Students in their second year (Part IB) are able to be examined for one of their scheduled papers by Long Essay. Staff and current students will find more detailed information on the MML IB Moodle Course Site.

For some (but not all) of the papers available at Part IB, students will have the opportunity to submit two essays for examination, rather than sitting the 3 hour written exam. The essays will be in English, no longer than 3,000 words in length including footnotes but excluding bibliography. The first essay will be submitted on the first Friday of the Lent Term and the second will be submitted on the first Friday on the Easter Term. Questions for each essay will be published by the end of the term preceding the essay deadline (e.g. the end of Michaelmas Term for the first essay and the end of Lent Term for the second essay). The Long Essay option is designed to introduce a degree of continuous assessment into the examinations process. It is also useful preparation for the Year Abroad Project and the Optional Dissertation at Part II, both longer pieces of assessed coursework.

Students who wish to register for the examination by Long Essay scheme will do so by selecting the "E" option for that exam when registering for their exams on CamSIS (e.g. FR5E, IT4E, etc.).

Students who opt for the Long Essay assessment scheme are expected to attend lectures and supervisions for the paper in the same manner as if they were preparing for the written examination.  Students do not receive supervisions for the paper in Easter Term if they have submitted both of the long essays. Supervisors may choose to supervise long essay candidates alongside exam candidates or to see them separately, at their discretion. Supervisors shall not read or comment on any written drafts of the candidate's long essay, nor shall they offer advice subsequently, either by email or in person.

Important dates/deadlines for the academic year 2024-25

• Questions for essay submission at the start of the Lent Term will be published on the MMLL IB Moodle Course Site on Friday 6 December 2024.
• Questions for essay submission at the start of the Easter Term will be published on the MMLL IB Moodle Course Site on Friday 21 March 2025
• First essay submission deadline will be 12.00 noon on Friday 24 January 2025
• Second essay submission deadline will be 12.00 noon on Friday 2 May 2025

Papers available for examination by Long Essay in the academic year 2024-25:

• FR3 - Inventing French literature
• FR4 - Rethinking the human: French literature, thought and culture, 1500-1700
• FR5 - Revolutions in writing, 1700-1900
• FR6 - Innovation and upheaval: deformation and reformulation in the 20th and 21st centuries
• GE2 - German history and thought since 1750
• GE4 - The making of German culture
• GE5 - Modern German Culture (1): 1750-1914
• GE6 - Modern German Culture (2): 1890 to the present day
• GE7 - German: A Linguistic Introduction
• IT2 - Structures and Varieties of Italian
• IT3 - Italian cinema
• IT4 - Autobiography and self-representation in Italian culture
• PG4 - Lusophone culture, history and politics
• SL4 - Russian Literature from the Golden Age to the Silver Age
• SL6 - Russian Culture after 1953
• SL7 - Soviet and Russian Cinema
• SL14 - Russian Culture from 1895 to the Death of Stalin
• SP3 - Literatures and cultures of medieval Iberia, Early Modern Spain and Latin America
• SP4 - Modern Spanish culture and history
• SP5 - Latin-American culture and history