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Quick poll - how long does it take to mark your assignments?

63 replies

thirtysomething · 13/05/2008 16:27

Am doing a part-time MA and getting very frustrated by the length of time it takes to get assignments back - average 6-8 weeks. It's usually too late to take comments into account for the next assignment and is dampening my motivation quite significantly! Just interested in hearing other people's experiences - this isn't a distance learning course either

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sdjones2 · 13/05/2008 16:46

Would love to help, but too busy marking

Expect this to be THE issue on the National Student Survery this year.

While I have sympathy with you, the mission creep in my lecturing means that marking is the least of my worries, and getting done at all sometimes is simply an impossible task.

I suspect your Charter will have, as mine dones, work returned normally within 20 working days". I rely on the "normally" as a fig leaf excuse when I cannot get to marking in the year. I am as unhappy with it as my students, but what is one to do? Modern HE life equates to fire fighting sometimes, and justifying your existance up the management chain.

You are still a student and not yet a customer . . .

Picks up red pen and expects backlash.

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 16:54

Mine are normally back in a week (so the next time we see the lecturer) same for feed back for presentations. But this isnt always the case has been up to 3 weeks sometimes. Normally quiet quick though

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 16:55

I think my group would riot if it took 6-8 weeks!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

clutteredup · 13/05/2008 16:57

IKWYM. I am waiting back on mine too - I'm doing a PT MEd so when I'm doing the assignments the time seems to fly away but when I'm waiting for them to be returned it drags like anything. I understand that tutors have all sorts of work to do other than mark my assignments but do they not understand that I can't get anything else done - housework etc. - until I have it returned. I jump everytime I hear the postman and when we don't get post i am convinced DD2 has hidden the post - it has happened, but i think a large A4 envelope would be harder to hide, she is only 15 mo.
hang on in there you will get it back but i am frustrated too at the time taken. I'll wait with you if you like.

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 17:28

clutteredcup you get yours through the post? we get ours during a one to one session. I dont think I could cope having to wait eveyday for the post!

JudgeNutmeg · 13/05/2008 17:31

It seems to take at least three to four weeks for ours. I'm doing my hardest most boring one now and then I'm done til the Autumn. Yippee!

clutteredup · 13/05/2008 17:31

Its because its mainly a full time course and they send them through the post to save PTers having to come into the university to collect them. A kind thought but it makes waiting all the harder, its like getting exam results all the time.

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 17:33

Im part time but im there 2 a week sometimes a saturday as well so works out we spend the same time there as the full time!

clutteredup · 13/05/2008 17:49

our course is modular and we have to do 6 modules and a dissertation. I'm a bit special as i joined before they changed the syastem so i have do do 7 - lucky me!! i do 2 modules a year which requires one session weekly for 2 terms. its a lot less than the full timers. i could do more but as i ahve 5 years to do the lot I'm taking my time - thus the fact htat when i'm waiting for an assignment it takes over as I haver nothing else to think about now till next year. i think its easier doing it one at a time even juggling 3 dc and soem tutoring as at tleast i only have the one deadline at a time, that stresses me out enough as it is!!

clutteredup · 13/05/2008 17:50

I do go to the library on a sturday but i know i don't do as much as the full timers i see it as my time off anayway

Weegiemum · 13/05/2008 17:57

I'm full time and our essays are usually returned within 10 days 6-8 weeks seems a long time to me.

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 18:12

i do 6 moduals a year 2 last all year, then 2 at a time on top with 2 assignments for each and if you arnt allready working 2 days on placement it is a lot!

dylsmum1998 · 13/05/2008 19:10

i'm full time and have not had an essay back in less than 6 weeks some have taken nearer 12 weeks! it is frustrating when you want to use the criticisms to help next time and you dont get them back in time, i want to take onboard all comments over the summer to try and iron out the creases over the summer, but have just found out we need to hand in all work again next week, so dont know when i'll get it back........

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 19:18

ypu have just found out?! This is making me appreciate how well run my course is!

MiaWallace · 13/05/2008 19:20

Mine take 4 weeks (excluding holidays). Then it takes another week for student support to process the feedback sheets.

By the time you know what you've done wrong in the first essay, you've already written another two

dylsmum1998 · 13/05/2008 19:41

yeah i have discovered since starting that mine is not the most organised uni!
it took them 7 weeks to get my id card so i could get in the library and get books out and i had an assignment due in.
i got an e-mail the other week telling me i wasnt registered at the uni where i have been going for the past year ?!!

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 19:44

you arnt in newcastle are you?! the id card thing happend to most of the people on my course everytime they went they said the printer wasnt working!

dylsmum1998 · 13/05/2008 19:50

lol no i'm at canterbury uni, although the excuses sound similar to ours! we got told first that were sent done to main canterbury campus, i'm at a different campus, then their was a comp problem

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 19:55

its stupid because you can use the libary, computers or the online stuff with out it! So how are you supposed to do anything!

One of our lecturers mysteriously dissapeared 4 weeks in and we didnt get a replacement untill after xmas but the work still had to be handed in with out any of it being taught! everyone did quiet well though so I think they took that in to account!

dylsmum1998 · 13/05/2008 20:04

wow you could be describing my course we had one of our lecturer disapear a couple of weeks in, we did get a replacement but can tell she wasnt teaching her subject- we now have an exam in this one next week and am desperately trying to teach myself everything i havent learnt to try and pass it

oh well only have to get 40 to get into next year and these marks dont count to final grades, so hopefully next year will be better

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 20:08

same as mine I only have to pass so im not stressing too much, and if we do fail we can redo them. Dont have any exams though whuch Im glad about! too many presentations for my liking though!

dylsmum1998 · 13/05/2008 20:12

ooh think i'd rather an exam than a presentation! i had to do one of those this year and it was awful i hate talking in fromnt of people even tho it was only my class, and there wasnt one person there i dont like or anything like that

am waiting on th results for that if i fail anything this year its that i dont want to fail.
the thought of redoing that is to scary

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 20:18

well i hate them i talk too fast and dont look at any one! and i didnt fail one but if you do they give you a written assignment instead

next year we only have one and the rest are one to one interviews I dont know yet if thats better or worse!

dylsmum1998 · 13/05/2008 20:25

i was the same in mine- and i read from my notes lol that does make me feel better if i get a written assignment instead of redoing the presentation!
not sure which i prefer one to one or presentation, neither are particularly appealing forms of assessment.
not too sure what my assessments are next year- we're on a new vaidation of the course so lots of different things from last year. going on those doing yr 2 now we have a couple of presentations- one as a group of 3. the rest are written assignments and a couple of exams, so hoping we'll be doing something along those lines

dylanthecat · 13/05/2008 20:27

they are going to give us ours for next year so we can get a head start because people asked! I cant see it happening here!