How to write long answers that earn full marks

Students often write long answers the way they would write an essay: an introduction, flowing paragraphs, a conclusion. Then the mark comes back lower than the effort deserved and the reason is not obvious.

The reason is usually that marking does not reward flow. An examiner works down a list of the things a correct answer must contain and awards a mark for each one they find. Beautiful prose that omits a required point scores nothing for that point. A plainer answer that contains every point scores full marks.

Once you know that, the strategy is obvious: make every point easy to find.

Look at the mark allocation before writing

The number of marks tells you roughly how many distinct points are wanted. A five-mark question is not asking for five paragraphs of eloquence; it is usually asking for about five separate, creditable statements.

If you have written half a page and made two points, you are writing the wrong shape of answer.

Structure so the points are visible

• Use the language of the question. If it asks you to "explain", each point needs a because. If it says "compare", the answer needs both sides, explicitly.
• Separate your points. New line, or a clear connective. An examiner scanning for your third point should not have to hunt for it in the middle of a sentence.
• Put the point first, then the elaboration. Lead with the statement that earns the mark.

Define the terms

Where a question uses a technical term, defining it correctly is very often worth a mark on its own — and it is the easiest mark on the page, because it requires no reasoning.

Show working and reasoning, not just conclusions

In any question that involves a process, the steps carry marks. An answer that leaps to the correct end point can score less than one that arrives at a wrong answer through correct, visible reasoning.

This matters most when you are unsure. Writing out the method you would use earns method marks even when the final number is wrong. Writing nothing earns nothing.

Diagrams count

Where a diagram is appropriate, draw it, label it, and refer to it in the text. Labelled diagrams are usually quick, and they can carry marks that a paragraph would take three times as long to earn.

Answer the question that was asked

The most expensive mistake in long answers is answering a neighbouring question — writing everything you know about a topic rather than the specific thing asked.

Read the question twice. Underline the instruction word. When you finish, read the question again and ask whether what you wrote responds to it. Examiners cannot award marks for correct material that does not answer the question.

Practise writing them, not planning them

Long answers are a skill of production under time pressure. Reading model answers builds recognition; it does not build the ability to produce one in twelve minutes with a clock running.

Write them out, time them, and mark them against the points an answer should contain. The first few will be slow and thin. That is what practice is for.