11 Easy Steps To Plan Your Essays: English GCSE

Before you embark on any type of writing whether it is a story, a report or a piece of advertising copy, you must do your planning. This is particularly important in exam conditions where you will be limited in time. This article summarises the key points in planning your essays in exam conditions and give you the knowledge needed so you don’t panic when presented with the exam.


How to plan

1. The first thing to do is to examine the brief in detail. Do you understand every aspect of the title? Are you aware of what it is asking you? Does it make sense? If it is not clear at first, can you work out what is most likely under the circumstances? Do you know how many words are expected of you? The paper will tell you ‘Write about 350-400 words’.Do bear in mind that when it comes to the exam that the titles will have been worked on thoroughly by a board of examiners before they are agreed so that any ambiguities should have been eliminated well before the titles reach you!

2. When you are sure that you have understood the title, scribble ideas down that occur to you. It doesn’t matter at this stage that they look a mess and don’t make sense. This process is better than staring at a blank sheet of paper waiting for something to happen!

3. When you have all your ideas down on paper, start to arrange them. Draw similar things together so that they make up a point in their own right.

4. Discard the things that don’t meet the requirements of the essay.

5. Keep looking at the title at this stage to make sure that you are answering the question and not drifting off on to something irrelevant which will not gain you any marks.

6. You then need to order your points. Try to see if there are items that run together so that there is continuity in your structure. Throw out the things that are not relevant.

7. Look at what additional material you can add to the points. This will depend very much on the type of essay that you are writing. With a discursive essay, for instance, you might want to bring some back-up facts that you know to reinforce you points or if you are writing a story you might want to bring in some aspects of how a person speaks or looks in order to elaborate on the characterisation.

8. You should by now have a series of points that lend themselves, more or less, into paragraphs. If one or two look a bit unwieldy, split them up if you can but make sure that you have linked them as we have described in an earlier section.

9. Then you can start writing! Don’t worry too much about your introduction since this should take care of itself if you have done the planning right. Check off each of the points as you go through. You may find that you want to change the order as you go along. That is all right, but ensure that you don’t miss out crucial aspects of your plan.

10. Write a concluding paragraph. This can take several forms such as a summary of the principal issues arising from the discussion, a dramatic ending to a story, a final descriptive image that will have an impact on the reader’s imagination etc.

11. Once your essay is on paper, do check it for grammar and spelling! Don’t just sigh a sigh of relief and think ‘Thank goodness that’s over. I don’t need to worry now.’ Each mark that you gain for accuracy could be crucial.


This article has been put together by the distance learning organisation Start Learning who are experts in home study. If you want to find out more about IGCSE English or many other distance learning courses please browse their website: Start Learning

A good way to find out more about IGCSE English is to sign up for a distance learning course on the subject. By studying in your free time and pace, you can gain the necessary knowledge while tailoring it to suit your schedule.

Kerrana McAvoy
Academic Director – Start Learning
Start Learning