COLLEGE OF LAW
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC, CONSTITUTIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
LAW
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
(FUR201F)
Tutorial Letter 202/2/2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Writing the examination
2. Examination rules
3. Commentaries on previous examination papers
4. Allocation of marks in the examination
5. Concluding remarks
There is a practice among students of consulting old exam papers. Please note that the content of the course
changed completely in 2006. Exam papers before that date are of no use. Also note that tutorial letters contain
previous exam papers with answers. Remember, however, that all the prescribed material in the guide must be
studied. There is nothing you can leave out safely, without running the risk of failing the examination. Focus on
the activities in the guide and the questions in your tutorial letters – if you do this, there should not be a single
question in the examination that you have not seen and prepared before!
, 2 FUR201F/202/2
Dear Student
The purpose of this tutorial letter is to provide students with important information regarding the exam
and to help students prepare for the examination by providing commentary on previous papers.
1 WRITING THE EXAMINATION
(1) READ the questions thoroughly. Make sure that you understand the instructions before you
rush into an answer. Identify keywords and terms. You can do this by making sure that you
know the meaning of words that are used in a particular question.
(2) DO NOT separate subsections of questions (eg 2(a), then 1(b), then 4(a) etc). If you wish to
return to a particular question, simply leave enough space open.
(3) NUMBER your answers correctly.
(4) PLAN your answer in rough before starting to write. You may think that this will take up too
much time, but in fact you will gain time by avoiding repetition, irrelevant discussion and
confusion. We must also emphasise that credit will be given for answers that are systematically
and logically structured, coherently presented and grammatically correct. YOUR FAILURE TO
PAY ATTENTION TO THIS REQUIREMENT COULD THEREFORE BE VERY COSTLY.
(5) DIVIDE up your time and keep rigidly to the time you have allocated to a particular question.
Spending half an hour on a five-mark question would be foolhardy. Remember that most of the
marks obtained for an answer are obtained in the first half of the answer. So if the time
allocated for a particular question has expired, leave it right there and proceed to the next
question. If you have time, you can come back to your incomplete answer and try to earn one
or two more marks. Rather forfeit a few marks on question 3 than all 25 on question 4! If you
are inclined to lose track of time, do the short questions first, and leave the essay questions till
last -- otherwise you may find you have spent all three hours on a mini-thesis and have no time
for three-quarters of the paper.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC, CONSTITUTIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
LAW
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
(FUR201F)
Tutorial Letter 202/2/2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Writing the examination
2. Examination rules
3. Commentaries on previous examination papers
4. Allocation of marks in the examination
5. Concluding remarks
There is a practice among students of consulting old exam papers. Please note that the content of the course
changed completely in 2006. Exam papers before that date are of no use. Also note that tutorial letters contain
previous exam papers with answers. Remember, however, that all the prescribed material in the guide must be
studied. There is nothing you can leave out safely, without running the risk of failing the examination. Focus on
the activities in the guide and the questions in your tutorial letters – if you do this, there should not be a single
question in the examination that you have not seen and prepared before!
, 2 FUR201F/202/2
Dear Student
The purpose of this tutorial letter is to provide students with important information regarding the exam
and to help students prepare for the examination by providing commentary on previous papers.
1 WRITING THE EXAMINATION
(1) READ the questions thoroughly. Make sure that you understand the instructions before you
rush into an answer. Identify keywords and terms. You can do this by making sure that you
know the meaning of words that are used in a particular question.
(2) DO NOT separate subsections of questions (eg 2(a), then 1(b), then 4(a) etc). If you wish to
return to a particular question, simply leave enough space open.
(3) NUMBER your answers correctly.
(4) PLAN your answer in rough before starting to write. You may think that this will take up too
much time, but in fact you will gain time by avoiding repetition, irrelevant discussion and
confusion. We must also emphasise that credit will be given for answers that are systematically
and logically structured, coherently presented and grammatically correct. YOUR FAILURE TO
PAY ATTENTION TO THIS REQUIREMENT COULD THEREFORE BE VERY COSTLY.
(5) DIVIDE up your time and keep rigidly to the time you have allocated to a particular question.
Spending half an hour on a five-mark question would be foolhardy. Remember that most of the
marks obtained for an answer are obtained in the first half of the answer. So if the time
allocated for a particular question has expired, leave it right there and proceed to the next
question. If you have time, you can come back to your incomplete answer and try to earn one
or two more marks. Rather forfeit a few marks on question 3 than all 25 on question 4! If you
are inclined to lose track of time, do the short questions first, and leave the essay questions till
last -- otherwise you may find you have spent all three hours on a mini-thesis and have no time
for three-quarters of the paper.
