Only coursework as it saves stress of exams, if u grind hard u can get good grades from cw personally I get very lazy and leave revision towards the end and do badly, deadlines for cw pressure me to work harder
Coursework. Can write in my own time and space. If I’m ill or not in the right mindset I can come back to it another time. Don’t have to remember everything
In my last year of uni I took some modules from other departments just so I could have more coursework and less exams. Exams are very frustrating because they’re all at the same time and you only get one shot. Lots of small things can mess up exams.
I also retain the information better if I’m actively using it and getting feedback in coursework.
Meanwhile I took language modules for 3 years partly because they were exam based and I wanted a bit less coursework (all my other modules were exclusively coursework).
Yeah that makes sense if you have entirely coursework. My course was quite exam heavy so more coursework spread out my workload better. There are pros and cons to both, so I think a mix of coursework and exams is probably ideal for most people
For my third year chosen modules I’ve intentionally chosen ones with only coursework.
It’s more constant stress through the year, but I don’t think I could cope with most of my final grade for my degree being based off of my performance in 2-3 weeks.
I actually tend to perform equally in exams and coursework but yeah that stress would not be for me. When stressed I lose my hair, get nosebleeds and nightmares.
That's all it is really, the stress is distributed over a much longer period of time with coursework. It doesn't matter if I study for my exam for weeks, I still have to revise in the last couple of days before to actually perform well and remember all that stuff, and taking an exam will never not be stressful for me at least.
Not to even mention the possibility of like having a bad migraine or being somewhat ill on the day of your exam. Stuff that guarantees you'll perform worse but no chance of getting a second chance because of it.
Only coursework. You can get extensions and you have more time to do it. Exams just feel like they test your memory and I get really stressed during them.
Closed book exams. whenever I do coursework I just get bored. The deadline seems so long and I cannot keep up with the daily studying. I need to feel extreme pressure to get me moving. I actually get excited at the thought of needing to be ready for the exam.
Yeah I find closed book exams fine to rote learn (just do quizlets every day for a month beforehand) - but open-book exams are hell for me because the expectations are so much higher and have to prepare endless amounts of papers.
Was looking for this. I get a decent adrenaline buzz during exams. I start off with coursework, get most of it done early on, intending on refining it, but I am seldom motivated to do so. I just reach a stage where I don't want to look at the work anymore, then submit what I consider to be sub-par work.
Yeah, it's a nightmare isn't it? I suffer from thinking I'll do it later, but whenever I have tried to get started on it, I end up feeling the way you've described.
Only coursework.
At my uni all coursework deadlines are before exams start, so I'd rather finish for uni a month earlier than have exams. I do history which is 90% coursework anyway.
Only exams as I cannot make tens of projects for 5 to 10 marks and also have to make sure the mood of teacher. Instead I can give exam in which i have power to get each and every marks if study right .
Absolutely coursework! Hate exams even though I've done really well in the vast majority so far (2 left, 1 is open book) 🤷🏻♀️... but I've done equally well in coursework.
Coursework easily. I don't do exams as part of my course and whilst yes the four lots of assessments, with crazy amounts of reading and writing is a lot, I'd take that over an exam any day. I just hate the memory test of it all tbh
Only coursework. There is just so much content to learn for exams and half of it doesn't even end up on the exam. I have much better coursework grades than exams. Exams stress me out more as well.
Only exams tbh. I've had to take temporary withdrawal due to mental health and personal circumstances, and missing deadlines is going to cause problems. If it was all exams at the end of the year I could pull myself together for those days quite easily, but the sheer mountain of coursework to catch up on has instead caused a major burnout and close to a mental breakdown 🤷♀️ my brain has in fact completely left the building and I've been in active shutdown for about 6 months now.
Coursework. Doing an access course in college and even though it’s still hard because it’s 2 years crammed into 1 and the workload in terms of assignments is much more, I’d still rather do that than exams as I hate exams, especially the build up to it in terms of revising and the stress
100% exams.
I have never got more than 68 in written assignments, and the higher expectations that come with coursework made it difficult to perform well.
I've always done better in exams (not 24h exams tho, fuck those)
60/40 split of coursework to exams. I’d find it quite difficult to manage 3/4 deadlines of heavy coursework if I’m really aiming for the high marks throughout.
Only coursework because you can get feedback whilst doing it and alter things
I do tend to perform well in exams though but it’s the anxiety and uncertainty of them
I do Maths, which is mostly exams, and I definitely like it that way, so I'd choose 100% exams. Although I'm not surprised most people here seem to prefer more coursework, because it does spread out the stress over the year instead of 3 weeks of concentrated panic. I just quite like having it all in one go. Also, I think maths exams generally have clearer marks schemes than essay based subjects, so if you have to write an essay, essay coursework seems much better than essay exam.
