SmileTutor Blog Students Exam Tips 10 English Essay Writing Tips for O-Levels Students

10 English Essay Writing Tips for O-Levels Students

Essay writing is a crucial skill that all students should learn. Especially in o-levels, when the competition is enormous. Students are under immense pressure to perform better, and sometimes, this stress leads to poor mental health that hinders them from performing better or reaching their true potential.

However, the right approach is to look up ways to improve your essay writing skills instead of getting stressed and undermining yourself. There are numerous essay writing books and online sources that help you in this regard.

If you struggle greatly, consider hiring an English home tutor to work with you closely to hone your writing skills. Another option is to try out online essay writing services such as Essay Writers Online. However, I don’t recommend you to simply ask others to write your essays. Instead, pay close attention to how the essays are written and try to learn and adopt the same writing methods.

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1. Time Management:

Time management is an underrated skill.

Let’s say you have an essay exam or a test, and you get three hours for it. You should be able to write your essay within two and half hours and thoroughly recheck your essay in the last thirty minutes.

The grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and sentence structure carry lots of marks that we often overlook. Therefore, allocating enough time to recheck your essay can get you to score much better.

It’s the minute details that carry the most marks, so train yourself to complete your task on time while saving some minutes for the revision if you want to score good grades.

2.Extract the main idea from the statement:

After you have chosen the question, you will attempt to re-read it 4 to 5 times. This will help your mind grasp the keywords which hold the main idea of the question.

This will further help you write the essay using the information revolving around those words. This will also help you save time and avoid brainstorming that causes mental exhaustion.

Staying relaxed and focused is the key to ace your essay exam. Also, analyze the style and directives of the question and how it is phrased.

3. Make a strong introduction:

Always remember that introduction and outlines of your essay play a huge role in obtaining good grades.

Since the introduction is the first thing, the examiner reads it more carefully. If it catches the essence of the question and grasps the key points, there are greater chances of the examiner being impressed and giving you more scores.

So try your best and make a great introduction. You can also use a rough sheet to jot down the relevant information before attempting it on the question paper.

4. Make complete paragraphs:

Make precise paragraphs of each outline so it conveys your point. Elaborate on your key points, and do not miss any critical highlights. If you do not have enough data about a particular topic, wind it up nicely instead of dragging it to save your time and make your essay look to the point.

5. Avoid misquoting statements:

It is better to skip the phrase or a quotation if you do not remember it word by word.

Writing wrong quotations can lead to marks deduction, so it is better to leave them if you are not well revised.

The same is the case with dates and other important events. When in doubt, avoid using numbers and definitive statements.

6. Make a conclusive summary:

End your essay with a summary that sums everything up.

Since you are adhering to the points you have made throughout your essay, in the summary or conclusion, you should use the words ‘Hence,’ ‘Thus,’ and ‘Therefore’ etc., to keep the flow intact.

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7. Plan your composition well:

As I mentioned earlier, try to write down the main points that flash in your head when you re-read the question repeatedly.

This helps you compile all the relevant information, and your essay looks more to the point and precise. Vague essays usually give off a wrong impression. Moreover, this trick will help save all the brainstorming as well.

8. Keep your grammar in check:

My first tip was to spare some time to re-read your essay to correct the errors- if there are any.

Try to be careful about the grammar, especially about the tense you are using. Your tense should be the same throughout your essay, or it breaks the sequence and does not look good.

Verb forms, punctuation, and subject-verb agreement should also be checked.

9. Practice makes perfect:

Practice writing essays as much as you can. It helps in increasing your writing speed as well as makes you perfect for the said task.

Try to write an essay once a week and you should attempt it as if it is your test or exam.

Set up the timer and go for your essay. And keep in mind to finish it on time.

10. Never leave your imagination:

I’m aware of how great the essay writing skill is. And you can ace at it quite easily.

Read as much as you can. Read the books, newspapers, journals, magazines, editorials, and whatever helps you gather information. It will also enhance your vocabulary and improve your grammar.

Use lots of descriptive words in your essay and always take benefit of your imagination. It will make your essay unique.

Conclusion:

Essay writing solely relies on your ability to think and create. You are given a statement, and you have to write about it in detail and justify your view.

I am hopeful you will find this article helpful. Thank you for reading.

 

Rum Tan

Rum Tan is the founder of SmileTutor and he believes that every child deserves a smile. Motivated by this belief and passion, he works hard day & night with his team to maintain the most trustworthy source of home tutors in Singapore. In his free time, he writes articles hoping to educate, enlighten, and empower parents, students, and tutors. You may try out his free home tutoring services via smiletutor.sg or by calling 6266 4475 directly today.