How to prepare IGNOU Assignments 2022: instructions

Completing an assignment at IGNOU involved more than just answering the questions. You also had to download a specific assignment booklet, adhere to a particular format, write your answers in your words, and submit it to your nearest centre before the due date.

The instructions for IGNOU assignment 2022 slightly varied for different courses. That is why you had to read the instructions on the assignment question paper and programme guide for your course before you began. Apart from a similar-sounding title, a paper can have erroneous course codes or different submission guidelines.

How to prepare IGNOU Assignments 2022 instructions

Verify Admission and Course Enrollment

Before downloading the IGNOU assignment question paper 2022, cross-check your admission and enrolment details. You are advised to ensure that the course code, programme code, admission session, year or semester, medium, regional centre, and learner support centre match the details on the assignment booklet.

Your assignment booklet should always align with your course of admission. Therefore, you should never attempt a question paper with a comparable title but a different course code.

Save a Copy of Your Enrolment Number and IGNOU ID Card

Your enrolment number is printed on the assignment front page. Therefore, you should always remember or save a copy of your IGNOU student ID card. This information may come in handy when cross-verifying your submission status, examination forms, and results. The following documents must be stored safely:

  • Admission confirmation or enrolment number
  • IGNOU identity card
  • Registration and assignment question paper
  • Acknowledgement receipt

It is crucial to remember your enrolment number correctly; otherwise, your assignment marks may take longer to appear.

Download the Correct Assignment Question Paper

You were supposed to download the question paper from an official IGNOU assignment portal. The portal allows you to select your programme, session, year or semester, course code, and language before printing or downloading the document. However, you must cross-verify the following details:

  • Programme Code: It should align with your programme of admission.
  • Course Code: It should appear on your course enrolment form.
  • Assignment Validity: It should be due in your session.
  • Language: It should match your preferred medium.
  • Due Date: It should be stated or officially announced
  • Each page: It should be downloaded or printed entirely.

The current assignment portal reminds you to check an assignment’s validity before downloading.

Study your Programme Guide and Course Material

Your programme guide contains information about your course, including assessment regulations and passing criteria for assignments. It is advisable to avoid relying on videos, WhatsApp groups, and handwritten guides. Instead, it is advisable to use the official IGNOU study material to prepare your answers. Besides, you have to go through the relevant study material to identify the depth and terminology expected for each concept. While the IGNOU Galaxy portal provides general guidelines for students, the IGNOU Solved Assignments can help you understand how to respond to each question. However, it is essential to note that you will not receive full credit for simply copying someone else’s response. Therefore, it is always advisable to respond in your words.

