How do I write an essay under exam conditions?

Exams such as GCSEs and A-Levels are all about ticking off boxes and jumping through hoops. The English education system is designed in such a way that it is best to approach English exams in regard to their Assessment Objectives. You want to make it really obvious to the examiner that you have a clear argument, that you are using embedded quotations, and that you are engaging with secondary literature, if necessary. The other very important thing is to have a simple structure, with three main points that you intend to explore. You might have about 45 minutes to an hour to write an essay, so you need to make sure you are approaching the question in different ways that finally culminate in a satisfactory conclusion. This means you are going to have to be very fluent with the material you are being examined on, so thorough preparation and revision of the texts is the most important part. You want to see the exam as simply an exercise in which you rearrange opinions/quotations of the text that you have through before. This isn’t to say you should memorise essay plans by heart, but that you should feel comfortable in answering any question that comes up. Usually texts have a limited number of themes that are simply phrased in different ways; nothing completely unexpected will come up. Finally, you should stay calm and remind yourself that you have done the work prior to the exam. The exam is just the last hoop to jump through!