Top 10 tips for smashing your assignments

A woman waering glasses smiling in class

18 May 2023

Let’s not kid ourselves – assignments can be daunting. But there are some simple things you can do to help improve your grade.

Read on for our top tips to smashing your assignments – including useful information about the extensive support, advice and online resources available to help you.

1. Don’t leave things to the night before

Give yourself time to cover all the stages of your assignment fully and aim to finish with plenty of time spare to redraft and carry out final checks. And remember, it’s always best to submit something, even if you are in a rush.

2. Read the instructions

Not reading the instructions is a simple trap that nearly everyone falls into at one point or another. So make sure you read, re-read and re-read again your assignment instructions, until you’re confident you understand what you've been asked.

3. Seek support

You may have heard us say this before – but if you need help, just ask. And, if possible, ask early. Your module tutors can help you if anything is unclear, and you can attend one-to-one support sessions provided by the Study Support Team.

4. Be honest with yourself

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to be honest with yourself about what they are, so that you can dedicate enough time to the areas of your assignments that you find the toughest.

5. Keep attending your lectures

While working on assignments, it can be tempting to skip lectures. However, by doing so, it’s very possible that you miss out on important information relevant to your assignment.

6. Go to the source

When you use academic sources and evidence to build arguments, you are making your work more credible and reliable. See examples of this on our page for writing critical paragraphs.

7. Give your work a clear structure

Make your work easy to follow by using clear sentences, paragraphs and sections. You can find some really great tips on our page for planning assignments.

8. Build your skills with an Academic Skills Workshop

Join in with an Academic Skills Workshop, they provide useful tips for helping you to develop your skills in key areas of academic study.

9. Check your work for errors and present it in a suitable format

Spell checks don’t catch everything. To check your work properly means reading and re-reading it to ensure you’ve ironed out all those little mistakes. Good presentation also makes your work easier to understand and lets your hard work shine through.

10. Engage with your feedback

It is easy to just focus on what grade you achieved. However, by engaging with your feedback, you can understand what you did well, where you lost marks, and how you can improve in your next assignment.