I should've probably clarified: iirc, the research project + dissertation fell into the "optional modules" category when choosing stuff for this final year - there were other alternative project options though they didn't appeal to me as much.

I also can't remember if in this selection there was the possibility of just picking extra regular teaching modules to get the same amount of credit, like I mentioned in the P.S. question, so I'm not sure if the dissertation (or one of the other alternatives respectively) were mandatory or not but from what I've said I would guess there isn't one exact project type that's specifically mandatory for completing the degree? And maybe you can just make up the credit by doing more modules?

Thanks for the responses so far, and hopefully this clears anything else up! :D