The aim of this module is to help you develop an understanding of the stages involved in planning for assignments.
The module will begin by exploring the importance of planning prior to starting written or design work, before moving on to different planning techniques, including spider diagrams and mind mapping. However eager you may feel to begin your assessment, this module highlights that taking time to plan – understanding the task, finding relevant reading material, making notes, structuring your work, writing/designing your assessment and editing it – is a vital step towards achieving success.
Why is planning important?
When we think about assignments, we tend to focus on the final product – the essay, presentation, report, portfolio or project that is submitted for marking. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface is the planning and preparation that helps you complete assignments successfully.
Many students feel tempted to begin working on an assignment straight away in an attempt not to waste time. However, strong assignments are developed through a process. Before starting the final piece of work, you will need to:
- Understand the assignment brief
- Find relevant academic sources
- Complete reading
- Make notes from your reading
- Analyse and evaluate ideas from your reading
- Compare different perspectives
- Develop your own argument or response
- Organise and structure your ideas
This shows that completing assignments is not a simple, linear process. Planning helps you organise your time, manage tasks effectively and develop a clearer, more focused approach to your work.
Spending time planning can help you to:
- Understand what the assignment is asking you to do
- Identify useful evidence and resources
- Break the task into manageable stages
- Structure your ideas clearly
- Avoid last-minute stress
- Produce stronger academic work
Activity
Which of the following activities are part of planning for assignments?
- Understanding the assignment brief
- Researching and note-taking
- Organising ideas
- Reviewing and editing work
Answer: All of them. Successful assignments involve preparation, planning and review, not just completing the final task.
The planning process
Understanding what you need to do and when you need to do it
Understanding what you need to do and when you need to do it are important first steps when getting going with an assignment. More generally, getting into the habit of making a note of all deadlines on your calendar or in your diary will help you to feel on top of your studies and manage your workload alongside other commitments.
Once you have noted the submission date, you can begin thinking about what you need to do. It is important that you understand the assignment guidelines. Read through the assignment guidance very carefully, not only will this allow you to determine the type of assignment you are preparing, it will also offer other important information such as:
- Required format (e.g., is it an essay, blog post, video essay, presentation or report?)
- Writing style (e.g., academic, reflective, blog style or creative)
- Length of the assignment (e.g., the word count, equivalent or length of presentation)
- Referencing requirements (which referencing system should you use?)
Once you are ready to begin your preparations, it is helpful to start by breaking down your question to help you understand each part.
Breaking down the assignment question
You may find it useful to highlight key words and phrases in the question or guidance. This means looking out for:
These words usually indicate the main subject of the assignment.
These words will indicate the aspects of the topic you should write about. Focus words or phrases might suggest writing about a certain time period or locality.
Consider the following example:
| Topic/content words or phrases: | Planning and writing an assignment. |
|---|---|
| Focus/limiting words: | The different processes in writing. |
| Direction words: | 'To what extent’ - this question invites you to make a judgement on the idea that drafting is the most important stage. It also presents the opportunity for you to explore the other stages of planning and writing. |
Assignment guidelines can be short questions like the one featured above or they may also be a longer set of instructions depending on the task. It is advisable to take a similar approach to your guidelines by underlining key words to help you to clarify exactly what you are being asked to do. If you have any further questions or feel uncertain about the assignment guidance, it would be advisable to contact your course team for clarification as soon as possible.
Activity
Try breaking down the following question:
Examine the view that stress has a negative impact on academic performance.
Identify the topic, focus and direction word.
Suggested answer:
Topic: stress
Focus: academic performance
Direction word: examine
Once you are feeling confident that you know what you need to do, start thinking about what you already know about the topic and where this might take you. It will be useful at this stage to review your notes from seminars or lectures to help you gather your thoughts. Start jotting down your ideas on the topic as this will help to guide you as you begin to identify the areas you would like to research for your assignment.
Planning techniques
Planning an assignment means:
- Thinking about the question or task and ensuring that you understand exactly what you are being asked to do
- Deciding how you would like to approach your question
- Planning your research process
- Starting to organise your ideas
- Using your research to develop and explore your ideas
- Ensuring that you are relating your points to the question or task
Everyone has different ways of planning. Techniques you might find useful include:
- Spider diagrams
- Mind maps
- Lists
- Flow charts
When starting to plan an assignment, it is likely that you have lots of ideas in your mind and you will start to develop new ones. One of the first steps to organising these ideas is to get them down on paper or on screen. This will help to inform your research and planning process and will allow you to develop and adapt your plan as you work through the thinking process. It will also help you to keep track of your ideas. You may prefer to create a list or engage with some of the more visual planning techniques such as spider diagrams or mind mapping.
Spider diagrams are a great way of getting ideas down on paper quickly. Start by putting your main topic at the centre of the diagram and then jot down themes or points around the centre. Once you see your main theme at the centre and the other ideas surrounding it, you can begin making connections between the different ideas and points. This process allows you to organise themes and ideas helping you to visualise ideas and make connections.
Many people use online tools to create spider diagrams but sometimes it is just as helpful to use paper and pens if your intention is to plan. Remember, as with any plan, your planning spider diagram only needs to make sense to you so don’t worry about it looking perfect. The spider diagram in the photograph below is an example of a working planning document as it shows a planning process. This diagram is quite messy, and you may not be able to read all the handwriting; this is because when we plan, we are gathering and organising our thoughts and this process might be a bit untidy depending on our individual approach and ways of working. Remember, your planning spider diagram needs to be clear only to you if it is intended to support your planning process and will not be part of your assignment submission.
