How to Write Assignments

In order for ILSPA to assess your understanding of the law, you are required to submit assignments in essay form for some of our subjects. The object of the assignments is to test your ability to express your understanding of the area you have studied.

Please note that our Corporate and Commercial Law unit  is the only course which does not require an essay-type answer for the assignment. It includes a list of questions, each of which instead requires a concise and direct answer.

To start with, it’s a good idea to define what an essay is. If you were to look up the word in a dictionary, or even online generally, you would find a variety of meanings such as “a piece of formal writing which discusses a particular issue, situation or problem”.

It is important to ask yourself, ‘What must I achieve through this essay?’ This will be your understanding, and ability to express your understanding, of the subject area in which the question is being asked.

When writing an assignment, you must:

• Show that you understand the law and/or procedure in which the question is set and are able to apply it to a given set of circumstances, and
• Set out your reasoning in such a way that the Course Assessor will be satisfied with your understanding.

You should, therefore, comprehend exactly what the question is asking of you.  If you don’t understand the question, please remember to email your Course Assessor for clarification. She is happy to help you with any questions you have. You were sent her details by email when you enrolled for the course and they also appear in the ‘Help and Support’ section of your online course material.

The purpose of ILSPA’s assignments is to test your knowledge and understanding. However, the assignments also have another very useful purpose - they are designed to be a continuing part of the learning process as you have the opportunity to apply the knowledge you have gained to a real-life scenario and understand it in practice.

Unlike a formal examination where outside aids are not allowed, you have access to your course material and the internet to refer to when formulating an answer.

How to initially tackle an assignment question in draft form:

• Understand what the question is asking and what law and/or procedure applies to the question.
• Refer to your course material and re-read it if necessary until you are confident that you understand the question in the context of the material. Perform further research on the internet if needed.
• Make rough notes of the relevant parts of the course material which you think would apply to the question.
• Write all you know about the subject area in which the question is set in draft form, and use this to create a structured answer.
• If there are two sides to a problem or question, then both must be discussed and not merely that which supports the conclusion which will eventually be reached.
• Apply your reasoned stated principles to the facts of the problem or question, illustrating them where applicable with cases or statute to cite authority.

• Formulate your conclusion showing the development of your knowledge towards it.

Making rough notes before creating your final answer is extremely useful because it helps you to think about things thoroughly.  There is a saying that “You may not realise what you are thinking until you write it down”.  If you have ever used ‘mind maps’, you will know that they are another excellent way of putting your thoughts down. If you don’t know what a ‘mind map’ is, look it up on Google.  The beauty of mind maps is that all your thoughts can be seen on one page in a totally constructive and interlinking way. 

It is useful to create a structured draft answer to ensure that you answer the question thoroughly.

Here is an example of a structured answer:

Area of law:                     

Contract Law - Offer and Acceptance

Outline:                             

• What is a contract?
• Essential requirements of a valid contract
• Offer and acceptance
• What is an offer?
• Communication of Offer
• Contract can only arise when an offer has been accepted
• Distinction between an offer and an Invitation to treat
• What is an invitation to treat?                                         

Examples of cases:             

• Auctions (Payne -v- Cave (1789)
• Advertisements in periodicals (Partridge -v- Crittenden (1968)               
• Goods for Sale in Shops (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain -v- Boots Cash Chemists (1953) and Fisher - v- Bell (1953)                                                                                                   

Once your notes make sense and you have written a draft answer, you can then start your final answer.

How to write your final answer:

• Using your draft notes, begin your assignment with an introduction, explaining the relevant law and procedure.
• Follow with a main body structure explaining how the problem set relates to the introduction.
• Within your final piece, you must ensure that you have cited authorities whenever relevant, such as cases and statutes. This shows your Course Assessor that you have performed adequate research and your reasoning is sound.
• Finish with a conclusion which links the previous two together and provides the answer.

Further advice:

• Your common sense must be used in regards to answering the questions following the advice given. We recommend that when explaining something, to keep to the point and to not go off on a tangent.
• As mentioned previously, you can refer to your course material when you write your assignment. You are not expected to answer an assignment from memory.  By all means check your course material and make notes from it. However, do not rewrite or copy chunks from it. The assignment answer must be in your own words.
• Generally answers should be structured in paragraphs.  It may be necessary to make a number of points in one particular paragraph such as (a), (b) or (c).
• Try and achieve a balance between statements of principles of law and case law to illustrate those principles.  Don't, however, write lengthy explanations about what a case involved.  It is usually only necessary to quote the case in context. In some instances, however, it may be necessary to briefly explain the nature of different cases to explain how the courts went about them.
• Quote Latin phrases where appropriate.  There are many such phrases in the law and each has come to have a meaning that cannot be expressed as clearly using an English translation.  However, if you do use a Latin phrase, do also include the rough English translation in brackets after it so that your Course Assessor knows that you understand what you have quoted. 
• Avoid using I, we, you or us, etc.  For example, if the question says 'Advise Fred', do not write 'I would advise you that you will not succeed because...'. Instead, write 'Fred will not succeed because...'.
• Read through your final answer carefully to make sure that it is clear and exactly what you want to say. After writing an essay, it can beneficial to leave it for a day or so and then to go back to it with fresh eyes to refine it.