Take Home Assessments

Use this information to learn more about 7-day Take Home Assessments in History.

Find out about the format of the assessment, what is expected and how to submit.

7 Day Take Home Assessments Explained

Take-Home Assessments timetable

The full list of History assessments, including release dates and submission deadlines, will be made available here.

Papers will be made available in PDF format at 9.30am on the start date of each Take Home Assessment.

Key information

You have 7 calendar days to complete each paper
You should provide footnotes and a bibliography
You are able to consult course materials and seminar/revision notes
You must include a bibliography of all sources you consulted at the end of the answer
If your paper is a standard 10-question paper:
- you should spend approximately one hour on each question
- You will be asked to choose one or two questions to answer, depending on your year of study
- Answers should 1500 words per question max (not including footnotes and bibliography)
If your paper is NOT a standard 10-question paper, you should read the instructions carefully to ensure you complete the paper as intended.
- Students who are not taking a standard 10-question paper will have been prepared for this by their module convenor ahead of time.
Late submissions and extension requests will not be accepted.

Submission guidance

You must submit answers on Tabula by 12 noon UK time on the deadline date (see the timetable). Please note that the date listed on Tabula is the deadline, not the release date.
You must answer the correct take home assessment paper from the correct year.
You must upload the correct document to the correct module submission point on Tabula.
If the paper states that you must answer two or more questions, then answers to both questions MUST be in one Word or PDF document. If you upload two files, the second one may replace the first.
If you upload the wrong file you will be able to upload the correct version as long as you are within the 7-day time limit. Once the deadline is reached, you will not be able to upload a new paper and the department will mark what is submitted.
Your answer paper MUST include:
- Student ID number
- The module code and the module title
- Clearly state which questions have been answered if there is a choice
- References and bibliography
For standard 10-question papers, answers should be a maximum of 1500 words per question. Answers exceeding this word limit will be penalised.
No answer for any take home assessment format should exceed 3,000 words.
Answers MUST include a bibliography and footnote citations for all external information. Answers which do not properly reference sources will be penalised, and may be sent to the Academic Integrity Panel.
Answers should NOT include any significant amount of material already presented in ANY assessed work.
Late submissions will not be accepted, and this assessment type is not eligible for self-certifications or extensions. Non/late submissions will receive a '0' mark.

FAQs - Take Home Assessments

Is there a word count? Can I use my notes during the assessment? How long should I spend on each question?

If your exam is a standard 10-question paper, you should spend approximately one hour on each question. For all other types of exam, see the instructions on the exam paper itself.

You are allocated a period of 7 calendar days so that you have the freedom to choose a time when you are feeling at your best. If you work best in the morning, or late at night, you can organise your time accordingly.

Moreover, if you are unwell on one of the 7 days, have to attend paid work, or have a technical issue, then this format enables you to organise your time to overcome such setbacks.

REMEMBER - the assessment format is designed to allow for flexibility and inclusivity. You are NOT expected, nor encouraged, to spend significantly longer than the suggested amount of time on each question, and it is not likely that doing so will have a positive impact upon your grade.

How do I submit?

Submit your document in the normal way via Tabula by 12 noon on the date stated.
Work emailed to the History Office, a tutor, or submitted by any means other than Tabula will not be accepted.
Submit all answers in one document (otherwise the second document may replace the first).
Allow yourself plenty of time to upload your work and try not to leave this until the deadline day itself. Technical problems with your IT equipment or difficulties with uploading your work which result in your missing the deadline cannot be accepted as valid reasons for late or non-submission, and penalties will be imposed accordingly.
As with other History assignments, you can resubmit your answers up to the deadline. However, late submissions will not be accepted, and these assignments are not eligible for self-certifications or extensions.

What if my assessment isn't showing on Tabula? Can I contact my module tutor during the 7-day period?

You may email the module convenor with any queries or concerns about the assessment within the first working day of the paper being published.

However, convenors are only able to clarify terminology or wording of questions. You cannot enquire about the content of the module after the start of the 7-day period. After this point, you should aim to complete the questions to the best of your ability.

For this reason, we recommend opening and reading the paper as soon as it is released, regardless of when you plan to complete the assessment.

I have additional exam arrangements. Do I get more time?

We have consulted with Disability Services and it has been agreed that no additional extension requests should be granted, including for students with reasonable adjustments. This is because the 7-day period allows all students sufficient time to respond.

