Level 4 study skills assignment
Last updated: 27 January, 2022
Writing your essay
The level 4 study skills assignment requires you to write an essay.
When writing your essay keep things simple and clear. You can complete the assignment answering each question followed by the answer, or as free flowing text that merges all questions into the one article. It’s good practice to identify both positive and negative outcomes of reviews such as Lammy.
The essay should be no more that 1500 words including headings and conclusion (excluding the reference list at the end – see detailed answer below). Don’t use colour, just black & white.
Referencing
You are required to use Harvard Referencing for your Level 4 Written Assignment and you can reference any relevant resources including podcast and online materials.
What part of my essay is included in the word count?
The word count includes everything from the introduction to the conclusion, this includes title headings and any in text referencing (credit to the original author – name, date and page number quote is from if applicable) The word count does not include the full referencing list at the end.
If I already a hold a L4 qualification am I expected to complete this L4 assignment?
Yes, anyone who currently holds a level 3 or 4 qualification will need to complete this Level 4 Written assignment should they pass the application stage.
I have completed my VQ3 but have not yet received my certificate will I be able to move forward with the application or will I be rejected?
If you are successful in reaching the Online Assessment Centre stage of the application process, you must be able to provide evidence that you have successfully passed a Level 3 (or above) qualification by producing a valid certificate when asked at the start of your Online Assessment Centre. If you have not yet undergone your graduation ceremony, or have still not received your certificate at the time of the Online Assessment Centre, you can instead produce a valid transcript or a letter of confirmation of your pass mark from your education provider.
What mark is required for a pass?
The pass mark is 40% and all marking is overseen by The DMU to ensure consistency.
Will we get feedback from the essay?
Only a grade is provided but you can request feedback if required.
If I have already completed the Cert of, HE in Offender management, does it make any difference please?
Not at this stage but if you are successful in being recruited, we may be able to look at assessing you for prior learning on particular level 5 modules.
Is there any benefit to writing it from my particular perspective or are you looking for a purely academic approach? Or would you like to see it from a probation practitioner informed?
Absolutely draw on your practice experience, so you might want to say this is what the theory says, and in practice this is what I’ve found and questioned. The essay is really about your experiences as a practitioner, so if you’re successful on the program, you’ll find that you know one of our marking criteria is how well you can turn the theory into practice. It’s 1500 words, so I’d say bear that in mind and make sure you show us that you know the theory, still in an academic way, writing full sentences in four paragraphs. Don’t write colloquially, you’re not having a chat, it’s a formal academic assignment, but absolutely reflect on those practice experiences. So if you find something doesn’t work as well in practice as the theory says, put that down. We call that originality, and that’s exactly what we call critical analysis too.
Does reflection information have to be via current work/professional capacity or can it be personal experiences in past employment?
It can be personally experienced in past employment and that’s absolutely fine, learners have done that in the past, so anything that you want to draw on from your personal lives or from your professional lives is absolutely fine to put that in if you’re happy to share.
How do you reference articles from websites, for instance? The full url, or just the domain name?
That’s all covered in the referencing guide. It will tell you what to include, so as much information as possible, we still want the author, the title of the article for example, and then you do give the URL and the date that it was accessed.
Does the referencing have to be at the end?
Write your assignment and then the last page is the start of your references list, however many pages you produce, it’s not in a separate document, put it all in one.