- [a]
- | [A]
- Skip to Content |
- Accessibility Help
How's it going?
Top 10 tips: Improving your grades
Top 10 tips: Improving your grades
- Take note of feedback and apply it to your work.
- Use a dictionary to check spelling. Computer spell-checkers are notorious for missing spelling mistakes.
- Don’t just start writing; plan your work.
- Avoid contractions. A contraction is a shortened word e.g. it’s, don’t, etc. Instead write it is, do not, etc.
- Pay attention to grammar. Make sure that full stops, commas, semicolons, etc. are used in the correct places.
- Use correct terminology. A subject specific dictionary can help with this.
- Make sure that you reference correctly. Be aware that there are a couple of hundred versions of Harvard. To ensure that you use the correct one, refer to the University guides. These are available from the Peirson Centre.
- Submit your work in the format required. For example, if the assessment task states “present in a table” do just that.
- Structure your work. Introduce your topic, expand on the topic and then conclude. Additionally make sure your paragraphs and sentences follow on from each other in a logically sequence. Linking words such as “therefore”, “consequently”, and “furthermore” will help with this.
- Submit your work. The most common reason for failing an assessment at the University is non-submission. Even if you are not completely happy with your work, submit it. A low grade is better than no grade at all.