this is your normal approach to essays and it usually works for you. Make sure you understand when the deadlines are, including time for submitting a first draft for comments from your teacher. Then schedule blocks of time for working on it, allowing plenty of time before the deadline to cater for any unexpected delays. Allow ample time for making corrections based on teacher feedback on your first draft, and keep some time aside before the deadline for final editing and proofreading. Because actual deadlines are few and far between, you’ll need to take responsibility for the writing process and impose some deadlines on yourself to ensure it’s finished in time. Write down your deadlines on a calendar, with the coursework broken into stages and dates assigned to each, by which time each task should be complete. You can base your stages on the next few points in this article – research and data gathering, a structure plan for the piece of work, writing up, and so on.

Conducting your research and gathering data

As coursework is primarily a research exercise, the research phase is crucial, so don’t be tempted to skimp on it and go straight to writing up. Use as many different resources as you can to gather data: books, journals, newspapers, television, radio, the internet and anything else you think might be relevant. For science and Geography coursework, you’ll need to base your work on a hypothesis, so the research stage should start by coming up with at least one hypothesis, otherwise your research will lack direction. The research phase for some subjects may involve site visits for gathering data, so allow plenty of time for this, particularly if you need your parents to drive you somewhere to do so. If it’s a scientific experiment you’re conducting for your coursework, you’ll need to pay careful attention to planning the experiment using rigorous scientific methods (also noting what Health and Safety precautions you are taking), as well as reading up on the background and theory so that you have an idea of what to expect from the outcome of your experiment. In the research stage, make notes about what you expect to happen, so that you can later compare your expectations with what actually did happen. The experiment itself also forms part of the research and data-gathering stage for your science coursework; in the write-up stage, which we come onto shortly, you analyse and write up the results.

Plan your structure

Once you’ve completed your research, the process of writing up begins. Before you get down to the actual writing, however, it’s advisable to write a plan for how you’re going to structure it – essentially an essay plan for English coursework and other subjects for which the coursework is based on an extended essay. It’ll look slightly different from an essay plan for science subjects and others that revolve around project work, but the principle is the same: plan out what order you’re going to present your information in. For big projects, this is particularly important, because with a lot of information to convey, you risk being disorganised and waffling.

Writing up your project

For any coursework, but particularly coursework based around an extended essay, you’ll need to perfect your essay-writing abilities. For science coursework, writing up your project also involves data analysis, as you interpret the results of your experiment and work your notes into formal scientific language.

When you’re writing up, it’s important to find a place where you can work quietly, without distractions that could cause you to make careless errors. You wouldn’t want noise or distractions when you were in an exam room, so treat your coursework with the same reverence.

Supporting materials and images

For some subjects, namely the sciences and Geography, it would be appropriate to include images, graphs, charts, tables and so on in your coursework. For example, for Geography coursework, your extra material could include annotated images and maps of the site you’re talking about, plus tables, graphs and charts. An appendix could then detail your raw data; if, for example, your coursework focused on the results of a survey, you could put the raw survey responses in an appendix and provide summaries and analysis in the main body of the coursework.

Footnotes and bibliography

As we said earlier, it’s important that you always use your own words in your coursework to avoid the possibility of falling foul of plagiarism rules. However, it’s acceptable to quote from another source, as you would in any piece of academic writing, but you must make sure that you state where it is from and use quotation marks to show that it’s a quote from somewhere else. The best way of citing another work is to use a footnote; word processors will allow you to insert one, and it just puts a little number at the end of the sentence and another in the footer of the document, into which you put the name of the author and work, and the page within that work that the quote can be found. At the end of your piece of work, include a bibliography that includes a list of every external source you’ve used in the creation of your coursework. Stick to a set formula when including books. A common format is: Author Surname, Initial. (Date) – Title of Book , page number For example: Lewis, C.S. (1960) – Studies in Words , p. 45 When you get to university, you’ll be expected to include footnotes and bibliographies in all your essays, so it’s a good habit to get into and coursework gives you good practice at it.

The final pre-submission check

Having completed a first draft, received feedback from your teacher, and honed your work into a finished piece of coursework, have a final check through it before you send off your coursework for submission.

