Explain why access to justice is important. Identify how access to justice is affected by key barriers faced by litigants, including the effects of legal aid cuts. Assessment Overview TMA 03 Introduction The cut-off date for TMA 03 is 12:00 midday (UK local time) on 23 July 2026. This is the latest date by which your TMA must reach your tutor. You must submit your TMA using the online TMA system. This TMA is designed to test your knowledge of Units 12 and 13 and includes a personal reflection.
TMA 03 is worth 20% of your overall assessment score. For more information on module assessment, see Section 3.2 of the W112 Module Guide.
TMA 03 consists of three questions. You are expected to answer all the questions in this TMA. Your answers should be written in your own words.
You must provide a reference list at the end of your answer for the references used in answering the questions. Your marks for this TMA include marks for your ability to reference correctly.
The total word limit for TMA 03 is 2000 words. All the words you use to answer the questions, including quotations and citations, are included in your word count (but footnotes and the reference list are excluded from your word count). You must include an accurate total/overall word count at the end of your assessment.
We suggest that you answer the questions using approximately the number of words shown in the table below:
Table 1 Recommended word count for each question Question 1
900 words
Question 2
900 words
Question 3
200 words
Any words used that exceed the overall word count for the TMA (i.e. those over 2000 words) will not be marked or commented on.
The Guidance section contains information on how to approach this assessment. You should read these notes carefully before beginning work on this TMA.
This TMA falls into category 2 meaning you may use Generative AI to assist, but you are not required to do so. Please ensure that you have read this guidance before you begin your TMA and that you comply with it. The guidance explains how Generative AI can be used, but explains that it should not be used to write your answer for you, it is there to support your learning. If you use Generative AI, you must submit an appendix summarising how you used it. The appendix will not count towards the word count of this assessment.
Learning outcomes This TMA tests the following learning outcomes: Knowledge and understanding: explain access to justice and consider some key barriers to it
apply the law of private nuisance.
Skills: structure and develop arguments in response to an essay question
use the IRAC method to solve legal problems raised by a factual scenario
communicate ideas clearly and concisely in writing
acknowledge the sources of information that you have used, in a style appropriate to the task
reflect on your own learning and development.
Questions The following pages set out the questions for this assignment.
You must ensure that you have read the learning outcomes (in the section above) and the advice given in the ‘Guidance’ sections (below) for these questions before starting work on your assignment.
Question 1 Answer the following essay question:
Explain why access to justice is important. Identify how access to justice is affected by key barriers faced by litigants, including the effects of legal aid cuts.
(45 marks)
Question 2 Raghav owns a flat in a new eco estate called Millbrook, on the edge of a market town. Within Millbrook there is also a business centre that rents out its units to commercial entities which Raghav`s home backs onto. At the start of the year, the main unit within the business centre was rented out to a music school. For much of the year there is not an issue because the business centre is well insulated. However, the business centre has a large amount of glazing, making it prone to overheat in the summer. When this happens, students and staff open the windows, meaning that residents such as Raghav can distinctly hear the students practising, often badly out of tune. Raghav seeks your advice as to whether there is a legal issue that he can raise with the music school in the first instance.
(45 marks)
Question 3 Reflect on how you used previous feedback when planning and writing your answer in response to the problem question in Question 2, addressing each stage of Gibbs’ reflective cycle.
(10 marks)
Guidance The following pages set out the advice on how to approach this TMA. Ensure you read both the general advice and the question advice.
Section 6.2 of the Law undergraduate guide contains definitions of words used in TMA questions. It also gives advice on in-text citations and the reference list that you must produce and include at the end of your work. You should read this guide before attempting this TMA. Note that Section 7.3 of the guide tells you how your TMAs need to be presented and Section 12 of the guide details the marking scale, against which your work will be assessed.
For this assignment: Answer each question separately, numbering them clearly.
Read the questions carefully.
Answer all three questions.
In order to avoid plagiarism, ensure that you answer each question concisely and clearly in your own words and also acknowledge the sources of information used in your answers, using the Law School’s preferred referencing styles of OSCOLA and Harvard.
Write in standard English prose using full sentences and paragraphs. Answers should not include any sort of list.
Write in the third person in your answers to Questions 1 and 2. This means you should not write in the first or second person (e.g. ‘I’, ‘we’, ‘my’, ‘our’, ‘you’ or ‘your’); instead you should use phrases such as ‘A person is …’ or ‘This answer will …’.
Write in the first person for Question 3, as it is a personal reflection and so you should use ‘I’ or ‘my’.
Check your TMA carefully before submission, ensuring that you correct any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Ensure you reference all materials relied upon in this TMA. This is the first assignment where referencing will be marked. Referencing allows you to acknowledge the work of other authors and your use of sources. It also allows anyone reading your work to easily find all the materials that you used as sources of information. For advice on referencing, see Section 8 of the Law undergraduate guide. In summary, you need to fully reference general academic or ‘secondary’ legal sources such as the module materials, books and articles used in your work using the Cite Them Right Harvard in-text referencing style. You should also fully reference ‘primary’ legal sources such as case law and legislation using the Cite Them Right version of OSCOLA footnote referencing style. You also need to provide a reference list of all sources used in the TMA at the end of your submission. The reference list does not form part of the word count.