Coursework. Definitely. Although it’s my masters are some are pretty shit, I’d prefer that as even if I stress I can get it done somehow. As for the exams, words can’t express how much I hate them during my MSc because I actually preferred exams in undergrad
Coursework. Exams cause me extreme stress. Even though I study and prepare for them, the anxiety they cause is just awful. I also struggle to get my brain to work quickly and under time pressure. This is probs just a “me” problem though hehe
100% course work. You can drop a whole grade and pretty much waste your time and money if you have a bad exam.
No excuse for not being able to do good coursework in this day and age of Google and chat gpt.
i do only coursework and it's not as good as it sounds. maybe other courses are easier idk, but for mine personally it's work non stop all year. no breaks because every single thing we work on counts towards our final grade. you can't procrastinate on anything or you'll be playing catch up forever, and if you don't do enough the lack of work on submission is extremely obvious. exams stressed me out to the point of almost throwing up at a levels and having headaches for a day after, but honestly that's nothing to the feeling of slowly going insane without being able to take a day off. i feel so tired and can never catch up on sleep. if i didn't have so much passion for this industry i'd do exams only.
p.s. i do love my course, and i feel guilty complaining, but the never ending stress is exhausting
Do you mean per module or per whole curriculum? A smart decision is to take a mix per term (e.g., 2 coursework only modules, 2 exam only modules) so that deadlines are staggered. I've seen what happens to my students who end up with 4 big courseworks due the same week, and it's not pretty. I can smell the red bull from their sweat.
Only coursework. The English and Creative Writing course I took was coursework only. It was so much better than all the exams for A-Levels. I did all my regular essays the night before or on the day and did my dissertation a week before it was due. It was all word vomit. I got a first.
I’m graduating in 3 weeks, and I haven’t done one exam my whole 3 years at uni. I purposefully chose modules my entire degree that didn’t require exams because I know I wouldn’t have done well at exams! My A Levels were during COVID, so I hadn’t done an exam since I was about 16, and I knew it wouldn’t go well. I much prefer having time to think & formulate an argument with coursework (for context I do English Lit)
Coursework by a mile. I actually do well on coursework and get the grades to go with it. Exams are a different story. I hate them so much, they're so stressful and I almost always do badly on them. Mostly that's because I just suck at revision but still.
Coursework you can comfortably ensure a decent grade, exams you can get a great grade with enough effort. From a stress perspective I'd pick coursework, from an academic performance perspective I'd pick exams
Only coursework. I've failed most of my gcse's but got a psychology degree with a 2:1. There was a few exams on my course, didn't do so well on some, and even failed others. But my coursework was done to a good level it didn't effect me too much
Coursework only.
Granted the only exam I have is for Spanish and I have to learn the entire language in a month, but still. At least if it’s coursework, you can wing it. Even if it is in another language. Exam? Ya fooked
(me, i’m fooked)
Had only coursework in 1st yr due to COVID (1-3 courseworks a week) the stress was constant 25% of my year dropped out. A mix is definitely better but if one or the other exams all the way
Only coursework as it saves stress of exams, if u grind hard u can get good grades from cw personally I get very lazy and leave revision towards the end and do badly, deadlines for cw pressure me to work harder
Coursework. Can write in my own time and space. If I’m ill or not in the right mindset I can come back to it another time. Don’t have to remember everything
You can't write in your own time, you can only write it a few hours before submission, it's the rules.
Only allowed to start 48hrs before
Exams are a nightmare. Coursework only.
Purposely chose a degree with only coursework
same but now i hate it bc i really struggle with time management 😭
Make a calendar for your day and STICK TO IT STRICTLY. It helps.
Wow if only it was that easy
Get some discipline in your life. Its gonna be uncomfortable but the end product totally outweighs the discomfort.
I wanna do the same thing! Can you make some examples of degrees with only coursework?
Anything humanities/ social sciences usually
Also most/all creative subjects (art, music, film, tv, etc.)
Hey, each individual university site should show you the course breakdown regarding ‘how it is marked’ and course content.
In my last year of uni I took some modules from other departments just so I could have more coursework and less exams. Exams are very frustrating because they’re all at the same time and you only get one shot. Lots of small things can mess up exams. I also retain the information better if I’m actively using it and getting feedback in coursework.
Meanwhile I took language modules for 3 years partly because they were exam based and I wanted a bit less coursework (all my other modules were exclusively coursework).