• Sense check : have a read through your completed piece of work and check that it all makes sense. Make sure you haven’t contradicted yourself anywhere, or repeated yourself, or laboured the point. If there are any facts that you may have meant to look up to double check their accuracy, do so now.
• Word count : ensure that the completed work falls within the word count, and double check whether the bibliography should be included in the word count. If you’ve exceeded it, you’ll need to work through the piece and tighten up your writing, omitting unnecessary information, reordering sentences so that they use fewer words, and so on.
• Proofread : check your spelling and grammar, and ensure that there are no typos. Don’t just use the spellcheck – go through it with a fine toothcomb, manually, and if you can, ask someone to read through it for you to see if they spot anything you haven’t.
• Formatting : check that you’ve included page numbers, and that the font and line spacing is consistent throughout the work. Ensure that the font is plain and easy to read, such as Arial or Times New Roman.
• Bibliography : check that you’ve included everything, that the format is the same for all sources mentioned, and that the right information is included for each.

Once this stage is complete, you’re ready to submit your coursework along with your declaration that it’s entirely your own work. Get ready for a feeling of immense satisfaction when you finally send off your hard work!

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Universities should learn from assessment methods used during the pandemic – and cut down on exams for good

Reader in Higher Education, Director of the Surrey Institute of Education, University of Surrey

Alfred Deakin Professor and Director, Centre for Research on Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University

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Dr Naomi Winstone has received funding from the Society for Research into Higher Education.

[email protected] has received funding from the Australian Research Council.

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Deakin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Timed written examinations continue to dominate university assessment. In most professions, the need to recall and write down specific information from memory under timed conditions is rare. Yet every year across the world students are crammed into exam halls to do just that.

The coronavirus pandemic gave universities no choice but to radically rethink assessment. Many formal examinations were cancelled and replaced by a greater variety of assessment tasks.

As universities start to imagine a post-pandemic future, they are faced with a choice – to simply return to the way things were, or embrace this opportunity to change assessment for good.

Meaningful learning

To manage the challenges created by the shutdown of campuses, many universities reduced the number of assessments students were required to complete. They still made sure that the tasks enabled students to demonstrate their learning against all of the stated learning outcomes. These are the essential expectations for a course as a whole.

Students often complain of bunched assessment deadlines. Courses with lots of pieces of assessment occurring at the same time – such as final exams – can drive what are known as “surface” learning behaviours, such as short-term memorisation of required knowledge.

In contrast, “deep” approaches to learning involve students integrating new learning with what they already know, and seeking to engage meaningfully with knowledge rather than just trying to remember it. A smaller number of assessment tasks can encourage this deeper approach to learning. It leads students to look beyond the content of what they are learning, towards its meaning.

In assessment, less can be more. In university courses, tasks that contribute to students’ grades are known as summative assessments. Tasks that focus instead on helping students to learn through practising key skills and benefiting from feedback are called formative assessments.

Research shows that students typically experience eight times as much summative as formative assessment on their courses. By reducing the number of summative assessments, we can instead focus on meaningful learning and formative feedback.

Rethinking examinations

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many exams have been replaced by coursework tasks or open book examinations. These forms of assessment better represent the ways in which information is synthesised and applied in real life situations. Tasks that represent what graduates are likely to do in the workplace are often called authentic assessment .

There are countless ways to assess students’ learning authentically. From learning journals to blog posts, and from podcasts to client reports, students can demonstrate their learning through a wide range of tasks that represent the kinds of activities they will encounter in their future working lives.

Whilst there are often concerns that such forms of assessment are more susceptible to cheating than the conventional examination, research now equips us with strategies to minimise such risks.

In a few cases, examinations are set and required by the professional bodies that accredit courses. But where there are viable alternatives to timed unseen examinations, we can envision a future where we no longer cram students into exam halls and ask them questions they will rarely encounter outside of an educational institution.

Reclaiming feedback

As we think of new ways of assessing our students’ learning, perhaps we can re-establish feedback as important in its own right and not just an afterthought to an assessment task. Our recent research argues that for too long feedback has been something that mainly happens after assessment has taken place. Instead, feedback can and should be designed into courses in ways that help students to learn through understanding and using feedback information.

Examinations often occur at the end of the academic year. This means that if students receive any information at all on their performance, they do not have an opportunity to use it. The neglect of feedback as a learning tool has meant that often comments provided on students’ work merely justify the grade awarded, rather than supporting students to learn how to improve their work in the future. Supporting students’ learning is the true purpose of feedback.

