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How to write a University essay

Many of my friends are looking to start University in September and so I thought it would be a great idea to give some advice and guidance to them for when they start doing their essays. I remember when I first did mine; I was really nervous and thought that perhaps it wouldn't be good enough, but I was very wrong. There is always time throughout the year to improve your writing. Hope you enjoy my tips and take them on board!

  • Understanding the assignment 
Read the assignment brief several times to make sure you understand what it asks you to do, and follow it as closely as possible. I used to tick off the parts of the criteria that I had successfully incorporated into my essay. Structure it with the correct headings and reference structure too (more on that later). If there is literally anything about it that you don't understand, never be afraid to email the lecturer in charge, or go and speak to them in person. (Trust me, its not that scary.)

  • Gathering resources 
The library is literally your best friend at University. Be sure to gather up any resources from the library that you need, and make use of the working space around the uni. Sometimes its great to get away from a noisy student flat or a noisy family home (wherever you may be staying whilst at uni) and it may help your focus if you use the study rooms or the library itself if its not too busy! Do not use website sources because you will not get good grades. You are allowed to reference them to some extent, but you won't really be able to form a very solid essay from it. Take as many books away as you think you need, and obviously remember to bring them back too!

  • Use of language 
In one of my first lectures, we were looking at and analysing some poems, and were asked to email a short response to one of the poems as practise. I remember reading a few of them noticing that there were a lot of unnecessary sophisticated, long words in them, as if they had been sat with a thesaurus changing every other word to sound more 'clever.' In my feedback, I always got told that my writing style was 'solid' and 'clear' which is what they expect of you in University. I feel like my writing style is a bit 'basic,' but despite feeling like that was an issue, I was actually saving some marks. One of my lectures in a second year lecture actually brought this up as what not to do in an essay. You do not need to use too many strong words, obviously use good vocabulary, so not using slang, or informal words like 'didn't' or 'kind of,' but don't over use words!

  • Critical ability
This is something that will be developed throughout your time at uni and its a key skill. I recommend researching on YouTube or maybe even completing a short course on how to write arguments. Most essays are formatted in the classic, introduction, body, conclusion. It depends what subject you're doing, and it depends what the assignment is about. Incorporate quotes from researches within your subject. For example, King (1998) says... Smith (2000) argues that... This evidence show that... (so your opinion; don't use words like 'I think' unless its supposed to be a first person assignment.)

  • Referencing 
Lets face it- none of us like doing this, but make sure that it is accurate. There is nothing worse than getting this part wrong and we all know why. Make sure that you know from the start how to reference and how to create a bibliography- and don't do what I did this one time and forget to put one in! You usually get marks for the range of resources that you use. You can use books, ibooks, journal articles, YouTube videos... you name it. Listen to what is recommended, and perhaps use resources given to you in a lecture (obviously don't copy what the lecturer has written about in a PowerPoint for example). 

  • Before you submit - ALWAYS do this!
People are going to hate me for saying this, but you MUST proof read your essay! Or any writing at University! I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I went against this and lost marks as a result. In some of the assessment criteria, it will specifically say that poor academic practise will result in lost marks. Most assessments will state 'must be proof read.' You don't necessarily have to get family members, friends, lecturers or members of any student achievement team you have at your uni to read them every time, you can also just have a read through yourself to make sure there are no typos, grammar mistakes, missed out words etc. You may even find that you could add or remove aspects of the essay because you aren't as happy with it.   


Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels


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