Written Assignments for the
Real World: Policy Briefings
Dr Antje Brown
Teaching Fellow
Department of Geography and Sustainable Development
ackb:@st-Andrews.ac.uk
The Teaching Development Award Project
• The purpose of this project was to explore and develop a new,
complementary form of written assignment for students that
adds to their transferable skills and enhances their
employability post-graduation.
• Research was conducted September 2014 – May 2015 and
involved three separate online surveys with teaching staff,
students and employers as well as interviews and
conversations with interested parties. (ethical approval
GG11170)
• The project produced a written report summarising key findings
as well as an assessment guide, a template feedback
proforma and briefing assignment examples already
employed by teaching staff.
Summary of key findings
• Survey and interview participants showed a keen interest and support in
innovative assignments such as policy briefings. While conventional essays were
still considered an essential assessment component, participants’ advice was to
explore briefings as additional, complementary assessment tools at honours level.
• Participants noted that some students may consider innovative assignments as
‘unfamiliar territory’ necessitating extra guidance and safeguards. They also
noted that a standard template for briefing assignments would be difficult to
establish given the diversity of disciplines and their assessment needs. The project
addresses these issues by - a) providing detailed guidance on the briefing
assignment itself and its marking criteria, and by - b) offering general pointers for
teaching staff whilst pointing out those areas where module coordinators can use
tailor the assignment to suit their own disciplinary needs.
• The enthusiasm with which teaching colleagues completed the survey suggests a
passion for innovative teaching at this University. Not only did colleagues
elaborate on a wide range of assessment methods already in use, they also
showed an interest in the project’s findings, for which the project author is most
grateful.
Summary of Findings continued…
• One interesting finding of the survey was that employers noted the importance to
not only be able to write short, succinct briefings, but also to be able to process
and manage these documents once they are received. This aspect may be
something that could be explored in future as another possible transferrable skill.
• Overall, the potential benefits of the policy briefing exercise were appreciated by
staff, students and employers. Composing and delivering policy briefings (and
other working documents) contribute towards students’ transferrable skills and
enhance their employability.
• Finally, having studied online sources on how to write policy briefings, it is clear
that this project goes beyond the standard advice provided online; it does so by
incorporating guidance on assignment design, marking criteria as well as
proposing a template feedback proforma for students. It is hoped that the
project’s findings will encourage colleagues from across the University to explore
different assessment avenues and engage students in a range of ‘real world’
working scenarios.
What are Policy Briefings?
• Policy briefings are documents used to inform or advise a person (or group
of people) in an organisation on current policy issues which may be in
need of an up-to-date assessment or may require a strategic shift/ policy
change (although in some cases the issues may require affirmation/
continuity rather than change). Whatever the intended direction, the
author would make a compelling case as to why an issue requires further
attention and why a certain set of action should be considered by a
target audience.
• What a policy briefing is not - It is not a research paper of historical events
or a comparison of basic facts. While properly referenced, structured and
analytical, a policy briefing is not a conventional essay analysing a
prescribed question or discussion topic. Instead there is a strong element
of empirical and critical analysis paired with a degree of creativity with the
aim to convey a practitioner-friendly analysis followed by a set of policy
recommendations.
Policy Briefings as an assessment tool
This particular assessment requires students  To utilise empirical & conceptual knowledge as well as analytical, organisational
and communicative skills.
 To demonstrate a clear/ logical reasoning process, from identification of a
compelling current issue, to data gathering, critical analysis and presentation of
findings, which includes policy-oriented recommendations tailored towards a
target audience.
 To communicate findings in a condensed, succinct, practitioner-friendly format,
conveying carefully reasoned persuasive arguments to a target audience.
These components feed into existing transferrable skills sets and particularly add to
students’ communicative and analytical skills through the use of quasi-realistic work
documents; these not only include pure analysis of a policy issue/ problem, but also
include a pro-active/ creative element of policy recommendation & outlook.
To ensure that students are provided with clear, logical and transparent assignment
framework, the following three steps are recommended:
1) Proposal: students are asked to provide the tutor/ module coordinator with a chosen
topic/ title and specify their target audience; the information should be considered and
approved by module coordinator/ tutor. This initial step in the process ensures that
students identify a feasible, realistic and logical briefing project as coordinators/ tutors will
have an opportunity at this early stage to steer students in the right direction if necessary.
At this early stage, it would be advisable to make proposal submissions compulsory but
not graded.
2) Short plan/ abstract: again, this measure is intended to ensure that students are on the
right track; it can be combined with the above proposal or processed separately as the
next step in the assignment process. At this planning stage students can be given further
guidance by the coordinator/ tutor. The grading of short plans is optional, a specified
deadline would be advisable.
3) Policy Briefing Document: in the ‘real world’ policy briefings are short & succinct, yet their
actual length can vary depending on subject, purpose and addressee. Applied to our
University context (and honours modules in particular), a word limit of 3500 – 4000 words
would be a realistic length for such an assignment. Longer or shorter versions are possible
and the actual word limit can be left to coordinators’ discretion.
-
Title page: title, author, date, target recipients/ audience
-
Abstract or executive summary: this short section should state topic, choice justification and intended outcome
-
Empirical Analysis: a summary of relevant facts to date offering target recipients an overview/ assessment of the situation,
this section constitutes the empirical element of document = what is the issue here? This section looks into why recipients
should consider an issue and why it is necessary to consider policy change. As an optional element, the empirical section
could also include a chronological overview of the policy, statistics, or a summary of key facts in a separate information box.
-
Assessment/ analysis of empirical evidence: this section offers space to develop an argument and lays the foundation for
recommendations. It represents the normative, analytical element of the document = how can the facts be interpreted and
what conclusions can be drawn regarding the way ahead? Students could consider questions such as – What are the key
discussion points? What are the pros & cons of various policy options? What are the possible implications of certain steps?
-
Conclusion, recommendations and outlook: this concluding section should offer a short, succinct commentary tying the
previous elements together before turning specifically to a set of recommendations for target recipients. These should be
based clearly on the empirical and analytical parts of the briefing and constitute a recommended plan of action or solution
to a policy problem. To give this document credibility, recommendations should be realistic, plausible and feasible. Having
identified the favoured policy options (and, where applicable, excluded or ranked other, alternative options), the final
section could also consider details on the implementation of the recommendations.
-
Appendices: are useful tools for both authors and recipients in both study and work contexts. Their use and assessment could
be optional or compulsory depending on module requirements.
-
References/ bibliography: this should be a compulsory component as proper referencing is absolutely essential in any
academic work and is part and parcel of a good analysis, be it in a University context or ‘real world’ work environment.
All sections listed above should be presented in a user-friendly format: they should be short, to the point, concise and clear.
To make briefings even more ‘realistic’ and perhaps more fun for the student/ author and the
marker/ recipient, students could be encouraged to consider including the following:

