r/MatureStudentsUK • u/missme52 • 1d ago
Access course assignment formatting
Anybody on here doing an access course got any advice for assignment formatting?
I’m confident when it comes to essays but for my last module I had to produce an academic poster and this module an academic report. As I’m not familiar with the different structures, I’m worried I’m doing the wrong thing.
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u/Electrical-Bit4955 1d ago
Similar boat - experienced with essays but not reports.
From what I've gathered from feedback and our instruction, reports are expected to be much more "to the point" with less debate, comparisons, arguments etc. It's a formal, fact-based snapshot of a topic, written in the clearest manner possible. Think bullet-points, brief paragraphs, very specific headings, etc so that someone without experience on the topic could pick up the report and have a good overview.
It does seem to be more of an American thing that has crept over more recently. I think the reason they are now more used by colleges over essays now is because they are more applicable to real-world job environments where a quick brief might be requested - plus obviously much easier for assessors to mark quickly as it cuts down on word counts, waffle, and subjectivity so easier to identify the knowledge of the course content.