Professional communication

• Writing specialist material for a professional audience is a useful employability skill. 
• Students develop skills in selecting and using empirical evidence to underpin a proposal, and/or applying conceptual and theoretical issues to a real-world situation. 
• Students may work on an issue of interest to them, and at times in conjunction with policy makers in government or international organisations. 
• This assessment also works well as a group activity (but the assessed output could be an individual piece). 

• Differences between professional writing and academic essays need to be understood by students.  
• This format tends to assess the application of knowledge in a particular area rather than the breadth of the curriculum. 

Consider how the policy paper fits with other methods of assessment on the course/programme. Likewise, think how the students will be prepared formatively for working on a policy paper and which additional structured activities might be designed into the course/programme. Students are likely to need guidance in the following areas: the length of the policy paper; areas of content and formatting; approaches to writing, and presentation of policy paper work. Many external resources are available as guides to writing policy papers and briefs (e.g. Nelson, 2017), and you can select and suggest ones to your cohort. 

Clear criteria help students to understand what is expected, and markers to align. Criteria should be based on the learning outcomes, explain what is expected, show what this looks like at different levels of attainment, and indicate how marks will be allocated. Criteria should be shared and discussed with students (preferably through an associated activity).  

You can also develop a shared understanding with students as to the environment within which the policy paper (or similar) exists, by creating and discussing a ‘writing scenario’ (Judge, 2020). 

Giving students the opportunity to negotiate a chosen topic is supportive of an inclusive approach, helps with motivation, and requires work that is more specific (helping deter misconduct). 

Generative AI could be used to create parts of this assessment output. Ensure students are aware of when Generative AI is permitted and useful, and when it cannot be used. You could help to ensure students are meeting the learning outcomes by a staged process: an initial a negotiation with the student (or group) as to which issue will be addressed; the presentation of a contextual paper or an outline in written and/or oral form; a final presentation with questions from the teachers and peers; a rationale or reflective piece describing the process of creating the output. 

Nelson, M. (2017) A Political Science Guide: Policy paper. Available at: https://politicalscienceguide.com/home/policy-paper/ (Accessed: August 2025) 

Judge, A. (2020). Designing and implementing policy writing assessments: A practical guide. Teaching Public Administration, 39(3), 351-368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0144739420961442