Question 1 guidance Question 1 is an essay question, and you should refer to the advice on answering essay questions provided in Section 6.1.3 of the Law undergraduate guide, Section 9 of Unit 2 and Section 7 of Unit 5. Remember, you should refer to Section 6.2 of the Law undergraduate guide for an explanation of the process words used in assessments. Make sure that your answer is structured correctly with an introduction, main body and conclusion and that each of these sections contains the correct content, as described in Section 6.1.3 of the Law undergraduate guide and Section 9 of Unit 2. You can find additional guidance, with further support, in the Law Toolkit, including the ‘Structuring an essay’ section.
You should use the module materials, in particular Unit 12. Unit 11 Section 7.1 may also be helpful. You should begin by establishing what is meant by access to justice. This will give context to your work. Consider the barriers to this that might be faced and the impact of cuts to legal aid. You do not need to use additional information from beyond the module materials, but you are permitted to do so. However, you can achieve a strong pass without doing so. You may find some wider reading useful to enhance your understanding of the topic. For example, you can find relevant materials in Chapter 1 of the module textbook, Horsey and Rackley (2023).
Question 2 guidance Question 2 is a problem-style question. This type of question requires you to use the IRAC method. You were introduced to problem-style questions in Section 7 of Unit 3, where you were also introduced to the IRAC method in Sections 7.1 and 7.2. Further guidance on the use of the IRAC method is set out in the Law undergraduate guide.
When writing your answer, you need to include a short introduction as set out in the guidance for problem-style questions. Then, for each of the issues, you need to use the IRAC method. Therefore, if there are five issues, you will need to follow the IRAC approach five times. Each time you set out the rule, you will need to provide a source for that rule such as a case, statute or reference to the module materials. Note that, although you may use an IRAC table in planning your answer, in the final answer that you submit you should not use a table but should write in continuous prose, using full paragraphs which follow the IRAC method. Once you have applied the IRAC method through enough times, you will then need to give a final summary of your conclusion.
Question 3 guidance This is a reflective question referring to Gibbs’ reflective cycle, which was introduced in Section 7 of Unit 1. When reflecting on how you approached the process of planning and writing your problem question using previous advice, you should answer by referring to Gibbs’ reflective cycle. Ensure you address each of the six specific steps of the cycle.
Finally When your marked TMA is returned, you should reflect on your tutor`s comments and make notes on anything you want to do differently for TMA 04 (the emTMA).
Application of the assessment guidance to this TMA The categories below provide information for how the knowledge and skills in this question will be evaluated when marking your work, based on the general marking guidelines in Section 12 of the Law undergraduate guide.
Mark range
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
85–100%
An answer in this band will show an excellent approach to writing an essay on access to justice. There may be minor errors.
An answer in this band will show an excellent understanding and application of the law of private nuisance to support an excellent, logical and reasoned application of the relevant law to the facts of the problem. There may be minor errors.
The writing style will be fluent and clear and the IRAC structure observed.
The answer will show an excellent ability to reflect on feedback when planning and writing a problem question. It will follow Gibbs’ reflective cycle.
70–84%
An answer in this band will show a thorough approach to writing an essay on access to justice but may have some gaps and/or errors.
An answer in this band will show a good understanding of the law of private nuisance to support a logical and, on the whole, reasoned application of the relevant law to the facts of the problem. There may be some gaps or errors, but the writing style will be fairly clear and the IRAC structure generally observed.
The answer will show a good ability to reflect on feedback when planning and writing a problem question. It will follow Gibbs’ reflective cycle.
55–69%
An answer in this band will show a satisfactory approach to writing an essay on access to justice, but with flaws and gaps.
An answer in this band will show a satisfactory understanding of the law of private nuisance to support a logical and to an extent reasoned application of the relevant law to the facts of the problem. There may be some flaws and gaps and the writing style may not always be clear. The IRAC structure may not be completely observed.
The answer will show a satisfactory ability to reflect on feedback when planning and writing a problem question. Use of Gibbs’ reflective cycle may be incomplete.
40–54%
An answer in this band will show a basic understanding of how to write an essay on access to justice.
An answer in this band will show a basic understanding of the law of private nuisance to support a basic application of the relevant law to the facts of the problem. The writing style will be basic and at times unclear. The IRAC structure may not be correctly employed.
The answer will show a general ability to reflect on feedback when planning and writing a problem question. Use of Gibbs’ reflective cycle may be incomplete or non-existent.
30–39%
An answer in this band will include some relevant
An answer in this band will include some relevant content relating to the law of private nuisance. The
The answer may demonstrate
