First drafts

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hi, well done to have done a first draft. Depending on ‘where’ or what mode (at physical uni or online) you are studying at, generally speaking library would be a good place to find useful resources in research, writing and in particular reference helps as you are now writing at a higher level.

However, if you are looking for assistance that are more topic specific as in someone to consider your arguments or content of what you have wrote, I have found study groups or peer groups have been helpful and a good way to make friends. If you are studying online (or physical uni) you should normally have personal tutor assigned to groups of learners. (Tutors are sometimes PhD students in their fields for example.)

All the best and wishing you every success in what you do.

Reply 2

Kingston Eve

Official Rep

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hey @Tayto_n1816,

As mentioned above, the library is a great place to start for advice. Although they may not be able to review the first draft themselves, they should be able to point you in the right direction of any available service who could.

At Kingston University, we have an Academic Success Centre which offers one-to-one coursework support from lecturers and student advisers - you can submit an assignment for a brief structure review as long as you submit it to the ASC well before the assignment deadline. I would recommend checking if your university has a similar system in place. If not, consider reaching out to your lecturers/course staff for advice during their designated office hours.

Best of luck with your first assignment!
Eve (Kingston Rep).

Reply 3

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hi @Tayto_n1816 ,

As others have said, congratulations on having a first draft done already!

I would also suggest to talk to your uni lecturers about this and see if they can help you out. Sometimes they will help you and will look through your work for you and they can then see if there are any improvements that you can make as this is so helpful. It's worth giving them an email anyway or asking in class!

If you have an academic advisor, you can ask them too. They are there to help you out with any academic questions you have or if you are struggling with uni, so see if you have one of these (or something similar) and ask them as they will also help you.

You could also check if there are any formative feedback opportunities within your course - sometimes we have our course schedule which shows you what you will learn each week etc and on there it will say a week which has a dedicated formative feedback opportunity so this is worth checking too as I always recommend making the most of this as it is so helpful!

Looking in the library or on the e-library is a great idea too as there are often resources on there which will help you out too!

I hope this helps,

Lucy -SHU student ambassador 🙂

Reply 4

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hey,

That’s a really good question, and it’s great that you’re thinking ahead about getting feedback before submitting your first assignment!

At most universities, including the University of Salford, you usually have a few different options for showing your first drafts or getting guidance. The first person to reach out to module lecturer or seminar tutor for some general feedback. while they might not be able to check a full draft for fairness reasons, they can still look at a section or give you guidance on whether you’ve interpreted the question correctly and if your writing style is suitable.

Another useful person would be your personal tutor. At Salford students are assigned one, and they’re there to help with both academic and general support. They can look over your work or give you feedback on whether you’re on the right track with your approach, structure, or argument. Look into similar support or service at your university.

So don’t worry, you definitely don’t have to do it alone. Make use of your personal tutor and the support services, especially for your first few assignments. It’s a great way to build confidence and learn how to structure your work properly from the start.

Good luck 😊
Arslan – University of Salford Student Representative

Reply 5

De Montfort University

Official Rep

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hi there,

The library is the first point of contact. They often have some support with academic writing available. Also lecturers are often open to have a look at your draft before you submit it.

Good luck with your assignment :smile:

Ilya
Cyber Security student at De Montfort University

Reply 6

LancashireRep5

Official Rep

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hey there 👋

My name is Siobhan and I’m a recent graduate from the University of Lancashire 🎓 This is a great question!!

Typically you can show your first draft to your tutor, lecturer, or seminar leader for feedback and they can give you general guidance on whether you’re on the right track. However, each uni has their own policy with this and there might be a limit with how much help they can give you. With my uni, there was a cap of 10% when reading an assignment and getting feedback so we had to pick and choose which bits we needed advice on!

You can also get support from the university’s academic supervisors writing support services which you can typically find in the library. They can help you with structure, referencing, and clarity, but not write the work for you. I used this a lot throughout my three years of uni which helped me sooooo much to get reassurance that I was on the right track 😊

Hope that answers your question and please let me know if you need any more help! Good luck with your assignments 🙂

Siobhan (University of Lancashire Rep)

Reply 7

University of Bath

Official Rep

Original post

by Tayto_n1816

Who can you show first drafts to at uni? Just to check if you are doing the right thing- it’s my first assignment at uni and I want someone to check my work to see if it’s okay

Hi there,

When I was a first (and second...) year student I was in the exact same position as you and really wanted to know if my assignment ideas were on the right track.

What I used to do was write my first rough draft or have complete notes/an essay plan, condense it into bullet points, then track down the lecturer for the unit the assignment was for and politely ask if they'd be able to review a bullet point list of ideas to give me a steer as to whether this is the kind of thing they'd be looking for. You don't need to show them your essay plan or anything lengthy as many lecturers will not be able to look at this, but bringing pithy bullet point lists is a great way to tell whether what you're planning on including is on the right lines.

I had some lecturers at Bath who would not be able to look at drafts but would happily discuss the brief in more detail with you, but others who were more than happy to meet in their office hour and check through bullet pointed essay plans I'd prepared.

The best thing you can do is ask - if you're vocal and open about wanting to be on the right track but not seeking to be told the answers then many lecturers will be very accommodating 🙂

Hoping this helps!

P.S. another fool-proof way of finding out if you're on the right lines with your ideas is discussing what you're planning to write about with coursemates. Whilst being careful not to plagiarise each others work, comparing your understanding with others' is a good way to see whether your thinking is aligned with others. This way you'll be able to tell that you're not on your own!

(edited 1 week ago)

Reply 8

LJMUStudentReps

Official Rep

Hi there,

I’d recommend checking whether your university has an Academic Skills or Study Support team. You can usually book a 1-to-1 appointment with them, and they’ll go through your draft to give general feedback on things like structure, clarity, and argument flow — though they can’t comment directly on content or grades. They’re often based in or connected to the university library.

If you want more specific feedback, you could also email your module tutor or book a quick meeting to go through any questions about the assignment brief or your approach.

It can also help to form a study group with some of your coursemates and look over each other’s work together in the library. Just make sure you don’t copy ideas — but it’s a good way to see if you’re all interpreting the task in a similar way.

Hope that helps 🙂

Megan (LJMU Rep)

Reply 9

Tayto_n1816

Original post

by University of Bath

Hi there,
When I was a first (and second...) year student I was in the exact same position as you and really wanted to know if my assignment ideas were on the right track.
What I used to do was write my first rough draft or have complete notes/an essay plan, condense it into bullet points, then track down the lecturer for the unit the assignment was for and politely ask if they'd be able to review a bullet point list of ideas to give me a steer as to whether this is the kind of thing they'd be looking for. You don't need to show them your essay plan or anything lengthy as many lecturers will not be able to look at this, but bringing pithy bullet point lists is a great way to tell whether what you're planning on including is on the right lines.
I had some lecturers at Bath who would not be able to look at drafts but would happily discuss the brief in more detail with you, but others who were more than happy to meet in their office hour and check through bullet pointed essay plans I'd prepared.
The best thing you can do is ask - if you're vocal and open about wanting to be on the right track but not seeking to be told the answers then many lecturers will be very accommodating 🙂
Hoping this helps!
P.S. another fool-proof way of finding out if you're on the right lines with your ideas is discussing what you're planning to write about with coursemates. Whilst being careful not to plagiarise each others work, comparing your understanding with others' is a good way to see whether your thinking is aligned with others. This way you'll be able to tell that you're not on your own!