Teaching and assessment

Teaching and assessment

Many universities are moving away from traditional lecture-style teaching which is assessed purely by exams, but there are still a large number of courses where this is still the norm.

Admissions tutors and course web pages should be able to give you information about how a course is taught or assessed. The same course may be taught in a different way at different universities, so it's worth looking around. 

It is not usually possible to change the mode of teaching for a course. If there are particular forms of assessment that are a barrier to you, it may be possible to have an alternative kind of assessment. This normally requires input from Student Support services. They will try to be transparent with you about your options. For some courses, such as those with a professional qualification attached, or Fitness to Practice element, alternative assessment options may be limited. 

It's worth thinking through your career goals and whether placing yourself in a particular situation would be something you have to do e.g. if you want to work as a French translator you will probably need to be able to participate in face to face, oral assessment. If this is something you currently struggle with, you may be able to access some help in getting more comfortable with this.