How to Prepare IGNOU Assignments: step by step

1. Read the Whole Question

```

You must understand what is being asked before you start writing your answer. You should always highlight or underline key terms like explain, discuss, compare, analyse, and evaluate.

Do not start writing your response immediately, especially if you have only read the first sentence.

2. Locate Relevant Study Blocks

The study blocks relating to a question need to be reviewed, and relevant definitions, arguments, and conclusions extracted. You should also pay attention to any supporting examples, statistics, and studies.

3. Create an Outline

Before you start writing your response, it is advisable to develop an outline. An outline helps you organize your thoughts before writing while avoiding the most obvious details and sticking to the word limit. The following should be included in your outline:

  • Introduction
  • Relevant headings and subheadings
  • Key terms and concepts
  • Examples
  • Conclusion

An outline also helps you avoid repetition while ensuring that you do not go beyond the word limit.

4. Write your Answer in Your Own Words

Various assignment booklets for multiple programmes in 2022 explicitly stated that you had to write your response in your words. If your assignment is found to have copied someone else’s work, it can either be rejected or receive a zero mark. You should never use solved assignment papers as a template by replacing a few words with synonyms. Instead, you should read the relevant study material and write your response in your words.

5. Review Your Work

Before you finalize your response, it is essential to revise to ensure that you have responded to every part of the question, used the right headings and subheadings, adhered to the word limit, and included the question number. Some of the things you should double-check include:

  • Elaborating on each segment of the question.
  • Using the appropriate headings and subheadings.
  • Staying within the word limit.
  • Stating the question number.
  • Avoiding any fictitious or unverified statistics.
  • Providing a summary or concluding statement if required.

IGNOU Assignment Front Page Format

All official assignment booklets had specific front page format instructions to be followed. The following details usually had to be provided on the first page:

  • Enrolment Number
  • Student’s Name
  • Complete Address
  • Programme Code
  • Course Code
  • Title of the Course
  • Assignment Code
  • Study Centre’s Name and Code
  • Session
  • Date of submission
  • Signature

Most assignment booklets in 2022 instructed you to print the first page on a separate sheet of paper and fill in the necessary details for easy marking. The instructions on the first page of your assignment booklet should always be followed.

IGNOU Handwritten Assignment Guidelines

Most official programme guidelines stated that handwritten assignments were preferred. When using a computer, you had to ensure that it was allowed in your booklet. To avoid delays in marking, you should consider the following guidelines:

  • Use foolscap size paper if it has been recommended.
  • Use a blue or black pen to write your response.
  • Ensure that there is a margin on the left side.
  • Number each page.
  • Write on one side of the page if necessary.
  • State the question number before responding to it.
  • Staple or tie the pages together if possible.
  • Use separate assignments for each course.

The IGNOU Handwritten Assignments portal can be used to view how your assignment is supposed to look like. However, students should never copy these assignments verbatim since they can be penalized for submitting work that has been copied.

IGNOU Assignment Word Limit

The word limit for each question was printed alongside it. You were supposed to provide relevant information within the provided word count. For instance, if the word limit for a question was 300 words, you should not write 500 words. Similarly, one should not write lengthy essays for a question that allows 500 words. A good response always includes an introduction, elaboration, examples, and a conclusion.

Assignment Submission Guidelines

You were supposed to submit your assignment to your nearest Learner Support Centre, program centre, or other addresses provided in your booklet. Certain Regional Centres had started accepting digital submissions, while others still required hardcopy submissions during 2022. However, you should always do the following:

  • Confirm the submission address.
  • Check the latest submission date or any extension.
  • Make a photocopy or scan of your assignment.
  • Sort your submissions according to the course.
  • Keep an acknowledgement receipt for your records.
  • Save the submission confirmation online if applicable.

The submission guidelines for assignments always reminded students to keep a printed copy of their assignments for future reference. You should never submit the same assignment twice, unless your centre asks you to do so.

Complete Assignments before the Due Date

The printed date on the assignment booklet could be changed by the IGNOU or regional centre through an official notice. As a student, you were expected to follow all guidelines, announcements, notifications, and reminders.

The submission of assignments and examination forms always had separate deadlines. Therefore, just because you had submitted your assignment did not mean that your examination form had also been submitted. The following always had to be kept in mind:

  • Re-Admission and Examination Form dates
  • Hall ticket distribution
  • Term-End Examination dates and Practical examination guidelines
  • Assignment submission status

Project and Synopsis Guidelines

Project guidelines, including synopsis, dissertation, field-based surveys, and reports, were entirely different from Tutor Marked Assignments. Unless stated otherwise in your programme guide, projects should not be submitted together with Tutor Marked Assignments. You always had to identify an approved project topic, consult your project supervisor, and adhere to the guidelines in the project guidelines booklet. The Projects portal also reminded students that ordinary TEE assignments should not be uploaded to the Project submission portal for December 2022.

Things to Avoid

  • Getting the assignment question paper of the wrong session.
  • Writing the incorrect course code.
  • Using the same front page for different course assignments.
  • Copying solved assignment questions.
  • Ignoring the word limit.
  • Writing incomplete assignments.
  • Using a printed response for handwritten assignments.
  • Submitting assignments to the incorrect address.
  • Failing to number the assignment pages.
  • Losing the submission acknowledgment receipt.

IGNOU Guess Paper

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Were assignments handwritten in 2022?

Some courses mandated that students had to handwrite their assignments. Always check your course booklet to confirm.

2. Could I write on both sides of a page?

It always depended on your course instructions. You should adhere to the guidelines provided in your booklet.

3. Was a printed front page compulsory?

You could use a printed assignment front page if it was approved. However, you needed to make sure that every other detail was correct.

4. What pen was required for handwritten assignments?

A blue or black pen was recommended for handwritten assignments.

5. Could I copy information from the study material?

You were always encouraged to use relevant study material to develop your response. However, you were supposed to respond in your words.

6. Were solved assignments permitted?

Solved assignments could be used as a reference, but they should not be copied verbatim, since this could lead to rejection.

7. Was the assignment word limit mandatory?

You were supposed to adhere to the word limit and stay as close to the suggested number of words as possible.

8. Where did I submit my assignments?

They had to be submitted to your study centre or programme centre, unless otherwise stated.

9. Should every course have a separate assignment?

Yes, every course had to be submitted separately. You were supposed to sort them accordingly.

10. What proof did I save when submitting my assignments?

You were supposed to save a copy of your assignment and acknowledgement receipt at all times.

Conclusion

How to prepare IGNOU assignment 2022 always involved choosing the right question paper, front page, following handwritten guidelines, adhering to the word limit, and meeting submission guidelines. The best way to ensure that you fulfilled all the requirements was to read your course material and develop an outline for your response. Good presentation, including the correct course codes, also helped expedite the marking process.