STEP0033 Foundations in Sustainable Infrastructures and Public Policy

Report: Final Written Assessment (85%)
Due: Wednesday 7th December 16.00

Aim:
The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your knowledge, analytical skills and critical thinking in
identifying, describing and analysing a policy-relevant problem in sustainable infrastructures.

You will produce a final written piece of no more than 2,500 words. This will be submitted before the winter
break on Wednesday 7th December.


Details:

The final written assessment will encourage you to express your learning and intellectual development over
the course of Term 1 through an in-depth exploration of a policy issue that interests you and that you
develop independently.

These guidelines are intended to offer support for selecting and developing the policy case for your written
assessment, as well as for structuring and writing.

GENERAL GUIDANCE

• Final Written Assessment (85%)
• Maximum word count is 2,500 words (excluding bibliography, references, graphs, charts). Word
count penalties will be applied as per MPA handbook.
• Deadline: 16.00 Wednesday 7th December 2022
• Marking and feedback to be completed (and issued) by 13th January 2023

Timeline

5th October The assessment will be formally introduced during the first STEP0033 session
2nd November
(Summative) Class presentation on final written assessment topic
16.00 7th
December
(Summative)
Submit final written assessment

SELECTING YOUR TOPIC

You can find inspiration for your topic from any number of places (e.g. classroom discussions; conversations
with route leads; past professional experience; or personal interests). Feel free to discuss your topic ideas
with your SIPP peers and route leads.

The only firm requirements for your policy case are:
i. Your topic must be aligned with your selected MPA route: Sustainable Infrastructures and Public
Policy
ii. Your topic must be sufficiently complex as to warrant comprehensive analysis.
iii. Your topic must be sufficiently bounded such that it can be effectively addressed within 2,500
words.




Additional Guidance

When considering potential topics, we encourage you to ask the following questions:

1. Which topic do I want to spend a substantial amount of time working on?
• Do I want to explore a new area of interest, or work on something close to my academic or professional
background?
• Are there clear ongoing or emerging challenges and / or new policy approaches that I would like to focus
on?

2. How much time do I have to devote to research, analysis and writing for the final written assessment?
• Are data or evidence about this topic easily available?
• Am I familiar, or will it be easy to familiarise myself with, the important actors, institutions and political
context(s) for this topic?
• Is the topic bounded enough (e.g. geographically, institutionally, topically) to enable me to gather and
analyse sufficient evidence in the time that I have?

UNDERSTANDING YOUR AUDIENCE

The final written assessment should be aimed at a general audience of policy practitioners (e.g. policy
advisors, consultants, managers), who are not expert in your chosen topic. The assessment should be
written for a policy, rather than academic, audience. Therefore, we encourage you to:

• Use a concise and clear writing style.
• Show awareness of the key policy actors involved in, and institutional context of, your case (e.g. BEIS,
National Grid etc., if your topic is related to renewable energy in the UK).
• Provide relevant and comprehensive evidence to support your description and analysis. The evidence
should be both quantitative and qualitative and should be fully referenced.
• Formulate clear, concise conclusions on the current state of the topic.

ORGANISING THE WRITTEN ASSESSMENT

The final written assessment should be analytic and rigorous, but easy to read!
The written assessment should include:

• Title. Clear, short and informative.
• Executive Summary. 1-page maximum, summarising the key messages.
• Introduction. A clear description of your chosen topic, and key contextual information
• Analysis. An analysis (not simply a description) of the case, supported by evidence, and applying
relevant concepts and frameworks to explain the significance of your topic. This should be the largest
section of the report.
• Findings. A summary of findings derived from your analysis.
• Conclusions. A concise statement on the current state of your topic and any policy-relevant, current or
emerging, issues identified in your analysis.
• Reference list. A careful and comprehensive list of all evidence sources used in the report.

You should keep in mind the following considerations:

• The balance between text and diagrams, figures and tables in conveying your findings.
• Structure and formatting of the text to maximise readability for your audience. This includes general
formatting (font size, spacing, margins, etc) as well as factors like sentence and paragraph length.






ASSESSMENT

Assessment and feedback for your final written assessment will cover the following dimensions
(See the full marking rubric on the STEP0033 Moodle course page)


Conceptual
Understanding 25%
Demonstrated through the application of concepts and
skills from SIPP in the description, analysis and
discussion of your topic.
Topical Knowledge &
Use of Evidence 25%
Demonstrated through the effective use of evidence
throughout the description, analysis and discussion of
your topic.
Reasoning & Critical
Analysis 25%
Demonstrated through the integration of conceptual
understanding and evidence to develop your own
insights and conclusions.
Communication
Structure & Clarity 25%
Demonstrated through the logical development of your
arguments, and the accessible presentation of your
work, throughout the assessment.