Written exams (essays)

How to attempt scenario-based written questions in CLIP Learn: pick a question, write a full answer, submit for marking, and read your examiner's mark and feedback.

Written practice is where you answer scenario questions in the real CGQP shape — you read a scenario, write a full structured answer applying the law to the facts, and a human examiner marks it against a mark scheme. This is deliberately separate from the multiple-choice drills and mocks: there is no instant score. Every written answer goes to an examiner, who sets the authoritative mark and writes your feedback.

This page explains how to find written questions, use the writer, submit, understand each status your answer moves through, and read your marked work.

Where to find it

Open Written practice from the learner app. The page lives at /app/essays and is split into two sections:

Available questions — the scenario questions you can attempt.
Your marked answers — answers an examiner has already marked and released.

A footer note reminds you of the real exam shape: in the real exam you write 4 of 6 in three hours — so practise writing a full, structured answer rather than a short note.

Which questions you can see

A question only appears in Available questions if all of the following are true:

Condition	What it means
Published	The question has passed subject-matter review. Questions still in draft are never shown to learners.
In scope for you	Either the question is tied to a course you have an active enrolment in, or it is a General question (not tied to any course).
Your tenant	The question belongs to your institution.

Course-linked questions require a live enrolment (an enrolment that has not expired). General questions — those not attached to any course — are open to candidates without needing an enrolment.

Empty state

If nothing is published for your courses yet, you will see "No written questions published for your courses yet — check back soon." New questions appear here as your faculty publishes them.

Reading a question card

Each question in Available questions shows:

Element	What it shows
Course · marks	The course title (or General if it is not tied to a course), followed by the maximum marks available, e.g. `25 marks`.
Topic	The question's title.
Prompt preview	The first two lines of the scenario. The full scenario appears once you open the writer.
Status badge	Only shown if you have already attempted this question — see Statuses.
Action button	The button label changes depending on whether you have attempted the question yet — see below.

The action button reads:

You see	When
Attempt	You have not submitted an answer to this question yet.
Edit answer	You have a submission that has not yet been marked and released. Opening it lets you revise and resubmit.
Attempt again	Your previous answer has been marked and released; you can write a fresh attempt.

Writing your answer

Selecting Attempt, Edit answer, or Attempt again opens the writer at /app/essays/take?q=….

Read the scenario. The full prompt is shown in a panel at the top, exactly as written (line breaks preserved).

Read the guidance, if any. If the question includes a hint, it appears under the scenario as "What a strong answer covers:". Not every question has this. It never reveals the model answer — that is kept private until an examiner releases your mark.

Write in the answer box. Type your full answer in the large Your answer text area. It is resizable and starts 18 rows tall. The placeholder reminds you to "write a full, structured answer — apply the law to the facts of the scenario."

Watch the word count. A live words counter sits below the box and updates as you type. There is no minimum or maximum word count enforced — it is a guide so you can pace a full answer.

Submit for marking. Press Submit for marking. The button shows "Submitting…" while it saves, then returns you to the Written practice list.

Your answer goes to a person

There is no instant grade. The writer states it plainly: "Your answer goes to an examiner. You'll get a mark and feedback once it's reviewed."

On-screen fields in the writer

Field	What it does	Notes / limits
Scenario / prompt	The question you are answering. Read-only.	Shown in full, with original line breaks.
Guidance ("What a strong answer covers")	An optional hint on what to include. Read-only.	Only appears if the question has guidance.
Your answer	The text area you write in. Required — you cannot submit an empty answer.	Free text. Your answer is stored up to a maximum length of 20,000 characters; anything beyond that is trimmed on submit.
Words counter	Live count of the words you have typed.	Informational only; not a limit.
Submit for marking	Saves your answer and sends it to the examiner queue.	Shows "Submitting…" while working, then returns you to `/app/essays`.

The word count that is recorded against your submission is calculated on the server from your final text, so it reflects exactly what you submitted.

Editing before it is marked

If you already have an answer in progress that has not been marked and released, the writer pre-fills your previous text so you can revise it. Resubmitting overwrites the same attempt — your earlier text is replaced and the answer returns to the front of the marking queue. If a provisional machine check had already run, it is cleared so the examiner marks your latest text.

Once an answer has been marked (released), it is locked. Choosing Attempt again from the list starts a brand-new, separate attempt rather than editing the released one.

Statuses your answer moves through

After you submit, the question card shows a coloured status badge. There are three states:

Badge	Colour	Meaning
Awaiting marking	Amber	Submitted and waiting for the examiner. No mark yet.
Awaiting examiner	Amber	A provisional check has run behind the scenes, but a human examiner has not yet confirmed your mark. Still not final.
Marked	Green	An examiner has reviewed your answer, set the final mark, and released it.

Only a person sets your mark

Any provisional, behind-the-scenes marking is exactly that — provisional. Your official mark stays blank until a human examiner reviews your answer and releases it. The "Awaiting examiner" state means an automated first pass exists but has not been confirmed. The final mark is always set by a person.

What happens after you submit

Your answer enters the examiner queue as Awaiting marking.

Faculty may run an optional automated first pass. If they do, your answer moves to Awaiting examiner — a provisional score and comments now exist for the examiner to consider, but nothing is shown to you and nothing is final.

An examiner reviews your answer, decides the final mark out of the question's maximum, and writes feedback.

When the examiner releases it, your answer becomes Marked, and you receive a notification in your bell feed titled "Marked: [topic]" showing your mark, e.g. 18/25 — feedback added.

Reading your marked answers

Once an answer is released, it appears under Your marked answers on the Written practice page. Each entry shows:

Element	What it shows
Topic	The question title.
Final mark	Your awarded marks over the maximum, e.g. `18/25`. This is the authoritative mark set by the examiner.
Feedback	The examiner's written feedback, if they added any. Line breaks are preserved.

Empty state

Before anything is released you will see "Nothing marked yet — your examiner feedback will appear here."

The final mark can be anywhere from 0 up to the question's maximum marks. Feedback is optional — some marks are released without written comments, in which case only the score is shown.

Re-attempting a question

After a question has been marked, you can practise it again:

Find the question under Available questions — its button now reads Attempt again.

Write a fresh answer and submit it. This creates a new attempt; your previously marked answer stays intact under Your marked answers.

The new attempt goes through the same route: Awaiting marking to Marked.

Who does what

Action	Who can do it
See and attempt published written questions	Learners — enrolled candidates for course questions, and candidates generally for General questions.
Write, edit before marking, and submit an answer	The learner who owns the attempt.
Author and publish written questions	Faculty and admins.
Run the optional provisional check	Faculty and admins.
Set the final mark and release feedback	Faculty and admins acting as examiner — the only people who can set your official mark.

Multiple-choice practice and mocks

Instant-scored drills and timed mock exams — different from written practice.

Your notifications

Where the 'Marked' alert lands when your examiner releases a result.

Multiple-choice practice and mocks

Your notifications

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