IGNOU MAEDU Project Hard Copy (MESP 1): Printed Sets, Signed Pages and Submission Trail

What is the IGNOU MAEDU project hard copy, and who needs one?

The IGNOU MAEDU project hard copy is the printed and bound form of MESP 1, the 10 credit dissertation of MA (Education), and it is what a Regional Centre receives before it lists you for the MESP 1 viva-voce. This category sells printed MAEDU reference sets; the dissertation you submit must be your own, signed study.

MESP 1, also written MESP-001, is written under the School of Education’s Handbook on Dissertation Work and is done in the second year of MAEDU beside a 24 credit specialisation. Two groups of students land on this page. The first wants a printed reference synopsis and dissertation to study from, delivered to a postal address rather than downloaded. The second has an approved proposal, has finished the study and wants to know how the printed dissertation should be prepared, signed, paid for, delivered and followed up until the viva. Both are covered below. Topic choice, the code check against PGDHE, PGDET and PGDEMA, and the Handbook’s appendix list sit on the IGNOU MAEDU project page for PDF sets.

Which MAEDU print rules on older pages are not in the Handbook?

Several rules repeated on MAEDU hard copy pages, including this page’s earlier version, do not appear in the Handbook sections that govern writing, style and typing the report (sections 11 to 13). Before you send anything to a printer, strike these from your checklist unless your Regional Centre has issued them in writing:

• Times New Roman 12 point, 14 point headings, 1 inch margins, left alignment, a 0.5 inch indent. None of these is specified in the Handbook sections read. Use a clean, consistent layout; no typeface or margin is prescribed there.
• An abstract of up to 300 words. The Handbook’s preliminary section is the title page, a preface or acknowledgements, and the table of contents with lists of tables and figures. It lists no abstract.
• APA referencing as an IGNOU requirement. The Handbook sends you to Unit 23 of MES-016 for referencing; it does not name APA in the sections read.
• A “Certificate of Originality”. The MESP-001 Handbook’s own appendices are a Declaration by the Student (Appendix VI) and a Certificate of the Supervisor (Appendix VII). Use those two, as printed in your copy of the Handbook.
• A Study Centre code on the title page and submission to the Study Centre. The Handbook’s title page carries the title, the institution, your name and the month and year of submission, and Regional Centre notices show the Regional Centre, not the Study Centre, building the MESP 1 viva list from dissertations it received.
• Proposal by 30 November and report by 31 May, or the reverse. These dates appear on no official MAEDU document we read, and different sites print them in opposite orders. Your Regional Centre’s notice for your cycle is the only date that counts.
• An appeal routed through the Study Centre. We found no MESP 1 appeal procedure in the documents read. Ask your Regional Centre in writing if you want your evaluation reviewed.

What do the printed MAEDU reference sets contain, and how should you use them?

A printed MAEDU reference set is a sample MESP 1 synopsis and dissertation on one title, printed and sent to your postal address, for studying how a finished MA (Education) dissertation is laid out. It is study material: the Handbook requires your own signed declaration and your supervisor’s certificate, so a reference set cannot be submitted.

Students who choose print over PDF usually do so for one reason: it is easier to compare a printed model against your own draft, page by page, with the Handbook open beside it. That is how to use it. Check how the preliminary pages are set out, how the introduction carries the problem, objectives and operational definitions, how tables are discussed without repeating every figure, and how the tools appear in the appendix. The same titles are available as PDFs on the MAEDU soft copy page, where each title is also read against the MAEDU course it belongs to.

Shri Chakradhar Publication has served IGNOU distance learners since 2010 and prints its sets on its own press, with its own team of writers. Because any title can be bought by more than one student, treat the printed set as a model for structure and wording and build your own data, analysis and conclusions.

Order a printed MAEDU reference set

Five hard copy questions about MESP 1

Can the MAEDU dissertation be uploaded instead of printed?

That depends on the notice your Regional Centre issues for your cycle. IGNOU runs an online project portal for several programmes, and its June 2026 instructions reject incomplete uploads and reports sent by email, but the MESP-001 Handbook describes a typed, bound report. Follow your Regional Centre’s written instruction.

Is spiral binding allowed, or must it be hard bound?

The Handbook sections we read do not name a binding type. The Appendix III text reproduced on several independent sites speaks of bound copies without naming a style. If your Regional Centre names one, use it; if not, a firm, permanent binding that keeps every signed page in place is the safe choice.

Will IGNOU return the printed dissertation?

The Appendix III text reproduced on several sites says dissertation reports submitted to IGNOU are not returned. Keep a complete copy of your own, including scans of every signed page, because you will need it to prepare for the viva.

