6 Assessment
There are three main reasons why your work is assessed:
- To show you and your tutor how well you’ve developed the knowledge and skills taught in the module. It also helps your tutor see what support you might need.
- To learn from your tutor’s feedback on your assignments in order to see what you’ve done well and what you might need to improve.
- To demonstrate to the University that you’ve met the requirements of the module by completing all the compulsory assessment tasks and achieving a minimum mark to pass.
The following are the main types of assessment you may encounter at the OU. If your module website is open you can look in the ‘Assessment’ section to see what assessments you have.
TMAs (tutor-marked assignments)
Tutor-marked assignments are spread across the study time for your module. You will be given time in your study planner to prepare your TMA, and guidance to help you. Your allocated tutor will provide feedback and a mark for TMAs. Tutors use detailed marking guidelines to ensure consistency. Your tutor will return your marked TMA with feedback that will help you focus on areas to develop for future work.
iCMAs (interactive computer-marked assignments)
Modules may also use iCMAs as part of assessment. As with TMAs they are designed to help you learn. Many of them give you instant feedback, and if you haven’t answered the question correctly you may also be given the chance to try again.
If your module uses iCMAs you will be able to locate them in the Assessment section on your module website.
EMAs (end-of-module assessments)
Some modules have an end-of-module assessment (EMA). This is a larger assignment you do at the end of a module and is completed and submitted in a similar way to TMAs but brings together what you’ve learned across the module and is in place of an exam.
Exams
Exams also take place at the end of a module. Not all modules have exams and modules will never have both an EMA and an exam.
If and when you do have an exam there is plenty of support available. For example, there’s lots of information and advice on the Help Centre about exams, from tips on revision and techniques to the practical arrangements.
You’ll get the specific date, time and location of an exam around 12 weeks before the exam date on your module record page. If you need to take your exam in a different location you can request this, but you need to do it quickly.
If you have declared a disability to the University, we’ll be able to make adjustments and special arrangements if you require them. You need to contact us a few months in advance to make sure this can be organised in time.
The Assessment Handbook
You’ll get more information about assessment requirements when you start your module, so you don’t need to worry too much about the detail now. The Assessment Handbook [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] covers all the rules and policies relevant to assessment at The Open University and is a really useful resource for all things assessment – you might want to bookmark a link to this.