When coursework/essays are submitted, are the word counts checked?
Firstly you are meant to include a word count at the end of any piece of work (not including the references obviously) and it’s not a good idea to put down an inaccurate count. Some uni’s have a 10% rule, in that you can be 10% over the word limit. However, if they do have this rule it might be that you can only go over by 10% for one piece of work per course-I’d check with your own Uni. If your work is grossly over the limit your marker will notice and count it. You will then likely be penalised by having 10% taken off your overall score for the essay-this is a pretty big whack off your work! It sounds unfair but it’s not really as being able to write succinctly is a key skill for study. For example, it’s unfair to give 2 people 65% if one person took 300 words more than the other to get their point across. Some markers may also select random essays to count just as a quality control thing so I’d really try to stick as close to the limit as you can-its not worth being penalised for wa
