Do the contents of the Graphs count as part of the 7,500 words?

The main issue with word count is when it is ‘abused’ – by this I mean students have pasted tables as images recognising that the word count system does not register words in these and think they will be ignored. The marker will then make a judgment call. The occasional use of such images will be ignored but if it is suspected that the student has deliberately ried to circumvent the rules then markers can come down hard.

So words in graphs and original charts will normally be ok but use of tables and other objects that could have been pasted as Word inclusions will be reviewed. I once had a student who used copious images and diagrams and therefore I insisted that he bring his word count down to below 7,000 to allow for them. I never heard from him until about 10 weeks after the results came out when he finally sent me his results email. In June having only just received it himself. Fortunately he had passed but I suspect the long delay was because a marker had flagged up all the images. As they were relevant and referenced and he had reduced down the word count to allow for the words in them and done an excellent RAP he finally got a well deserved A but it is a cautionary tale!

BTW there are some checks to do to save words – a dash like I have just used counts as a word and putting a gap between the p and the page number will record as 2 words whereas p.7 will be just one; also consider hyphens where appropriate up-to-date records as just one word as does short-term