Many Australian university students struggle with the format of assignment for college. There's a lot to keep in mind when you're trying to get your essay together. Here's a useful how to guide you can use the next time you need to put an assignment together.
Basic presentation tips
There's a few basic things you need to think about when you're writing assignments:
- Word process your document, rather than writing it by hand.
- Be sure to proofread and spell check your assignment. This may be written in your assignment guidelines.
- Use headings to break your assignment up, it's a good assignment format to use as you can break writing up into chunks.
- Take care to follow all the writing requirements your university has laid out.
- Correctly reference any material you use that isn't your own, to avoid plagiarism charges on your submission.
Formatting guide
There's a few things you'll need to keep in mind when preparing and formatting your essay:
Title page: Your title page pdf needs to include all the relevant information, such as the title, your student number, and word count. Refer to your instructions for more information.
Font: Use a plain serf font to write your essay, as they're easier to read. If a font is specified, make sure to use that font.
Paragraphs: Double or 1.5 space all essay paragraphs to ensure ease of reading.
Title: This needs to be in 18 point font, centred, in title case.
Author details: These need to be given directly below the title, and should include your name and student number.
Margins: Keep your page margins to 2.5 cm wide.
Main text: Most universities in Australia stick to a template when it comes to their main text. They require that all fonts are in 12 point size, regular, justified to the left and single spaced. Leave a single blank line between paragraphs, do not indent your paragraphs.
Section titles: Main titles should be 14 point font and bold. Sub titles should be 12 point font and bold.
Ask for help if needed
If your questions aren't answered here, ask for help from your university. Library staff, student support staff or your professors will be able to answer questions on formatting that you may have.
Most essays follow a standard layout, so you should be able to write a perfectly formatted essay with this guide.
