Exam time and wordcount allocation

[shinny]

Do enough essays so that you're pretty much writing off the top of your head? It really depends where your time is going actually. If you're the type that tends to get writing blocks due to needing to think of the correct word/expression, learn to pressure yourself to just choose IMMEDIATELY the simplest way to express an idea at any time that you get stuck. Sure, it might not sound nice (although to many, examiners won't notice anyway; we just tend to get pedantic ourselves), but at least you'll finish. Other thing is, you don't need to make such detailed plans. Mine tend to be something which look like 1. 2. 3. 4. followed by 1 word descriptions of what the idea is about. The topic sentences of your paragraphs should suffice as planning before you write it to get a clear focus.

[merlin]

If you're the type that tends to get writing blocks due to needing to think of the correct word/expression

Brilliant, that's exactly my problem.

Sure, it might not sound nice (although to many, examiners won't notice anyway; we just tend to get pedantic ourselves)

Well I guess its true isn't it cause they only get about 3-4 mins per essay and their not teachers, they just want money! The quicker they mark the essays, the better for them! 

[trinon]

I've been told by a past examiner that by half way through the each essay they already have an idea of what your mark will be, and they only read the end to make sure its finished correctly. They don't read it a second time, they don't review. You need to get to the point and it needs to be clear.. ie don't make it long winded and hint to something very obscure. If the assessor doesn't pick up on it, then you'll simply lose marks.

[cara.mel]

They don't spend that long on it because they have heaps to go through and they get paid for number of papers marked, not how long it takes them.
It's in their best interest to read *some* of it so that they end up giving roughly the same mark as the other person who marks it

At the english language revision lectures I went to one of them was an assessor and she said she spent on average 4 minutes marking the essay part and I think that is being generous tbh

In any case, yeah make the start of your essay good, as opposed to starting off crap and making a comeback at the end, because they're only human and first impressions count.
 They usually can guess what they'll end up giving an essay based on the introduction alone.

[sisqo1111]

lol im just going to be working on my intros and conclusions