The dissertation is the defining project of a degree — and the most demanding. This report analyses 1,021 dissertation orders placed with Assignment Help Center between January 2024 and June 2026: how long they run by subject, what students request, and what they cost.
Key findings at a glance
- 1,021 dissertation orders analysed.
- Average length ranges from 10,800 words (Nursing) to 13,400 (Law).
- 82% master’s level, 18% PhD.
- Average requested turnaround: 24 days.
- Average order value: £612 (PhD £1,480; master’s £425).
- Full dissertations are 37% of requests; the literature review is the most-ordered single chapter (22%).
- Submissions peak in April, August and September.
Methodology
Based on 1,021 anonymised dissertation orders placed between January 2024 and June 2026. Word counts are averages per subject; values are in GBP, rounded. Percentages may not sum to exactly 100%.
Average dissertation length by subject
Length tracks disciplinary convention. Law dissertations are longest (13,400 words), reflecting case-heavy argumentation, while Nursing is most concise (10,800), shaped by structured, practice-focused formats.
Master’s vs PhD
The overwhelming majority of dissertation orders are master’s level (82%), with PhD work making up the remaining 18% — but PhD orders carry far higher value and complexity.
What students order
Just over a third want a full dissertation; the rest order individual chapters. The literature review (22%) and methodology (16%) are the most commonly requested single chapters — the stages students most often get stuck on.
Turnaround and cost
The average requested turnaround is 24 days — far longer than the 5.8-day average across all orders, reflecting the scale of the work. The average dissertation order is £612, rising to £1,480 for PhD work.
When dissertations are due
Submissions cluster in April, August and September — aligning with master’s dissertation deadlines that typically fall after the taught year and over the summer.
Why the literature review and methodology dominate
That these two chapters are the most-ordered single sections is no accident. The literature review demands wide reading and the synthesis of dozens of sources into a coherent argument — a skill few students have practised at this scale. The methodology requires translating a research question into a defensible, replicable design, where a single weak justification can undermine the whole project. Both are front-loaded in the dissertation timeline, which is precisely why students who underestimate them lose time they cannot recover later.
What this means for students
The pattern is clear: students struggle most with the research-heavy middle of the dissertation — the literature review and methodology — and they need far more lead time than for any other assignment. The practical takeaway is to treat those two chapters as the critical path, start them early, and plan around the April and August–September deadline peaks rather than against them.
If you would like to cite this study, please attribute it to Assignment Help Center (2026) and link to this page. Journalists and researchers are welcome to reference the figures with attribution.
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