Ten top tips to improve your marks

Here are ten tips designed to attract higher marks:

1. Be careful with spelling. We regularly rely on automatic spell-checkers to spot mistakes but all too often these don’t pick up the subtleties of what we’re trying to communicate. The use of “we’re”, “where”, or “were” in the correct place can mean the difference between a low and a high mark.
2. Read your work aloud. Reading your essay to yourself will assist you in spotting spelling and punctuation errors as well as being a great way to help you keep track of whether or not your argument makes sense.
3. Don’t leave assignments to the last minute.  Unfortunately there are no shortcuts to a good mark. Good essays require time. By giving yourself time to research, read, absorb, contemplate, draft, rewrite and proofread, the stronger your work will be.
4. Use paragraphs to structure your ideas. If sentences are the smallest units of meaning within your essay, then paragraphs are the largest. Just as you wouldn’t think of writing “his notes Suzie with Tim shared” as a sentence,  instead of “Tim shared his notes with Suzie”, paragraph structuring and  placement allows the reader to make sense of the overall development of your argument. One good strategy is to write an essay plan outlining your main ideas, and then build your essay by writing a paragraph out of each main point.
5. When writing an essay, sign-post your ideas. Make sure that your reader can track the development of your argument by making sure that the first and final sentences of each paragraph lead the reader from one idea to another. This will make your essay a tight and coherent whole and help you avoid the temptation to include irrelevant material.
6. Is it it’s or its? “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has”, while “its” is a possessive adjective of the pronoun “it”, e.g.: “This outmoded concept has been widely considered well past its used-by date”.
7. There, their or they’re? “There” refers to a place (e.g., over there). “Their” is possessive (that is their dog). And “they’re” is a contraction of “they are”. Again, this is an easy one to let slip when relying purely on your spell-checker.
8. “Could have” not “could of”. Not may people know this one but it’s sure to make your tutors reach for their Ventolin and/or bottle of tequila.
9. Remember, you can confuse your tutor by adopting an overly officious and lofty writing style.  At all times, your goal should be to write as clearly and succinctly as possible.
10. If you’re having difficulties make sure you ask for help. Keep in touch with your tutor if you’re worried that you haven’t understood some aspect of the course, or contact the TLC if you have any queries about your level of academic literacy.

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