We recommend taking around an hour to complete each question. However, if you feel your specific circumstances mean you need longer, you are welcome to spend more than an hour completing each question. Please note this must occur within the 7-day period.

I have more than one assessment in the 7-day period. Can my timetable be changed?

It is not possible to amend the exam timetable.
All 7-day assessments are released on the same day. If you are taking more than one module that is assessed via a take-home exam, you will have overlapping papers.

The History department has chosen to maintain the more inclusive 7-day take home assessment format, which means you are allocated a 7-day period to organise your own 'exam conditions', at a time and under circumstances that best suit your learning needs.
You are not expected to spend more than a few hours on each paper. This means the 7-day period is more than sufficient for you to complete multiple papers during the same period, just as you would have completed multiple exams in close succession had they been scheduled for you as in-person exams.

Will this assessment be checked for plagiarism?

All submissions will be rigorously checked for plagiarism, so do not unintentionally include anything lifted from another source without attributing it.

If you consult any material you must reference this.

Any form of collusion will be considered under the University鈥檚 rules on cheating and plagiarism and might result in disciplinary action.

The collusion policy for examinations, including take-home examinations, is stricter than the policy for most coursework. Students must not discuss the 7-day take-home examination or its content and answers with others through any media (e.g., phone, websites, question boards, forums, social media) or face-to-face during the 7-day period.

Will this assessment be subject to normal submission rules? Can I apply for an extension or use a self-certification?

This assessment is NOT eligible for extension requests or self-certification extension requests.

Papers are released at the beginning of the 7-day period and any extension of this period would create an imbalance between students.

Unlike in-person exams, if you are unable to complete the assessment at the beginning of the 7-day period for any reason, you still have the remainder of the 7-day period to complete the assessment without any repercussions whatsoever.

What if I am unable to complete the assessment? Can I apply for mitigation? What if I experience IT issues? When will I get feedback on this work?

Preparing for the assessment

You should prepare for the 7-day Take Home Assessment in exactly the same way as you鈥檇 prepare for an in-person exam. We anticipate that you will have completed an in-person exam prior to coming to 果冻传媒, and thus will be familiar with the format. If this is not the case, please contact your Personal Tutor for more information.

For standard 10-question papers, we do not expect anything more elaborate than the sort of answer you would be able to write in an exam hall. This means revising beforehand and ensuring you have engaged with and understood the module as a whole. For all other take home assessment formats, please see the guidance provided by your module convenor.

Revise

Go to the revision sessions put on by the module
Read through all your notes
Review the course content - commit major themes and historians to memory.

Organise

Plan your time and to motivate yourself to complete your work:

Decide when you are going to answer the questions within the 7-day window
Ensure you have a comfortable space, water, snacks, IT access, and everything you need ready and at hand. If this will be a problem, speak to your Personal Tutor ahead of time.

Explore these resources

Search and access past take home assessment papers for private study purposes, and download guidance on completing 7-day take home assessments.

Past take home assessment papers Revision tips

Assessment window overlaps

Similarly to in-person exams, you may have multiple take home assessment papers to complete in the same 7-day window.

For standard 10-question papers, providing you honour the format expected of the assessment type, and aim to complete each question in around an hour, this should not cause a problem. Between one and two hours should suffice for any other take home assessment format.

You may also have other assessments for outside modules, especially if you are a Joint Honours student. It is therefore important to plan your time accordingly ahead of the release of your take home assessment paper(s).

Remember that you cannot self-certify this assessment type, nor can you apply for an extension of any kind.

Please see our wellbeing support pages for advice on mitigating circumstances and support.

Other departments have replaced exams with a range of different alternatives, so your friends in other departments may be assessed in other ways which will be better suited to the specifics of those disciplines.

Equally, if you are taking modules in other departments, you will need to follow the arrangements that those departments have put in place.

7-day Take Home Assessments explained

Overview

In 2021, the Department of History replaced in-person exams with 'open-book' take-home assessments. Just like in-person exams, these are designed for you to respond to previously unseen questions, within a defined time period.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, in-person exams in History would have taken place in an exam hall at a defined time and date. The History department has chosen not to return to the format of in-person exams and has instead chosen to retain the 7-day take home assessment format.

It is important to note that a take-home assessment is NOT an essay with an added time limit, but rather the equivalent of an exam that has been made more flexible and inclusive.

This means you are allocated a 7-day period in which to organise your own 'exam conditions', at a time and under circumstances that best suit your learning needs.

