Baseline Assignments

All students should submit a Baseline Assignment following Tutorial 1. The Baseline Assignment enables us to assess students' academic level at the start of the programme and allows us to measure progress. Please ensure you allow time to go through this task in Tutorial 1 so that students feel confident completing it and are aware of their deadline.

When do students submit their Baseline Assignments?

We would ask that you set Tutorial 2 as the Baseline Assignment deadline. It is important that submissions are received at the beginning of the programme to ensure the assignment represents an accurate reflection of students' baseline levels.

Students should submit their baseline assignments on the Hub, or by bringing it with them to Tutorial 2.

How can I support students to submit their baseline assignments?

Top Tips and Best Practice:

• Allow enough time at the end of Tutorial 1 to explain the task and to answer any questions.

• Pitch this as simply the first piece of written work, rather than as a test or essay e.g. “This will be so useful for me to see how you work at this stage, so I can give you useful feedback. We don’t want to spend the next few weeks with me telling you things you already know, so please give it a go so you can get useful feedback to help you on the course, and so that I can know where you might need more or less support.”

• Break the task down into chunks to avoid overwhelming students. For example, give students guidance on what to include in each of the three paragraphs of 150 words, rather than just giving them the task of writing 500 words.

• Give students the opportunity to verbalise their thoughts on what they will include in their baseline assignment before writing this down, as writing can often be the biggest hurdle.

• Remind students that they should submit their baseline assignment via the Hub. In cases where students are not able to use the Hub, they can email a Word, PDF or a photo of their assignment to schools@thebrilliantclub.org, with their school name, your name and their own name in the subject line and we will forward this to you. Alternatively, they can bring a paper copy to the next tutorial.

• Clearly set the deadline, usually Tutorial 2.

• Email the lead teacher after Tutorial 1 to confirm the baseline assignment task and due date.

• After the tutorial, message all students on the Hub to remind them of the homework, deadline, and encourage them to reach out via the Hub if they have any questions.

• If you have any concerns regarding student engagement, contact your Programme Officer as soon as possible. They will be able to suggest next steps and can support you in conversations with the lead teacher.

If any students do not submit a baseline assignment by the deadline, please encourage them to submit by Tutorial 3, and follow up with the lead teacher to support them in school. We still encourage students who haven’t submitted a baseline assignment to continue the programme, so please keep your lead teacher and Programme Officer informed if you have any concerns about students’ engagement or if you think they require further support.

How do I mark the Baseline Assignments?

It is important that we have marks and sub-marks for all Baseline Assignments so that we can provide schools with evidence of students’ academic progress from the beginning to the end of their Scholars Programme experience. Tutors should mark the Baseline Assignment using the same mark scheme as the final assignment (found at the beginning of your course handbook). Marks must be uploaded onto the Hub by your third tutorial at the latest.

These marks should never be shared with students. They are for internal use only as a quantitative measure of student knowledge and skills at the beginning of the programme. These marks allow us to measure the impact of the programme, and your teaching, on students’ progress to report to schools after the programme concludes.

Students do not see these marks on the Hub. We expect the Baseline Assignment marks to be low, as they assess students before most course input. We therefore ask that you give the students qualitative feedback and do not tell them the mark they receive.

If any students submit after Tutorial 3, please do not submit their marks on the Hub. We would not be able to count this as a Baseline Assignment, but you should still provide qualitative feedback to the student. Please let your Programme Officer know if you receive any late submissions, so they are aware of student engagement.

Please see the Hub Support Area for guidance on how to access and mark student baseline assignments on the Hub.

If you have any questions on writing feedback, please review our training on ‘Giving Brilliant Feedback’ and ‘Marking and AI’ on our website. Please see the email from your Programme Officer with details on how to access this.