University assessment has resisted change for far too long. This pandemic has forced a large-scale shift in approaches to assessment, not just in terms of how we assess students, but why. Under immensely challenging circumstances, universities have been handed an opportunity to change for good. They should use this opportunity to focus on methods of assessment that put learning first.

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Impact of coursework on attainment dependent on student characteristics

Comparing specifications from 5 subject areas, at GCSE and A level, with and without coursework to investigate how attainment differs dependent on student characteristics.

Applies to England

The impact of coursework on attainment dependent on student characteristics.

Ref: Ofqual/20/6629

PDF , 1.53 MB , 47 pages

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Ofqual commissioned this work in 2019 in order to try to gain some deeper insight into the relationship between different forms of assessment within high stakes qualifications, to understand the extent to which different types of assessment – examination and non-examined assessment (coursework) - might be associated with different levels of performance for different groups or types of students. While there are often views or observations around, say, whether a particular gender ‘does better’ in examinations, or that students of lower socio-economic status may not have the same access to resources at home to support coursework, the research literature to support these views is not as substantial as it can be; and often does not adequately control for other factors.

This research aims to make the most of existing data around performance in different types of assessment. Over the last two decades, there have been changes in the proportion of examined and non-examined assessment (coursework) and this research utilises this data to see whether there is any evidence to show that differences in learner characteristics (gender, ethnicity, special educational needs, socio-economic class) are associated with different patterns of performance in relation to different types of assessment. The data is useful in that it comprises large, whole cohort data for the years analysed. The insights are likely to provide a useful evidence base and have a bearing on future decisions about use of different types of assessment in high stakes examinations.

Key findings

• There is little evidence that coursework has any impact on outcomes for students of different socio-economic statuses (SES) or for students with special educational needs.
• Male students perform better than female students in wholly examined GCSE specifications and also in GCSE specifications where there is a greater level of control in the coursework. Female students tend to have better outcomes than males where internally set, internally marked coursework is included.
• There is little indication of different outcomes for students of different ethnicities across different assessment types; except for students of Chinese ethnicity who despite performing well overall, perform relatively poorly when entered for specifications with coursework.
• In specifications where coursework was optional, the examined alternative appears to provide a safety net for less able students who failed to submit coursework.

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Should coursework be included in exams?

As the exams regulator prepared to abandon the assessment of coursework counting towards the grades for science A Levels, Tim Oates, Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment, considered the impact of current coursework – or controlled assessment – arrangements on science teaching.

Speaking at the Association for Science Education Conference at the University of Birmingham on 9 January, Tim said that although it is widely recognised that the current system of coursework assessment does not work, it could be detrimental to promote approaches which may also result in the abolishment of science experiments in the classroom. He went on to say that there is "unequivocal evidence from many years of research that shows that children and young people acquire understanding of vital aspects of biology, chemistry and physics far more effectively when programmes include learning grounded in experiments in the classroom".

Tim called for a shift in the idea about the role and use of practical work. Acknowledging the pressures on teachers to enhance exam grades, he said that some mistakenly believed practical work was a simply a necessary part of preparation for the exam. Calling on examples from medical education, he claimed that a rich mixture of practice and theory results in a deep, secure learning which ensures that pupils are ready to go into industry or higher education with robust practical, as well as theoretical, scientific knowledge.

Explaining that much of the recent critique on controlled assessment in science has been that it has tended to err towards assessing knowledge rather than practical activity, Tim called for a greater precision about what the purpose of coursework should be in terms of learning outcomes. This, he said, would ensure that it can be designed more effectively into learning programmes and public examinations, where marks would need to be measured with specific constructs. Perhaps controversially, he suggested that we consider whether we should not include coursework within public examinations themselves, saying that "we should not be irrationally opposed to high quality written end-assessment focussing on knowledge, where the best preparation is rich, immersive practical work".

In 2013, Tim published a paper on alternative approaches for appropriate placing of ‘coursework components’ in GCSE examinations. At the same time, our UK exam board, OCR proposed that practical experiments in science, fieldwork in geography and creative activities in arts subjects, among others, should continue to be a part of the subject syllabus – with the knowledge assessed as part of the final exams – but with a key change being that the coursework itself would not contribute to a final grade.