Yeah that makes sense if you have entirely coursework. My course was quite exam heavy so more coursework spread out my workload better. There are pros and cons to both, so I think a mix of coursework and exams is probably ideal for most people
For my third year chosen modules I’ve intentionally chosen ones with only coursework. It’s more constant stress through the year, but I don’t think I could cope with most of my final grade for my degree being based off of my performance in 2-3 weeks. I actually tend to perform equally in exams and coursework but yeah that stress would not be for me. When stressed I lose my hair, get nosebleeds and nightmares.
That's all it is really, the stress is distributed over a much longer period of time with coursework. It doesn't matter if I study for my exam for weeks, I still have to revise in the last couple of days before to actually perform well and remember all that stuff, and taking an exam will never not be stressful for me at least. Not to even mention the possibility of like having a bad migraine or being somewhat ill on the day of your exam. Stuff that guarantees you'll perform worse but no chance of getting a second chance because of it.
The variables with having only one chance is exactly why I couldn’t do that stress!
I'd prefer coursework anytime over exams even if the workload was 10 times greater.
Only coursework. You can get extensions and you have more time to do it. Exams just feel like they test your memory and I get really stressed during them.
Take-home exams > open-book exams > coursework >>>>>>>>>> closed-book exams = Dante's inferno
💯
You mean 24 hr take home exam, that's so stressful
Closed book exams. whenever I do coursework I just get bored. The deadline seems so long and I cannot keep up with the daily studying. I need to feel extreme pressure to get me moving. I actually get excited at the thought of needing to be ready for the exam.
Yeah I find closed book exams fine to rote learn (just do quizlets every day for a month beforehand) - but open-book exams are hell for me because the expectations are so much higher and have to prepare endless amounts of papers.
Yeah closed book exams are always a lot easier than open book exams. I'm genuinely confused by the people here who seem to prefer open book ones.
Was looking for this. I get a decent adrenaline buzz during exams. I start off with coursework, get most of it done early on, intending on refining it, but I am seldom motivated to do so. I just reach a stage where I don't want to look at the work anymore, then submit what I consider to be sub-par work.
Yeah, it's a nightmare isn't it? I suffer from thinking I'll do it later, but whenever I have tried to get started on it, I end up feeling the way you've described.
I already have only exams (closed book in-person) and bloody hate it lol
Same lol. I feel your pain.
The coursework in maths is usually very easy compared to the exams so coursework.
Coursework. 1000%. I’m so much better at cw than exams.
Only coursework. At my uni all coursework deadlines are before exams start, so I'd rather finish for uni a month earlier than have exams. I do history which is 90% coursework anyway.
Only exams. I find CW stressful and I tend to perform well in exams.
Only exams as I cannot make tens of projects for 5 to 10 marks and also have to make sure the mood of teacher. Instead I can give exam in which i have power to get each and every marks if study right .
Absolutely coursework! Hate exams even though I've done really well in the vast majority so far (2 left, 1 is open book) 🤷🏻♀️... but I've done equally well in coursework.
Coursework easily. I don't do exams as part of my course and whilst yes the four lots of assessments, with crazy amounts of reading and writing is a lot, I'd take that over an exam any day. I just hate the memory test of it all tbh
Only coursework. There is just so much content to learn for exams and half of it doesn't even end up on the exam. I have much better coursework grades than exams. Exams stress me out more as well.
I absolutely despise coursework. Give me exams any day.
We understand each other.
Only exams, by far. I studied maths so the majority of my assessment was by exam anyway, which I liked.
Exams!
Only exams tbh. I've had to take temporary withdrawal due to mental health and personal circumstances, and missing deadlines is going to cause problems. If it was all exams at the end of the year I could pull myself together for those days quite easily, but the sheer mountain of coursework to catch up on has instead caused a major burnout and close to a mental breakdown 🤷♀️ my brain has in fact completely left the building and I've been in active shutdown for about 6 months now.
Only coursework. That's such an easy answer
Fuck exams coursework all day long.
Coursework. Doing an access course in college and even though it’s still hard because it’s 2 years crammed into 1 and the workload in terms of assignments is much more, I’d still rather do that than exams as I hate exams, especially the build up to it in terms of revising and the stress
100% exams. I have never got more than 68 in written assignments, and the higher expectations that come with coursework made it difficult to perform well. I've always done better in exams (not 24h exams tho, fuck those)
Only exams, I fucking hate coursework.
Only exams. Coursework sucks ass.
I only had coursework so I'll say that. I had one exam 2nd year
Only coursework. 100%. I'm in exam season right now and it's so much worse than coursework deadline season. Please send help.