Can a courier be used instead of registered post?

The reproduced Appendix III text mentions registered post or delivery by hand to the Regional Director. If you want to use a courier, ask your Regional Centre first and keep the tracking record.

How many copies should be printed?

The reproduced Appendix III text says two copies go to the Regional Director of the Regional Centre. We could not confirm that in an official copy, so check your Regional Centre’s notice, then print one extra copy for yourself.

What does the Handbook say about typing and proofreading before you print?

Section 13 of the MESP-001 Handbook asks you to type the dissertation on a computer, proofread every page personally, and retype any page that carries more than one or two corrections. Written in 2009 for typed reports, the rule still works as a proof pass before a printer sees the file.

Run the pass in this order, because each step catches something the previous one cannot:

1. Read every page yourself. The Handbook puts this duty on the student, not the typist or printer.
2. Count corrections per page. Where a page needs more than one or two, the Handbook says retype it, and fit the text so the last line of the page still falls evenly; otherwise the rest of the chapter has to be retyped and renumbered.
3. Check the voice. Section 12 rules out I, we, you, my, our and us; the report speaks as “the researcher” or “the investigator”.
4. Check numbers and abbreviations. Numbers below three figures, round numbers and numbers starting a sentence are spelled out except in statistical discussion; “per cent” is written in words; abbreviations are kept out of the main text except universally accepted ones such as IQ.
5. Check tables and formulae. Long, complex tables move to the appendix, and standard statistical formulae and computations stay out of the text.
6. Check the title page. Section 11 lists the title, the institution the dissertation is submitted to, your name, and the month and year of submission.

Which pages need signatures before the MAEDU hard copy is bound?

Two signed pages are confirmed by the MESP-001 Handbook’s own contents list: the Declaration by the Student (Appendix VI) and the Certificate of the Supervisor (Appendix VII). The Handbook also supplies the specimen cover page (Appendix V), a sample table of contents (Appendix VIII) and a check list for submission (Appendix IV).

Other requirements are widely quoted from Appendix III, which we could not open in an official copy on 28 September 2026. Treat them as likely, and confirm them with your Regional Centre before binding:

• A copy of the approved proposal is attached when the copies are bound.
• The cover and first pages carry the title, your name, enrolment number, full address and the name of your guide, following the Appendix V specimen.
• The copies go to the Regional Director of your Regional Centre by registered post or by hand.
• The declaration states that the work is original and has not been submitted to IGNOU or any other institution.

Sign in ink on the final printed pages, not on a draft that is later reprinted, and get your guide’s certificate signed on the same final print. Then work through the Appendix IV check list page by page before the binder closes the volume.

Check my pages before binding

When is the MESP 1 fee paid, and when should you print?

The MESP 1 evaluation fee is Rs 500, paid with the term-end examination form, because the July 2026 prospectus charges Rs 500 for project work above 4 credits and MESP 1 carries 10. The rule applies from the January 2023 admission cycle, and project work up to 4 credits is charged Rs 300.

Printing should follow the dates in your Regional Centre’s notice for the cycle you are aiming at, not a date copied from a study-help page. The Appendix III text quoted on several sites says the dissertation is begun in the second year and submitted before the second-year term-end examination. Allow time after printing for signatures, binding and delivery, since the viva list is built from what the Regional Centre has actually received. Results for MESP 1 follow the term-end examination cycle in which it is evaluated.

How do you prove your Regional Centre received your MESP 1 dissertation?

Keep a paper trail from the printer to the viva list, because Regional Centres draw up MESP 1 viva lists from dissertations they have received, and a missing name has to be raised before a cut-off date. A Regional Centre Darbhanga notice for the December 2024 cycle shows exactly this mechanism.

What happens at the MESP 1 viva after the hard copy is received?

The MESP 1 viva-voce is held at your Regional Centre on a date the Centre announces, for learners whose dissertations it has received. The Darbhanga notice for the December 2024 cycle named the Regional Centre as the venue, asked learners to bring their IGNOU identity card and to report 30 minutes before the scheduled time.

Other Regional Centres publish the same kind of schedule. Ranchi listed a combined MAEDU (MESP-001) and PGDEMA (MESP-49) viva schedule for the December 2025 term-end examination, and Hyderabad scheduled an MA (Education) project viva for 21 February 2023 with a list of students who had submitted. Prepare from your own printed copy, since the submitted volumes stay with IGNOU. The questions follow the choices you made: why this problem, this sample, this tool and this analysis, and what the findings mean for educational practice.

Ask about MESP 1 viva preparation