What is the most effective way to answer an essay question in the exam?

Note: During the session I would have a practice question I would use to highlight these points more effectively and to help the student understand better. First of all it is necessary to read and understand the question you are being asked. Are you being asked to describe something? Do you need to use information from a case study youve been provided, or possibly an example of your own. How the question is asked is essential in understanding how you should go about answering it. The most important thing to do before you start your essay is to write an essay plan. Plan out what you intend to write in each part of your answer so that you have a refernce point to look back on if you get stuck. This will also help you think clearly.The next thing to look at is the amount of marks being allocated to the essay question. This will help determine roughly how much time you need to spend on it. If you are sitting AQA (Which is the examining board I had) the essay questions are usually 25 marks. In this case you would spend roughly 25% of your time on the essay question (As it is out of 100 marks). If the paper is 2 hours long, this will account for about half an hour. This gives you 5 minutes to plan and 25 minutes to write. The next part of your essay you need to consideris how to write your points so as to maximise marks. The first thing you should do is start your essay with an introduction. This should introduce the topic asked in the question, as well as briefly describe what you intend to talk about with regards to these topics. Make sure you dont spend too much time on your introduction as this is is not where the marks are allocated. Once you are satisfied with your introduction it is time to move onto your first point. You should aim to have around no more than 3 points. It is better to have 2 points well argued than 3 less so as this will get you higher marks. You should start your paragraph off by explaining your point in context to your question. Always make sure you are staying relevent to what the question is asking. Be specific. Next, after having explained your point and providing its context to the question, you should back your point up with evidence. An example of a company that relates to your question or perhaps an entrepreneur, depending on what it is the question is asking. Next you should apply reletive models or theory to back up your answer. This is where majority of your marks will lie. Examiners want to see that you know how to apply your theory to the question using examples. Evaluation comes in afterwards. This can be done by simply arguing a however point (A point that contrasts the theory you have used). This will show the examiner that you have thought of more than one scenario and have acknowledged the limitations of this theory. This process should be repeated for both paragraphs. The last part of your essay is the conclusion. Your conclusion is purely to conclude your essay. This means that you should avoid suggesting new points unless relevent to your previous paragraphs. Your conlsuion should summarise your paragraphs and provide an overview of the question and how youve answered it. Last, but certainly not least, you should read over your essay and make sure you have not made any silly grammar mistakes or missed something vital.