Assessment Deadlines and Penalties

Overview

During your time as a student you will be required to submit coursework for assessment for your courses. Students are expected to submit coursework on time, in the required format and within any word count limits detailed on the course Learn site.

Deadlines & Submission

Coursework deadlines are published on the Course Learn site.

Please note all coursework on SPS courses is due by 23:59 (UK Time), and submitting later than this (even by seconds) without an approved extension may incur a penalty. Extensions must be applied for before the published coursework deadline.

We strongly recommend that you start the online submission process well in advance of the deadline to avoid late submission and associated penalties (see below)

Coursework submitted to the Course Learn site at the dropbox closure time will be regarded as the final version for marking.

Once the final drop box for the assessment has closed, we will no longer be able to accept your assignment.

IT failures during assignment submission

Computer failures are unlikely to be accepted reasons for consideration of exceptional circumstances for late submission. Therefore, where possible, you should always connect through the College server when uploading coursework.

If you do experience difficulties with connectivity, please email sps.support@ed.ac.uk. You will need evidence of any network issues.

Always back up your work so that you have two independent up-to-date copies.

Penalties

Penalties are applied to assignment marks in certain circumstances, detailed below.

Penalties for late submission

If assessed coursework is submitted after the relevant deadline (including a deadline adjusted by a coursework extension), it will be recorded as late and a penalty will be applied by the School. The penalty applied is a reduction of the mark by 5% of the maximum obtainable mark per calendar day. This applies for up to seven calendar days after which a mark of zero will be given. e.g. for an assignment marked out of 100, 5 marks would be removed if the work was submitted up to 24 hours late

Please also refer to the Taught Assessment Regulations (28.1)

Note: Failure to submit an item of assessed work will result in a mark of zero. This can have very serious consequences for your progression or award. It is therefore always in your interest to submit work if the dropbox remains open, even if late. If you are being affected by circumstances beyond your control and this is impacting your ability to complete coursework, please let your Student Adviser know as soon as possible.

Incorrect Submissions & Penalties

Students are responsible for submitting the correct coursework to the relevant dropbox for marking by the deadline.

The file submitted to the dropbox at the deadline date will be considered the final version and will be marked.

If a student identifies a mistake with their submitted coursework after the dropbox has closed they should immediately contact the course administrator for advice.

Penalties for exceeding word count limit

The below text is applicable to session 2024/25 onwards

Your course Learn page will specify the maximum word count for each coursework assignment. All coursework submitted by students must state the actual word count for that submission on the coversheet provided on Learn.

All courses in the School of Social and Political Science (SPS) have a standard penalty for going over the word count limit. If you are taking courses from other Schools, please check with them what their penalties are. 

The penalty for excessive word count in a piece of coursework on a SPS course is 5-marks. These 5 marks will be deducted regardless of how many words over the limit the work is (whether it is by 1 word or by 500!). If the assessment is very far over the word count limit, a marker may also decide that any text beyond the word count limit will be excluded from the evaluation of the coursework, and the mark will be based only on the writing up to the word count limit.

Unless stated otherwise in written guidance relating to an assessed component, appendices and the bibliography/reference list are not included in the word count whilst headings, subheadings, in-text references, tables, charts, graphs and footnotes/endnotes are included. Make sure you know what is and what is not included in the word count for each coursework assignment. Again, check the course Learn page for this information and, if you are unsure, contact the Course Organiser to check.

You will not be penalised for submitting work below the word count limit. However, you should note that shorter essays are unlikely to achieve the required depth and that this will be reflected in your mark.

Note that the above applies to coursework. The MSc dissertation word length – and what is included in it – is specified in the PG Dissertation handbook.

More about referencing on the Citethemright website (UoE login requried)

Penalties for academic misconduct in assignment submissions

Coursework submitted to the Course Learn site will be regarded as the final version for marking.

Where there is evidence that the wrong piece of work has been deliberately submitted to subvert hand-in deadlines - for example in a deliberately corrupted file - the matter may be treated as a case of misconduct and be referred to the School Academic Misconduct Officer.

The maximum penalty can be a mark of 0% (zero). Please note that a mark of zero may have very serious consequences for your degree.