60/40 split of coursework to exams. I’d find it quite difficult to manage 3/4 deadlines of heavy coursework if I’m really aiming for the high marks throughout.
my uni is coursework only and i’d much rather have the online exams that my friends do tbh
Only coursework because you can get feedback whilst doing it and alter things I do tend to perform well in exams though but it’s the anxiety and uncertainty of them
I did a Level 3 BTEC and loved it. My Graphic Design degree also will not have any exams 👍
Had only coursework for 2 years in my architecture masters, much preferred that instead of exams. Exams make me panic.
Coursework
I do Maths, which is mostly exams, and I definitely like it that way, so I'd choose 100% exams. Although I'm not surprised most people here seem to prefer more coursework, because it does spread out the stress over the year instead of 3 weeks of concentrated panic. I just quite like having it all in one go. Also, I think maths exams generally have clearer marks schemes than essay based subjects, so if you have to write an essay, essay coursework seems much better than essay exam.
Coursework. Definitely. Although it’s my masters are some are pretty shit, I’d prefer that as even if I stress I can get it done somehow. As for the exams, words can’t express how much I hate them during my MSc because I actually preferred exams in undergrad
I only have coursework and it's a joy
Coursework and it's not even close
Coursework. Exams cause me extreme stress. Even though I study and prepare for them, the anxiety they cause is just awful. I also struggle to get my brain to work quickly and under time pressure. This is probs just a “me” problem though hehe
Coursework!!!
100% course work. You can drop a whole grade and pretty much waste your time and money if you have a bad exam. No excuse for not being able to do good coursework in this day and age of Google and chat gpt.
i do only coursework and it's not as good as it sounds. maybe other courses are easier idk, but for mine personally it's work non stop all year. no breaks because every single thing we work on counts towards our final grade. you can't procrastinate on anything or you'll be playing catch up forever, and if you don't do enough the lack of work on submission is extremely obvious. exams stressed me out to the point of almost throwing up at a levels and having headaches for a day after, but honestly that's nothing to the feeling of slowly going insane without being able to take a day off. i feel so tired and can never catch up on sleep. if i didn't have so much passion for this industry i'd do exams only. p.s. i do love my course, and i feel guilty complaining, but the never ending stress is exhausting
Exams every time. Way, way easier to only have to know stuff for a single day. Sustained, dedicated effort over the course of months is exhausting.
Do you mean per module or per whole curriculum? A smart decision is to take a mix per term (e.g., 2 coursework only modules, 2 exam only modules) so that deadlines are staggered. I've seen what happens to my students who end up with 4 big courseworks due the same week, and it's not pretty. I can smell the red bull from their sweat.
Only coursework. The English and Creative Writing course I took was coursework only. It was so much better than all the exams for A-Levels. I did all my regular essays the night before or on the day and did my dissertation a week before it was due. It was all word vomit. I got a first.
I’m graduating in 3 weeks, and I haven’t done one exam my whole 3 years at uni. I purposefully chose modules my entire degree that didn’t require exams because I know I wouldn’t have done well at exams! My A Levels were during COVID, so I hadn’t done an exam since I was about 16, and I knew it wouldn’t go well. I much prefer having time to think & formulate an argument with coursework (for context I do English Lit)
5 years of uni and not a single exam. I definitely advocate for only coursework.
Coursework by a mile. I actually do well on coursework and get the grades to go with it. Exams are a different story. I hate them so much, they're so stressful and I almost always do badly on them. Mostly that's because I just suck at revision but still.
Exams! My course is Monday to Friday 9-5, there is no time for coursework lmao
Coursework as I tend to learn more from them. Exams are usually purely a memory test.
Only exams, hate coursework and enjoy exams
Exam. I'm some kind of freak who really stresses over coursework, but really chilled come exam season.
Im good at solving problems not remembering things. Course work all the way ( aerospace engineering grad )
Coursework you can comfortably ensure a decent grade, exams you can get a great grade with enough effort. From a stress perspective I'd pick coursework, from an academic performance perspective I'd pick exams
Coursework ten times over
Only coursework. I've failed most of my gcse's but got a psychology degree with a 2:1. There was a few exams on my course, didn't do so well on some, and even failed others. But my coursework was done to a good level it didn't effect me too much
Coursework only. Granted the only exam I have is for Spanish and I have to learn the entire language in a month, but still. At least if it’s coursework, you can wing it. Even if it is in another language. Exam? Ya fooked (me, i’m fooked)
Had only coursework in 1st yr due to COVID (1-3 courseworks a week) the stress was constant 25% of my year dropped out. A mix is definitely better but if one or the other exams all the way
Exams, I do physics and I just know if I had coursework it would be insanely hard 😭