UCLC1013 EAP Writing Assessment: Academic Essay Overview

and Guidance
Overview
Task: Write a 5-paragraph academic essay. The essay question is ‘Discuss the
main factors affecting academic success’. Essays should have an
introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Word count: 750-1000 words. Essays above or below the word count will
receive a zero grade for the Effectiveness: Content and Effectiveness:
Organisation criteria of the assessment.
Weighting: This assessment is weighted at 20% of the EAP I grade.
Deadline: Wednesday 29th November 06:00am
Submission instructions: The essay MUST be submitted to both iSpace
Assignment and Turnitin before the deadline. A paper copy of the
assessment given to your teacher is not regarded as a submitted assessment.
It is a student’s responsibility to ensure the correct version of their writing is
submitted before the deadline.
Late Submissions: Assignments submitted within 5 working days of the
deadline without an approved absence form will receive a 30% penalty.
Students with an approved absence form will not be penalized if they submit
within 5 days of the end of the approved absence. Assignments submitted
after a 5-day extension will receive a zero.

Grades & Feedback: Grades and Feedback will be available on iSpace

Assignment on Wednesday 13th December.

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Guidance on Rubric Criteria
Coherence: Introduction

The essay introduction should provide the reader with an overview of the essay. It should include
a relevant introductory statement that gains the reader’s interest; clear and interesting
background material; a strong rationale that explains the reason for writing the essay; and a
complete, clear and relevant thesis. A ‘complete’ thesis will contain information on the topic and
focus of the essay, the purpose of the essay and the organization of the essay.

Introductions that meet all of the above requirements will receive a mark of EXCELLENT.

Coherence: Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should contain a clear and grammatically accurate topic sentence that i) is
directly connected to the thesis and ii) clearly introduces the purpose of the paragraph.

If each topic sentence meets the above requirements, the essay will receive a grade of EXCELLENT
for Coherence: Body Paragraphs.

Coherence: Conclusion

The concluding paragraph should use different language to provide the reader with a clear and
concise summary of the purpose and key points of the essay. The paragraph should end with a
clear and appropriate concluding sentence.

Conclusions that include a clear and appropriate concluding sentence and give a concise summary
of the purpose and key points of the essay, but do not paraphrase accurately will receive a grade
of GOOD.

Effectiveness: Content

Each of the body paragraphs should be focused on a relevant factor, and the content should be
well-developed with detailed explanations and relevant evidence. The writer should include
accurate citations and references for all of the sources of information used in the essay.
(References and citations are provided with the source material.)

Effectiveness: Organisation

The content of each body paragraph should be logically organised, and the writer should use
appropriate transitions and cohesive devices to clearly express the relationship between ideas in
each paragraph.

Grammar

The writer should use a wide range of grammatical structures. Writing should contain no, or very
few, grammatical, punctuation or spelling errors.

Vocabulary

A wide range of precise vocabulary should be used when writing the essay. The writing should
contain very few word choice or word usage errors.

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Formality

The writing should always maintain a level of formality that is appropriate for academic writing.

Formatting

The following guidelines should be followed when preparing and formatting the essay.

1. Use the Essay Template when submitting your essay.

2. Write your Student Name, Student Number, and Class Number in the space provided.

3. Use Times New Roman font.

4. Use font size 12.

5. Use line spacing 2.0

6. Write the word count (### words) at the end of your essay.