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What is your uni workload like?

For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Good afternoon @NotBestPleased

I am a second-year BSc Ecology student, which is a very biology and agriculture-based subject.

At the Univeritsy of Reading, most of our subjects have a good mixture of written coursework and exam assignments. The assignment types vary between modules and years, but they are mostly Multiple choice questions and written questions. Most of our exams are in person now during our examination periods( after semester 1 and semester 2).

In terms of workload, they recommend that you do 200 hours a semester for each module, including the lecture hours. Students don't always achieve this as this is a lot of time; however, as long as the students can understand what they are learning and are doing some extra reading, then there is no set amount of time; the 200 hours is only a guideline.

Most university courses at the University of Reading have flexible examination types, e.g. coursework portfolios, essays, reports, presentations, posters and then exams. Most modules have a mixture of these, and each has a different weighting towards that module. e.g. the exam is 50%, then a 25% presentation, and 25% report. These then add up to the overall grade of that module, and a 40% is needed to pass the module. Throughout the academic year, you must pass all modules. Otherwise, a resit exam has to be done; if this is not passed, then a student will not be allowed to move into the next year.

I hope this helps answer your questions. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

All the best,
Ella 🤗
Bsc Ecology
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hi @NotBestPleased,

I'm currently in my third year of uni doing psychology. The workload can get overwhelming at times due to all the pre-reading and research papers we have to read. From my experience, the only assignments I've written are due towards the end of the module and can vary between 2000-4000 words. However, I have also had modules where half of our grades come from online quizzes which have been due in the middle of the semester (by the 5th or 7th week).

But with good time management it can be viable to juggle university life and social life.

Hope this helps,
Danish
BCU Student Rep
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hi @NotBestPleased
During my undergraduate degree in Physical Geography the assessments tended to be quite essay focused. I found I usually had 1 large essay coursework assignment about every month (about 3 per term), which was between 2000-3000 words. I tended to have exams at the end of the year, with between 4-6 exams over a 3 week period, which were also mainly essay focused. It was quite common to have online multiple choice exams, especially in 1st year, however these did occur in 2nd and 3rd year, however they were only worth about 5% of the overall modules credits.
My department always recommended that a 15 credit module was equal to about 150 hours of learning time (20 credits = 200 hours), which included lectures, seminars, labs, doing further readings, exploring more content, writing coursework and revising for the end of year exams. Which sounds like a lot of time but when you average this out over a term or year it was quite manageable to do, and could be fitted into working roughly a 9-5 Monday to Friday.
Hope this helps!
-Jasmine (Lancaster Student Ambassador)
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hi

I think this really just depends on your course and the assessment criteria for it. This is because different courses have different requirements - e.g. learning outcomes and therefore this can affect the assessment criteria/type of assessment.

Before starting the course, I would look at the type of assessment on that particular course and see if it suits your needs.

I hope this helps,

Matt
Wrexham Uni Reps
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hey there 🤗

As a psychology student, where most of my subjects are essay-based, I’ve found that I really enjoy working on them.

Typically, we have one essay per subject, and we’re given the deadlines right from the start, which helps me stay organised. I make sure to add them all to my calendar and plan the workload in advance. I usually begin working on my essays about two or three weeks before the deadline so I can consult my lecturers if I have any questions and do a thorough literature review to ensure I produce a strong piece of work. The essays are usually between 1,500 to 2,500 words.

While some of my courses are entirely essay-based, others include one exam, which is often multiple choice with an additional open-ended question that needs to be answered in essay format. Most of my exams take place at the end of the academic year, while essays are typically due around mid-term.

I hope it was helpful 💪 Feel free to reach out if you have any questions 😉 You can also chat with me or other students directly through The Ambassador Platform.

Take care,

Julia
Psychology student
De Montfort University
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hi there,

This is a great question!

I study geography, and it varies. This year, I have two assignments per module, apart from my dissertation. Most of these are 2000-3000 word essays, but I also have two presentations.

In previous years, I was challenged with an exam, discussion modules (tutorials!), and a podcast-type video essay. It varies per year and depends on the course, do make sure to look at assessment information for your course online. You can also talk to current students at universities you are interested in through Unibuddy, and they might be able to give you more specific information!

I hope this helps,

Isabella
Fourth-Year Geography with a Year Abroad Student
Original post by NotBestPleased
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hi!
I study English Language and Linguistics, therefore most of my assessments have been essay based.
I tend to haver two assessments per module with at least one of these being an essay/research report. The other assessment is something like a presentation, data collection or poster. These are due towards the end of the semester or within the exam period.

Hope this helps! Faye 🙂
Original post by Havermelkelite_
For those who take essay-based subjects, I am very curious about what the workload looks like for your course. How often do you write assignments and what kind of word count are they? How often do you have exams? Are you also tested with video assignments, online multiple choice exams or discussions?

Hi @Havermelkelite_ ,

I see you have already had some great answers!

This answer really differs per course and university. I personally have no exams, but instead about 3-4 assignments a semester, however I know others who regularly have exams. The best way to check this is head onto your universities course page for your chosen degree and there should be some information on how you will be assessed. Another great way to find out is email your course leader.

If you are yet to attend university, you can still try email the course leader as they will most likely be happy to answer any queries.

I hope this helped, please feel free to ask me any question,
-Sophia (Business and Management)
I'm a final year part-time BA Hons Classical Studies student. So as I'm part-time I do one 60 credit module per year. It's very much an essay based subject.

This year I have a 2,000 word assignment due next week, a 2,000 word assignment due in December, a 1,500 word assignment plus a 2-4 minute long audio presentation due in January, a 2,800 word assignment due in March, a 2,200 word assignment due in April, and a 3,600 assignment due in May.
No exams.

I did have an exam at the end of my Latin module though, back in May 2022, but it was open book and I had 24 hours in which to do it.
(edited 2 weeks ago)

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