Microsoft Word is the application most written assessment tasks are expected to be submitted in. Word saves files in a .doc or .docx format.
Whilst other programs may also be able to save files into these formats, the formatting is unreliable and you may lose marks. Formatting your document correctly is a key part of any assignment. Information provided here is designed to make your requirements easy to complete.
Free updates to the most recent Office software package is available for students from the ITS webpage. We recommend you update for security and usability purposes.
Page layout
Line spacing
Most university papers require the content to be double spaced, although some request a spacing of 1.5. For the specifics of your course, check your course description or the assignment information.
To change the spacing, select the icon indicated in the image below.
In the Paragraph section, select 2.0 in the drop down menu to achieve double spacing.
Any text you have selected will change as you mouse over the options. The change will not occur until you click your selection.
Tip: to select the entire document, hold Ctrl and A.
Select font
Readability is important. Do not choose fancy fonts, coloured backgrounds or different sizes within your document. Your assignment is best formatted in either:
- Times New Roman 12pt or
- Arial 11pt
To apply a new font style to your text, first highlight/select the text in your document. Then from the HOME toolbar, choose the font in the drop down box as shown below.
The fonts available are in alphabetical order. You may need to scroll a long way down to find Times New Roman, but once you have used it, it will show as recently used, as you can see in the image below.
The number in the drop down box next to the font name is the point size of the letters in your work. Set the size to 12 for Times New Roman or 11 for Arial.
Set margin size
Margins are the space between the edge of printed paper and your text. It is accurate to set these at 2.5cm, though some tasks may have specific settings. Always check your course description, or ask for your lecturer’s preference.
To edit your margins, first select the ‘Layout’ tab on your toolbar then open the ‘Margins’ drop down menu.
You can see that a custom margins setting has been created for assignments. To create you own custom setting scroll to the bottom of the menu and select ‘Custom Margins’.
You should change each of the numbers for left, right top and bottom to your required margin size (which for assignments is usually 2.5cm). Remember to select OK to complete the settings. Your work will adjust immediately to the new margins you have chosen.
Start a new page
Certain parts of an assignment may need to start on a separate page. The most efficient way to achieve this is with a page break. This is a hidden code which tells the word processor to jump to a new page. The advantage of this is that as you edit your text it does not affect the formatting of the pages after the break.
To insert a page break, first place your cursor where you want the break to occur. On the tool bar, select the tab ‘Layout’. Now open the drop down menu ‘Breaks’ and select the ‘Page’ option.
If you want to edit or remove a page break in your work, first make it visible. To do this go to the HOME tab on your toolbar and select the Show/ Hide button, as in the image below.
The page break location will become visible. You can now select and move or delete the break just as you would for any text.
Headers and Footers
Insert a Header/Footer
A Header is a space at the top of the page where information we need to repeat every page can be placed. The same applies at the bottom of a page – the Footer.
Either place may be used in your assessment task to store page numbers, student name or ID, assignment title, etc. Check your course or assignment description for your lecturer’s requirements.
The process for setting up a header or footer is identical.
Select the INSERT tab on your tool bar. Select either the Header or Footer drop down menu.
From the many options offered, we recommend selecting the ‘Blank 3 Columns’ format.
Once selected, the top (or bottom) of your page will look like this.
You now have the option to place up to three different pieces of information into the header/footer. If you only require two, then select the unrequired area and press delete.
Once you have added your data, double-click into the body of your page to exit the header/footer space. You can always return to edit later by simply double-clicking in the area you wish to edit.
Add page numbers
Before adding a page number to your work, check your assignment requirements. Does it need to be at the top of the paper, at the bottom, on the left or the right?
For this example, we will place a page number at the top right side of the page.
First set up a header or footer. Instructions for this is available in the tab above. Ensure it is selected and ready for editing. Your toolbar will show a special tab, Header & Footer Tools / Design.
Now select the location for your page number from the three Type-here options. With your preferred location highlighted, open the Page Number drop down menu.
In the drop down menu scroll down to Current Position. Another layer of menu will open; select Plain Number.
Different first page Header/ Footer
In some assignments it is necessary to have different Header/ Footer information on the first page. An example of this is a Psychology LAB Report where the words ‘Running head:’ appear before the short title on JUST the first page. After that the short title appears by itself.
First follow the instructions to insert a Header/ Footer into your document as described above. If you have already done this, double-click to select your Header/ Footer. Select the Different First Page option.
Your Header/ Footer content will disappear from this page.
It is now important to open the Header or Footer drop down menu and as before select a three column format. In our example psychology paper, a page number is still required, so this should be inserted as described above.
It is now possible to individualise the columns as you need. For our psychology assignment, we delete the centre column and add the title details in the left column, as illustrated below.
Bullet and Numbered Lists
Starting and editing a list
In a word document, there are many options for the symbols to use in a list. The list can be numbered, use symbols, shapes, letters or even pictures.
There are three drop down menus for you to choose from, as indicated in the HOME tab:
Once you make a selection, your cursor will indent and the chosen symbol will display. Your new text will now be shown behind that bullet. When you press enter, the cursor moves to a new line and a new bullet will display.
If you have chosen a numbered list, the next consecutive number will display. If you press Enter a second time without adding any text after the bullet, the list will end.
To have a number of points within a single point of your list, you can activate a second level. To do this, move the secondary information to the right with the increase indent button as shown below. These arrows are a great tool for editing your list. You can use the left arrow to move items out of the list or to increase their importance level.
Table of contents
The ‘Table of Contents’ function in Word is a great tool that will save you hours of work. To create and automatically update your Table of Contents, you need to create headings throughout your paper. Word then searches for those headings and uses them to build the table.
Read our general guidelines on layout and formatting.