How you actually write can have quite a big impact on your exam marks. It’s always good to look at the marking criteria which will almost certainly be issued by your institution. It’s likely that it may talk about clearly structured and succinct argument as one of the criteria for higher marks.

Our advice here might sound a bit counter-intuitive – trust us – we do know what we’re talking about. Never overcomplicate what you want to say, either by writing extraordinarily long sentences or by using a plethora of long words. You want to avoid creating a lump of text which is pretty impenetrable. The longer your tutors spend trying to work out what you mean the more your mark will be impacted.  If you use long words without being entirely sure of their meaning you risk managing to write something which doesn’t make sense and there is really no point in a long word where a short word would do just as well.

You need to write formally, none of the abbreviation we use on the blog (no “it’s” or “you’re” always “it is” or “you are”). Make sure you are addressing the correct audience for the question. If you have to write a memo to a partner in a law firm you won’t need to explain each element of a contract. If you’re supposed to be writing a letter of advice to your client you may need to do just that. Back to that point we keep making about reading the question!

Cut out all the fillers you had to use to get good marks in GCSE English. No more, “moreover”, “nevertheless”, “notwithstanding”…. You might just be able to get away with the odd “however” in your arguments but that really is it. Fillers at uni or post grad level do not make you sound more erudite and are empty words which can crucially impact word counts.

Check your spelling and grammar carefully at the end. This is particularly important with a piece of assessed work you are able to do over several weeks. Silly mistakes with spelling or grammar make you look slapdash and won’t help the overall view of your work.

Next up we’ll be looking at MCQs. Make sure you watch out for that.