If you like to take a visual approach to planning, why not try mind mapping? This technique allows you to explore your ideas for an assignment by identifying links and connections between themes. Start by jotting down the main topic of your assignment at the centre of the page and then begin to add further ideas, gradually making connections as you go. This is the mapping process as you add ideas and begin to create branches across the page. Your mind map will be a unique document representing your thought processes as you work through your ideas, dividing them into different points using images, keywords and examples. Mind mapping can be done using paper and pens or you may want to use software or online tools.
Lists also provide a useful way of noting, organising and prioritising ideas. Some people like to create lists of their ideas for an essay plan. Again your list is purely for you so don’t worry about what it looks like. Why not try using a list alongside a spider diagram as you move further into the planning process? Making lists is often a popular choice for planning as they are clear, ordered and can be quickly updated when you start to cross things off.
Creating flowcharts offers another helpful way of planning an assignment because they offer an ordered, visual way of presenting connections between ideas and clear steps in terms of organisation. You can create a flowchart using the SmartArt feature in Word or you can draw your own diagram. Again, remember your plan is a working document so don’t worry what it looks like or be afraid to keep adding and adapting.
Other ways of organising ideas include using post-it notes which can be stuck on a surface or organised on a table. Using post-it notes, or similar items, presents the opportunity to move your written thoughts around as you decide on the most logical order of ideas for your assignment. You could create a flow chart using post-it notes. Or you could create electronic post-it notes by typing your ideas on PowerPoint slides. You can then move your ideas around using slide sorter to help you organise your thoughts.
Activity
Choose one of the suggested planning approaches explored above. Think about you could use that technique to facilitate planning for your next assignment.
Top tips for assignment planning
Starting an assignment can feel overwhelming, especially when the deadline seems far away. However, effective planning can make assignments much more manageable and help reduce stress. Here are some top tips to help you plan successfully:
Before starting, carefully read the assignment instructions in your module handbook and the module Blackboard assessment folder. Identify:
-
the task you need to complete
-
the submission deadline
-
the word count or time limit
-
the marking criteria
-
any required format and referencing style
Assignment briefs often include command words such as analyse, compare, evaluate or discuss. These words tell you what approach is expected and can guide your planning. Understanding the brief helps you stay focused and avoid missing key requirements.
Assignments are easier to manage when divided into stages. These may include researching your topic, reading and note-taking, planning, drafting, editing and proofreading. Breaking tasks down can make the workload feel more achievable and help you stay motivated.
Avoid leaving everything until the last minute. Consider using a planner to schedule time for each stage of the assignment and set small deadlines before the submission date.
Mind maps, spider diagrams, lists or outlines can help you organise your thoughts and knowledge before starting the task. Planning your assignment early often leads to clearer and more structured work.
Strong planning includes leaving enough time to edit your assignment before submission. Reviewing your work can help you spot errors, improve clarity, develop your referencing skills and ensure you have met the assignment requirements. This may include using tools such as the Turnitin draft submission bucket to check your work and identify areas for improvement before submitting your final assignment.
Activity
Which of these is the best example of effective assignment planning?
A. Starting the assignment the night before the deadline
B. Reading the brief carefully and creating a timeline
C. Writing without checking the marking criteria
D. Completing the work in one sitting
Correct answer: B. Reading the brief and creating a timeline helps you manage the assignment effectively and stay organised.
Reflection
Take a look at the steps below and reflect on your approach to planning for assignments. Think about what steps would work best for you and organise them in order. You may find that the suggested order may not match yours. This is fine as we each have our own preferred methods. The result is a recommended workflow only (10 Points).
- Read and make notes: jot down the most important ideas gathered from your reading in your own words, finding links between them
- Understand your assignment brief and learning outcomes: break these down to work out what the task entails.
- Synthesise research: summarise the main ideas found in reading, identifying authors’ arguments and evidence used to support their positions.
- Review and edit your work: spot errors and improve your work before your final submission.
- Develop an argument: having read, understood and written down ideas from your reading, identify your position. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the ideas you have read? How may these ideas be moved forward?
- Search for sources: identify relevant academic sources. Begin with recommended reading from the module’s reading list.
- Create a research plan: select where you will search for information. Ensure you include reputable sources found via LibrarySeach, subject-specific journals, databases and Google Scholar.
- Write a first draft: start turning ideas into sentences and paragraphs.
- Make a plan: think about the sections your assignment requires and plan your ideas accordingly, before committing to sentences and paragraphs.
- Plan your time: consider your deadlines, what you already know about your topic, what academic resources you already have and use a calendar to plan for each stage of the process.
Suggested answer: 2, 10, 7, 6, 1, 3, 5, 9, 8, 4.
Key takeaways
Assignment preparation is an essential aspect of your studies as an undergraduate or postgraduate student. Taking time to understand your question and the wider assignment guidance and then considering how you can proceed are the first steps when getting going with any assignment. Choosing a planning approach that works for you and allows you to organise your thoughts is an important part of this process. The time you spend planning at the start of the assignment preparation process will allow you to tackle your assignments in an effective and organised manner which will help you to manage and feel on top of your studies as an independent learner.
Credit
Written by Silvina Bishopp-Martin, Kat Byrne, Kate Davies, and Gaynor Williams.
Last updated 2026