Essays in exams

What to expect in essay-style exams

This exam type asks you to demonstrate your knowledge of the subject by writing a response to one or more essay questions.

You need to answer the question(s) clearly and concisely, within a strict time limit. Generally, you need to follow a standard essay structure. This includes an introduction stating the main argument, a series of body paragraphs to support the argument and a conclusion.

Essays often ask you to integrate concepts from different weeks and topics. As you revise, try to take a holistic view and make connections between different topics.

How to prepare for essay-style exams

First, check the details of the exam so you can focus your revision. As you study, focus on developing both breadth and depth of knowledge in your subject content and practice expressing your understanding in writing.

Tip: For general strategies to help you study for any type of exam, visit Exam revision

Find out what your exam will be like

Check your subject LMS to find out:

• How many essays you have to write
• How many marks each one will be worth
• If the essay questions will be set, or if will you get to choose from a list of options
• If you will be able to refer to notes or materials (eg open book)
• If your exam is digital. If so:
  • Is there is a practice exam available for you to get familiar with the platform?
  • Do you need to download LockDown Browser? (Make sure you have the correct version of this software: LockDown Browser student guide.)

Identify potential topics and questions

Review your notes and course material to try and identify key topics, concepts and major theories or approaches.

Then, either find or create practice questions on these topics.

Use past papers

Some subjects provide past exam papers for practice.  If you do have access to past papers, analyse the kinds of questions asked. Note the ‘direction’ words used, such as, ‘compare and contrast,’ ‘discuss,’ ‘evaluate,’ ‘illustrate.’ These words tell you the type of thinking you’ll need to do to answer the question adequately and accurately.

Check your subject LMS or with your tutors to see if  past papers are available.

Write your own questions

This is a great activity to do in study groups. Together you’ll come up with a broader range of questions and approaches, and you can also map out potential answers.

It won’t matter if your questions don’t match exactly the questions that appear in the exam. Anticipating questions helps you imagine how the material could be organised in different ways to answer different questions.

Whether you work individually or with others, don’t memorise practice responses. Using a pre-written and memorised answer is unlikely to accurately address the exact question you are asked in the exam. This also helps you avoid producing identical work to other students (which your markers will notice).

Use GenAI

You can also use GenAI to help you generate sample essay topics that represent the type of question you might need to answer. For example:

• Prompt: “Act as a university tutor in [subject]. Provide an essay style question that links [Topic A] and [Topic B]. It should require critical evaluation, not just description. It should be answerable in 500 words. Don’t provide a marking guide until I ask for it.”
• Prompt: “Act as an expert in [subject] Create an essay style question (approx. 300 words) that asks me to challenge a common assumption in [topic].”

Remember that GenAI doesn’t know exactly what was covered in your course, or how you will be assessed so it’s important that you check any suggested topics it gives you against your course materials.

Note: Do not upload assessment instructions or other University of Melbourne material as they are part of the University’s intellectual property and may be used by these tools without permission. Sharing University intellectual property is academic misconduct and can be subject to severe penalties. See the AI and copyright resource.

Practise writing answers

You can practice drafting responses in either full form or just map out the main points you would address in note form.

This helps you to:

• Test yourself and monitor your progress
• Increase your knowledge and understanding of certain topics
• Practise the types of questions you are going to encounter
• Familiarise yourself with the format of the exam itself.

Practice writing quickly. Handwriting for more than a few minutes can become uncomfortable if you’re used to typing, and vice versa. Practising continuously for longer periods will  improve your ability to produce clear writing in an exam context.

The best way to evaluate your answers is using your own notes, any sample answers you have access to, or through discussion in a study group.

You can use GenAI tools to get feedback on your practice answers. However, this approach may have limited value as the tool doesn’t know the specific content you have been taught or how you will be assessed.

During the exam

Plan out what you will do during your exam time. For essay-style exams, try following these steps.

1. Read the instructions and plan your time

Before you start planning and writing your response:

• Note any special instructions, such as how to cross out mistakes  or indicate that your answer continues on a different page
• Calculate how much time you can spend on a question, relative to its mark value, and make sure you leave a time buffer to check your work at the end.

2. Read all the questions carefully

Reading through all the questions before writing helps to give you an overview of the range of topics covered.

If you have to write a few essays, do the one you feel most confident with first. If you only need to write one essay, then begin with a section you’re comfortable with. This will help you to settle into the exam and develop your confidence.

3. Write a brief essay plan

Taking time to write a plan helps you to organise your thoughts and write efficiently. You don't have time for significant editing in an exam, so you want to get it right first time.

Use a typical essay structure of introduction, body and conclusion. In essay-style exams these elements can be more basic and succinct than in the longer form assignment essays that you may be used to.

Consider the following:

• What’s your argument regarding the essay question?
• How many paragraphs do you expect to write?
• What will be the topic of each paragraph?
• What supporting evidence or information will you provide for each major point you make?
• What is the most logical order in which to make your points so they develop and support your argument?

4. Write the essay

Using your plan, start writing. This helps you to stay on task and answer the question directly and fully.

Consider the following:

• Try to use the wording of the question in your first sentence. This helps you to stay on task and answer the question directly
• Include an introduction and conclusion. These can be quite basic in exam essays, so try to make them as clear and succinct as possible
• Include clear signal language, such as ‘This essay will argue that …’, ‘In conclusion, …’; ‘To sum up …’
• Use transition or connecting words to organise your ideas and to make it easier for the examiner to follow your arguments. For example: ‘firstly’, ‘secondly’, ‘in contrast to’, ‘in addition’, ‘as a result’.

5. Check your work

Check for logical flow , clarity of ideas and, most importantly, re-read the question and check that you have answered all parts of it. If you haven’t answered the question directly, you won't get the marks!

For digital exams, ensure you leave enough time to both review and submit, and speak to an invigilator immediately if you encounter any technical issues during the submission process.

After the exam