Since you are not expected to spend more than a few hours on each paper, the 7-day period is more than sufficient for you to complete multiple papers during the same period, just as you would have completed multiple exams in close succession, had they been scheduled as in-person exams.

Format

You will have 7 calendar days to complete each take home assessment paper. Standard papers are comprised of ten questions that discuss the course content. If the paper you are taking is non-standard, you will have been made aware of this by your module leader.

Some papers include further instructions, so be sure to read the papers carefully.

Expectations

You should not plan to spend the entire 7-day window completing this assessment. You do not need to answer both questions in one sitting (for two-question papers). between one and two hours should suffice, depending on the format of your paper. We expect that you would spend around an hour answering each question on a standard 10-question paper.

If you wish, you may also consult any materials which you deem useful while you are completing the paper, within the confines of standard assessment guidelines.

Staff use exactly the same marking criteria as they do for all other assessments within History, but we don鈥檛 have the same expectations of research that we would with a coursework essay.

Instead, this assessment is marked in almost the same way as in-person exam would be. We anticipate that you will have completed an in-person exam prior to coming to 果冻传媒, and thus will be familiar with the format. If this is not the case, please contact your Personal Tutor for more information.

Differences

The major difference between a 7-day Take Home Assessment and an in-person exam is that you are expected to provide footnotes and a bibliography.

This is because you will have access to all available material and thus it is more likely than in an in-person exam that you will directly cite work that is not your own.

We do not want to give you the impression that you can ever do this without acknowledgement, so we have made the decision to request references as standard in this assessment type.

Please note that, if you were to directly cite an external source in an in-person exam, you would still be expected to acknowledge that in some way. It is never acceptable to present someone else's ideas as your own or without credit.

Marking

We are looking for students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the course content, a line of argument, good communication and presentation skills and an understanding of proper referencing.

Markers will use the History Undergraduate Marking Criteria.

This assessment is equivalent to an exam, not an essay, so spending significantly longer than the recommended time will not necessarily translate into a higher grade.

It is also possible that doing so will have the opposite effect, as the marker will be looking for your voice, your ability to respond to unseen questions and how you deploy the academic skills you have developed. These elements are more likely to come through strongly under the recommended conditions.

Try to rely on the knowledge, understanding and skills you have developed during the course of the year, alongside your revision and preparation, rather than trying to research new information and ideas during the 7-day period.

Benefits

The benefits of a 7 day take home assessment include:

You can consult your course materials and seminar/ revision notes when composing your answer. If your mind goes blank when you read the questions, then you can consult all of the materials available to you. This would not be possible in an exam hall.
You can take longer than the hour-per-question expected, although that doesn't mean you should spend days writing each answer! In a traditional exam setting however, you would be instructed to put your pen down at the two-hour mark.
If you need to take a break, for the bathroom, or to get up to walk around, you will not incur a time penalty. If you feel anxious at any point, you can take the time you need to regulate. This might mean taking five minutes for breathing exercises, going for a walk, or coming back to the question another day. This format allows you the flexibility to respond in the ways that you need.
You can control your environment, which would not be possible in an exam hall. If you like to listen to music, are fueled by regular cups of tea, or prefer to fidget and move about when you work, then you can. You can sit on your sofa, lie on your bed, or work at a desk (or all three!).
You can take regular breaks when working, and can choose to answer each question at different times/on different days if you prefer to. This may be useful if you have family responsibilities, need to attend paid work or have any other pressures on your time, you have the flexibility to work around these commitments.
If you are unwell at any time during the 7-day period, you have the flexibility to complete the assessment on a day when you are feeling better - provided that it is still within the 7-day period.

Exam Timetable

All central exam timetables are created and published by the Examinations Office, part of the Academic Office. If you are taking a module in another department, then you may have a centrally timetabled exam.

The timetable for 7 day take home assessments will be published by the History Department along with coursework deadlines at the start of the academic year.

Students should be available for the entirety of the exam period (Term 3 - Weeks 4-10). Take home assessments can fall anywhere during this period and students often have more than one exam per day or per 7 day period.

Absence from Exams

If you are unable to attend a scheduled summative assessment, for example, an exam or a presentation because of unforeseen circumstances, you must submit a claim for mitigating circumstances to cover your absence. You must submit this as soon as possible after the exam or presentation and no later than the mitigation deadline. The relevant Exam Board will consider your case and may direct you to take a reassessment. Regulation 12: Absence for Medical Reasons from a University Examination for First Degrees governs this procedure.