Even though you give students a deadline for submitting an assignment, some students will not turn in the assignment on time. You've got to at least consider the late assignment for marking. But in what way, precisely, can you cope with it? Here are a few ideas on how to deal with work which is handed up late.

Better have a policy for late working. It helps. Students should understand the fallout of submitting late work from the first day they arrive in your class. Make a late work policy that states how you deal with work that isn't handed in on time. Distribute a copy to each student, and ensure that you follow this policy strictly.

Take into account the policies at your school. The first thing you need to consider when dealing with late work is the protocol at your school. How is late work accepted by your administration? Do other teachers in your department agree on an acceptable way for dealing with late work? You should adhere to these rules as much as possible when a late assignment is handed in to you.

For each day the assignment is late, deduct a percentage. If you don't have much guidance from your school when it comes to dealing with late work, then stick with a standard idea such as deducting a grade or some percentage points from the student's mark - do this for each day over that the assignment is late. This means that for an assignment submitted 2 days late, if the student would have received an A-, the grade would be dropped to a C- (2 grades). If students see this as a bad result, next time they should be more keen to submit their work on time.

Collect all assignments, even if uncompleted, on the exact due date. Sometimes, it is not possible to accept late work. For instance, maybe the school year is over. You must collect all assignments on the date it is due, regardless of its level of completion. Even if the work is only half done, or not even begun, collect the work. Students should realize that they will be marked on the due date on the assignment they have handed in.

Keep in mind extenuating reasons like illness or death. In every situation, there are always some considerations that have to be made. In the event a student has a legitimate reason for not meeting assignment due dates you should make exceptions based on your own opinion. You can give a student who is sick an extended deadline (never leave the date open, or allow a student who just lost a loved one to have a few extra days to submit a project. If their work is late because of something that they had no control over, there should not be a punishment. Keep these things in mind when are determining how you will deal with late work.

Tiffany Provost writes about assignments and education for www.HowToDoThings.com.