Related materials

• -->Coursework – radical solutions in demanding times (PDF, 354KB)

Related links

• OCR responds to DfE and Ofqual consultations on GCSE reform

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Doing coursework will always be better than sitting exams

If only you’d realised this at the start of the year

If you’re a fresher, here’s a bit of advice: when you choose your modules always pick those which will be examined by coursework. Why? There’s nothing worse than cruising through a year then realising at the end that you have 12 exams to cram for and you know nothing about any of them. The beauty of coursework is that you do it alongside your modules and then when the module finishes – you can forget about it forever .

Sure, I don’t really love doing coursework, but would I rather do exams? Hell no. Here are the reasons why doing lots of coursework is the best thing you could do at uni.

There’s no exam stress

Exams mean stress. Have you done enough revision? Will your mind go blank? Is stress stopping you sleeping? Even when you’re eating or watching TV the guilt about not revising kicks in. You just can’t relax. Not so with coursework, when you can structure your work over a period of time. It’s pretty much the only way to preserve your mental stability.

There’s no time limit

Coursework doesn’t have time limits. Yes, you still have deadlines, but three weeks sounds  so  much better than a crammed two hour exam don’t you think? This means that you can write the essay when you want to, not when you have to. And the pressure to perform right then in the moment   barely exists for coursework. It also means you won’t feel guilty when you go out for spontaneous night at Snobs. I mean, there’s still two weeks until the deadline, so it’d be rude not to.

No one’s ever ready for exams…

You can get help from your clever mates

We’ve all come out of an exam and spoken to a friend who makes you realise that you’ve basically fucked it.  If only you could get your mates to read through the answer to your exams before they were marked. Oh, wait, you could have if you’d chosen modules assessed by coursework. With coursework, you can get all the help from friends you need. Not to mention your tutors who are your on-hand experts.

You have all the resources at your fingertips

Some people naturally have bad memories. Unlike exams, coursework is not just a memory test. Instead, it allows you to produce work which represents your true intellect, not your goldfish memory. Again, this makes coursework less stressful – as you have all the resources you will need in front of you,  you don’t need to panic about remembering stuff.

How are we meant to remember all of this???

Coursework can be tweaked over time

45 minutes into an exam, you can’t really decide you don’t like your question and answer a different one instead. Coursework allows you to change you mind, and in fact, it’s encouraged. This produces a stronger argument – there is plenty of time to review what you have written and tweak it if you want to.

So the next time you’re moaning about doing coursework, remember – at least you’re not doing an exam instead.  And make the wise choice when choosing next years modules- you won’t want to go through this again.

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Is coursework a better alternative to class exams to assess student’s capabilities?

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There are two major strategies that teachers use to assess the potential of a student: Unseen exam and coursework. This article argues on why coursework is a comparatively better method than exams. In several countries and universities, discussions usually arise on whether more weightage should be given on exam marks or coursework marks.

While the argument do not reach any conclusion, it is not possible to eliminate one of these totally from the curriculum. Therefore, both methods are generally used despite the fact that different weight is given to both in different universities and countries.

The most logical arguments on why a coursework is better than an exam are as follows:

Comprehensiveness: Precisely, coursework is way more comprehensive, informative and research-based than an exam. A coursework will require students to get involved in mass research, make notes, use various resources and work on presentation while an exam can lead to a student reading, or merely memorizing, definitions and examples from just one book or eBook.

Time flexibility: Under time pressure, students may feel exhausted and the exam they appear for may not reflect their true potential. Coursework deadline is usually in weeks or maybe months depending on the complexity, length and subject. On the other hand, exam lasts for a few hours and since students have to cover so many points, some very important ones are unintentionally omitted and hence they end up losing marks. When a student gets a long deadline for coursework, he plans everything conveniently and allocates optimum time to research, writing and presentation. This planning helps them submit an outstanding work and get good grades.

Use of several resources: As mentioned, exam will lead to a student studying from a very few resources because he will only need sufficient information to write. Conversely, students will try to include as much detailed information as possible about the subject or topic to make the coursework stand out from others. By using various books from libraries and eBooks from web stores, students will learn about real world examples linked to the subject which is unlikely to be the case in an exam.

No stress of supervising: Exam supervision becomes hectic if the class size is too large. This is avoided in a coursework because students submit them by the stipulated deadline. Moreover, there is a risk of plagiarism in coursework and therefore teachers can immediately reject a coursework if plagiarized content is found.

These are some arguments that make it clear why coursework is better than exams. HoweverComputer Technology Articles, the most efficient way of assessing student capabilities is to test them on exams and coursework both.

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Exams vs Coursework

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Should university be coursework-based or exam-based?

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