A good essay showcases your understanding of the subject at hand. William Bickerdike explains why essays are still important - whether for exams or for admissions - and gives some advice on writing better essays

WHY write essays? The time required to produce a well-written essay seems at odds with today's fast-moving communications. Yet essays appear all around us - in newspapers, websites, radio and TV, in work reports and planning documents. Writing one can be a real challenge, but the skills learnt are of great value, and are highly sought-after in almost any career. For the student, the essay is a test of understanding, showing that knowledge can be applied, that they understand the subject and can produce something interesting (and possibly original). Essays also test communication skills - the ability to present arguments, debate issues, explain, write clearly, and do all this within a given time limit.

Whether in an exam or as an assignment, a good essay is an impressive achievement. Here's some advice on how to improve this vital skill:

READ THE QUESTION
Examiners are always surprised at how many students ignore the question in front of them and answer, instead, the question they want to see. Take time to read the question carefully, looking out for those command words. For example, if you're asked to 'explain', then demonstrate your knowledge and use your communication skills to describe the event, issue or facts. If asked to 'debate' or 'discuss', then you must present more than one point of view, including your own.

PLAN YOUR ESSAY
A plan gives you the chance to jot down ideas and key knowledge quickly and systematically. For a coursework assignment, it is important to have a good plan before you begin. Roughly group your notes into the different sections of your essay - this will help you sort your arguments and marshal your thoughts. Once the plan is ready, the essay will seem surprisingly easy to write! In an exam situation, remember you will probably not have time to write a detailed plan, and you should certainly not spend too much time on it: The examiner is marking your essay, not your plan! However, writing down a rough outline of structure and some key ideas can often be helpful to prevent you from wandering off the track as you write your essay.

PLAN YOUR TIME
Exam essays always have a time limit. You simply can't overrun. Each essay is worth a set number of marks - you can't earn more by writing more, and you'll lose marks by not writing enough. Divide your time between the sections in your essay plan, and then stick firmly to your timetable. Even assignment essays are limited by a deadline or word count, so time management is just as important, especially if research is needed.

DON'T PAD
The length of an essay can seem daunting and it's easy to start writing long-winded sentences to pad out what you think is thin material. The essay plan stops this, because writing the plan reminds you of so many facts, opinions, quotes and references that soon you'll have more than enough information. By the same token - don't pad your essay with textbook quotes linked by a few sentences. An essay is your interpretation of the issue under discussion. Too many quotes show that you've read the right books, but not necessarily understood them.

KEEP IT SIMPLE
A simple, straightforward style is best, and easiest to write under pressure. Start with an introduction, summarizing your key points, then go into detail in a series of logical sections, finally ending with a conclusion which brings everything together. Use clear language and correct spelling and grammar (marks are deducted for poor use of both). Presentation is also important, so use paragraphs, subheadings if necessary, and clearly reference any diagrams. Vary your writing style with questions, sentences of different lengths, quotations, examples - devices which keep the reader alert and the text fresh.

PRACTICE
As with all demanding skills, essay writing improves with practice. Review past papers for typical essay questions and show practice essays to parents and teachers. Reading widely also helps. As we said at the start, essays are everywhere so find some examples, ideally on your subject area but on other topics as well, and look at how they are written and structured. The more you read, the more you can learn about the best techniques, and the better your own essays will become.

The author is Regional Manager, South Asia, University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE)