Oxford University is poised to relieve students of a chore which often gets in the way of a hectic social life: writing essays.
According to The Times, some undergraduates have complained that they are expected to produce up to three essays a week while others are required to submit only one.
Despite representing their generation’s academic elite, the students’ gripe about uneven workloads was drawn to the attention of a review team conducting an external check on standards at Oxford.
It has now advised that Oxford publishes guidelines setting out the volume of assessment that students should expect.
The finding will embarrass senior Oxford figures, who pride themselves on their tutorial style of teaching.
Undergraduates are taught individually or in small groups by academics who assign them regular essays.
The independent Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education found that students were generally positive about essay-writing but complained of “difference in the workload patterns of students on the same programme in different colleges”.
Cat Jones, an Oxford student union officer, told Times Higher Education magazine that some students were set three essays a week. “At that point, you are an essay machine,” she said. “You are meeting deadlines rather than having time to learn and reflect.”
The University of Oxford said the report had found many strengths in its tutorial system and that teaching was outstanding overall.
It said: “We are already at work on the report’s three recommendations, including the provision of more information about the teaching patterns students can expect on each course. The QAA commends Oxford on the quality of its student representation on educational matters and we will use these strong links to discuss and respond to workload concerns.”
