IELTS Masters Award Submission & Evaluation Procedures

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Submission and evaluation procedures

Dissertations will only be considered eligible if they were submitted and approved by your university in 2007. Dissertations completed in 2008 will not be considered eligible for the 2008 award but may be submitted the following year.

Submissions should be for dissertations written in partial or total fulfilment of the requirements for a Masters degree or its equivalent. The dissertation should be language testing focused but need not be IELTS-related.

The full dissertation abstract, accompanied by both the Introduction and Method chapters together with a reference from your supervisor, should be submitted in both electronic form and hard copy to:

Dr Sacha DeVelle
ESOL Division
University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
1 Hills Road
Cambridge
CB1 2EU
United Kingdom

develle.s@cambridgeesol.org

The IELTS Research Committee will review the submissions and shortlist potential award winners. For all shortlisted submissions a full copy of the dissertation will be requested and a further reference may be sought.

Shortlisted dissertations will be reviewed and evaluated by the IELTS Research Committee according to the following criteria:

• Rationale for the research
• Contextualisation within the literature
• Feasibility of outcomes
• Design of research question(s)
• Choice and use of methodology
• Interpretation and conclusions
• Quality of presentation
• Use of references
• Contribution to the field
• Potential for future publication

 

The Committee's decision is final.

Timetable

The following timetable will apply in 2008:

1 June	Deadline for submission of dissertation extracts and supervisor's reference to University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations
1 August	Deadline for submission of full copies of shortlisted dissertations (and further references if required)
October / November	Meeting of IELTS Research Committee
November / December	Announcement of award