Socrates Menu

• Guide
• Courses
• Course Work & Assessment
• Grades
• Contact

Course Work and Assessment

Courses are taught by lectures and tutorials. Much emphasis is placed on preparation for small-group teaching in tutorials and seminars, where students are expected to participate actively to develop their powers of legal analysis, presentation, advocacy and other legal skills. Students are often expected to purchase for each course a textbook and/or casebook, and to engage in a significant amount of library and information technology research for their courses.

Student assessment is by a combination of coursework and written examinations. The particular form varies with the course. SOCRATES students are expected to do the same work as home students, as this is part of the experience of studying abroad. Some courses require students to write researched papers, others require oral presentations, teamwork exercises, moot court performances, and debates. In some courses the assessment is entirely by coursework (100% CWA).

Students should be aware of the method of assessment at the beginning of the course. You should consult with the convenor as to the type of assessment prescribed for the course, if you are unsure.

Assessment of SOCRATES students varies according to the course, and the period for which the student is visiting.

Where a student is staying for the entire year, they will have to do the same courseworks and sit the same examinations as home students, including (depending on the course) the end of year examination sat by the home students. These examinations are held in May/June. The mark for the course will then consist of an aggregate of the assessed coursework(s) and the examination. Typically, this means students staying for a full year will have to write 8 x 2,500 essays and sit approximately 12 hours of examinations (the actual format of the work will vary considerably depending on the courses taken).

Where SOCRATES students are staying for less than a full year (and so not attending the examinations), then the usual method of assessment is by the normal coursework that would be required of a home student, plus a supplementary piece of coursework in lieu of an examination in each course followed. Typically, for students staying only one or two terms, this means that for each course followed the student will write 2 x 2,500 word essays or 1 x 5,000 word essay.

N.B. To encourage a responsible attitude to time management, very strict deadlines apply in respect of coursework submission. Extensions are NOT given in advance. In the case of late submission, you may make a written application to the coursework tutor to waive penalties.

The ELS team will organise a small number of sessions in October to introduce Socrates students to the Law School and the Library, as well as some of the distinctive features of education at Lancaster (e.g. essay writing).

Save this page: Del.icio.us Digg It Reddit Facebook Stumble It!