Information boxes, sidebars and any other illustrative tools e.g. graphs, diagrams, pictures,
caricatures, tables. Where applicable, these should be clearly referenced.

Small, supportive/ complementary/ illustrative case studies

Footnotes and/ or endnotes
While an attractive layout may be an incentive for both student author and marker (for the
author to explore layouts and enjoy putting together a ‘realistic’ document; for markers to
engage with a refreshingly different format), it should not influence the final mark. The
emphasis should be on the content rather than students’ IT skills and the visual impact of the
assignment. It would be advisable to make this emphasis clear to students from the
beginning.
As with essays, it is important that policy briefings are researched and presented with the same academic and
analytical rigor as conventional essays and comply with the University’s referencing rules.
To achieve a top grade, both students and markers should look out for the following -
Evidence of thorough data collection and careful research of the topic;
-
Formulation of a clear objective with matching outcome;
-
Clarity in structure, analysis and communication;
-
Awareness of the wider context and (where appropriate) clear reference to relevant theories and
disciplines;
-
Careful consideration of different sides or arguments to a given debate/ discourse;
-
Clear and plausible progression of the argument towards a policy recommendation;
-
Although optional, a briefings may benefit from supportive graphs, tables, pictures;
-
Last but not least: proper & maticulous referencing.
Furthermore, in line with employers’ expectations, policy briefings should, ideally, be –
-
Short & concise (within the word-limit)
-
Clear & readable
-
And reliable & feasible in outlook. In the ‘real world’, recipients of policy briefings need to rely on the
author’s professionalism and expertise and expect feasible and well-informed recommendations.
Policy Briefing – Feedback Proforma
Module Number/Name ……………… Marker(s) Name(s) ………………… Date …./…/…..
Student’s Name …………………………..
Briefing Title …………………………..
Summary Comments: The comments below related to the general Grade Related Criteria
Optional check list: Staff may fill in the grid below to give you a general impression of the strengths and weaknesses of your Briefing. The tick boxes are for guidance only and will not
be used mechanically to calculate the final grade.
Exemplary
Excellent
Merit
Adequate
Pass
(higher)
Pass
Fail
Evidence of empirical data collection,
research of the topic
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
Formulation of a clear objective with
matching outcome
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
Clarity
in
structure,
communication:
and
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
Awareness of wider context, relevant
theories and inter-connections of various
aspects:
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
Consideration
of
different
sides/
arguments to a given debate/ issue:
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
A clear and plausible progression of the
argument towards a strategic/ policy
recommendation:
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
Presented in a clear, readable and
practitioner-friendly format:
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
Properly and reliably referenced:
Exemplary
Excellent
High Merit
Adequate
Pass
Pass
Fail
analysis
Overall
Grade:
Comments:
Useful links:
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (no date) What are policy briefs? http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2195e/i2195e03.pdf
Centre for European Policy Studies (2010) A Guide to Writing a CEPS Policy Brief
http://www.ceps.eu/system/files/article/2010/12/Guide%20to%20writing%20CEPS%20Policy%20Brief.pdf
Online surveys, interviews and consultations for this project were conducted between September 2014 and May 2015.
Respondents included – teaching staff, students, employers, CAPOD and the University’s Careers Office. Please contact
the project author if you wish to see • a selection of briefing assignments already used by colleagues across the University,
• further information regarding the online surveys, interviews, participant numbers, responses etc.,
• a detailed report submitted to the Teaching & Learning Committee.
Contact:
Dr Antje Brown
Teaching Fellow
Dept of Geography & Sustainable Development
Irvine Building
Email: ackb@st-andrews.ac.uk
Ext: 3938