MCS Project Assessment

The assessment of the dissertation will be undertaken by the supervisor and a second marker in the first instance. Dissertations which are candidates for distinction or near grade boundaries are also assessed by the moderation team and by an external examiner. A random selection of reports will also be considered by the external examiner.

Appropriate implementation details, such as source code, should normally be included as an appendix, together with indications of sample runs. Projects which are predominantly survey reports must be backed up with experimentation, implementation, theoretical or conceptual analysis, new illustrative examples, and so on.

A distinction level project is one which demonstrates significant breadth and depth. It involves a combination of sound background research, an outstanding implementation or an outstanding piece of theoretical work, and a well-structured and well-presented report detailing the project's background, objectives and achievements. The project involves significant technical problems that have been largely, or completely, overcome.

Dissertations will be assessed by the following broad criteria:

Background Research

This assesses the student's awareness of relevant previous work, and how the project builds upon or exploits existing techniques or results. For implementation projects, it assesses the way the student arrived at the initial project specification and work programme.

Technical Achievement

This assesses the objectives and the technical contributions of the project. It addresses specific issues such as the design, correctness, completeness, elegance, usability and so on of the final product, theoretical or practical, the approach and techniques employed, and the significance of the achievements relative to the state-of-the-art.nbsp

Quality of Dissertation

Selection, organisation and presentation of material, quality of prose, clarity of
explanations, discussion of related work, spelling, punctuation, legibility, clarity and relevance of diagrams and so on.

An element of originality is expected. A distinction project will receive 70% or above, and all projects which pass will receive 50% or above.