The secret to mastering exam writing is...
…a good plan.
I know, I know, no one like writing plans…
“I don’t have time, Sangeeta”
“It doesn’t help me.”
“I don’t know what to write in my plan.”
But:
Has your mind ever gone blank halfway through writing?
Have you ever finished writing and forgotten to include something?
Are you getting low marks for content?
Then you need a plan. But not just any plan: a useful, effective plan.
When you know how to write an effective plan, you have a much better chance of top marks in your Cambridge writing exam.
What is the purpose of a plan?
A plan is a way for you to organise your ideas. 25% of your mark is for Organisation. So five minutes at the start to organise your thoughts is time well spent.
You plan is also your guide for writing. Exams can be stressful and when you’re nervous you don’t always think clearly. While you are writing, you can refer back to your plan to check you are on the right track and that you write about everything in the task.
Some of the most common mistakes I see in exam writing are:
not including an idea from the task
writing about things which are irrelevant to the task
poorly organised writing.
And all of these things can be avoided by writing a plan. It saves you time overall because you won’t have to go back and correct mistakes like these.
So how do you write a plan?
Look at this sample B2 First essay task. What would you include in your plan?
Some people say the fashion industry has a bad effect on people’s lives. Do you agree?
Write an essay using all the notes and giving reasons for your point of view.
Notes – write about:
Whether people’s appearance is important
The price of clothes
Your own idea
Have a think about what you would write in your plan (maybe make one!) then read two example plans. Which one do you prefer and why?
Example plan 1
Introduction: fashion industry
Paragraph 1: people’s appearance – give reasons
Paragraph 2: price of clothes – give reasons
Paragraph 3: environment – say why
Conclusion: summarise main points
Example plan 2
Intro: fashion industry is billion-dollar industry – has many negative impacts
Para 1: people’s appearance – people want to look like people on social media eg models, fashion brands – negative, dieting, cometic surgery etc. effect on confidence.
Para 2: price of clothes – advertising makes you spend money, buy more than you need - consumerism
Para 3: environmental impact – fast fashion, clothes don’t last
Conclusion – Agree – negative effect – physical and mental health impact and environment
Which one do you prefer? Let’s compare.
Plan 1
This kind of plan is the reason students say “a plan doesn’t help me”. This is not a helpful plan! It doesn’t tell you anything. It won’t remind you of your ideas halfway through writing. It doesn’t tell you if you’ve answered everything in the task or not.
Plan 2
This plan gives you an outline of what you’re going to write. You can start writing knowing you have ideas for each paragraph.
It is NOT the start of the essay – there are no sentences, just notes. You do, however, have some useful vocabulary: consumerism, mental health impact, fast fashion, billion-dollar industry.
And if your mind goes blank halfway through, which DOES happen, you can take a deep breath and look at your plan and remember what you need to write.
How can you practise?
You need practice in planning as well as in writing so try doing this with a few different exam tasks WITHOUT doing the actual writing.
Read the task carefully
Note down your ideas
Put them in order
(note any useful language – vocabulary or phrases)
It’s also useful to add any useful language you think of while you’re planning. This could be vocabulary (like in my plan) or phrases such as It is widely though that... To conclude… Another key point is…
Time yourself – try to make your plan in five minutes.
When I read exam writing, I can usually tell the difference between a student who has spent five minutes thinking before starting and one who has read the task and started writing straightaway (and if I can, so can the examiners 😅).
Five minutes at the beginning can save you time and stress at the end!
Try it out and let me know if it helps.
For more exam writing tips download my ten tips.
