What Teachers & Tutors Look For In A Top Mark English Essay

What Teachers & Tutors Look For In A Top Mark English Essay

Every one of us had subjects we were strong at in school and, in turn, subjects that we struggled with. For a lot of people, essay-writing is a weakness and figuring out how to structure a top mark English essay and achieve top mark grades can be a huge challenge in itself.

It goes without saying that teachers and tutors will look for different things across different key stage levels, so we’ve broken things down to help make clear what attributes teachers and tutors look out for to help your child get top-marks and continue to thrive.

So how does writing a top mark English essay vary across different key stages?

Key Stage 1: Ages 5-7 (years 1-2)

These early years are about helping children develop an understanding of the English language; grammatical rules, new vocabulary and basic spelling. In essence, KS1 is about equipping them with foundational knowledge and skills to build upon throughout the rest of their education but we don’t typically see a lot of essay-writing at this stage.

What tutors and teachers both recommend is encouraging your child to read as often as possible and practise their creative writing when the opportunity allows. In doing so, they can help strengthen their vocabulary, grammar and understanding of sentence structure to help set them up for success when they actually come to writing essays further along in their education.

Key Stage 2: Ages 7-11 (Years 3-6)

As in Key Stage 1, essay-writing will not be a common occurrence in lessons or set as homework but teachers and tutors may look to develop what was learnt in key stage 1 by setting short writing tasks that give children the opportunity to put these skills into practice.

Key Stage 3: Ages 11-14 (Years 7-9)

By this age a child will have all the basic skills required to construct an essay. Both teachers and tutors are likely to start setting homeworks or assignments in lessons to help familiarise children with the process of writing an essay but there’s two critical elements teachers and tutors will look out for in a top mark English essay:

• Selecting quotes – when writing an essay about a piece of literature, teachers will often expect students to select a quote from the text to support their argument.
• Analysis of language – Having selected a quote from the text, students should comment on the use of language and techniques and exploring how they shape meaning
• Spelling and Grammar – this is key in a top mark English essay so it’s important to use the right punctuation and check spellings throughout.
• Keep it formal – avoid using colloquial language, contractions or writing in the first person.

Essay-writing is a skill and children will have time to perfect it during key stage 3 but tutors can also support outside of lessons and provide additional opportunities to practise before they’re assessed in exam environments.

Key Stage 4: Ages 14-16 (Years 10-11)

At GCSE level, students should ideally be taking what they’ve learnt across key stage 3 and developing it to show they have a detailed understanding of the text or topic, can explore key themes and offer an opinion based on the essay title or question.

Our GCSE tutors have a detailed understanding of school curriculums and exam criteria so can help your children to practise and ensure they feel confident writing a strong GCSE-level English essay but the elements below are key starting points:

• Citing examples – showcase a deeper knowledge of the topic or text by calling out to specific examples that support the point or argument being made.
• Drawing contrasts and comparisons between characters and key themes where relevant.
• Social and Historical Context – students should include any relevant contextual information that will help provide a greater depth of understanding.
• Critical and evaluative phrasing – top mark essays will comment on a text critically and include evaluative phrasing using terms such as ‘arguably’, ‘in stark contrast to’ or ‘we may argue that’.
• Evaluate – conclude the essay with a concise summary of key learnings and outcomes, making your unique ideas and opinions clear.

It is useful to follow the ‘PETAL’ rule in every paragraph:

• P (Point) – state your point and link it to the question asked.
• E (Example) – include a quote.
• T (Technique) – identify any techniques or word classes used in the quote.
• A (Analysis) of language.
• L (Link) link your comments back to the question asked.

Key Stage 5: Ages 17-18 (Sixth Form)

Children are no strangers to essay writing by the time they reach sixth form but tutors, teachers and examiners will be looking for detailed and developed responses that take what was learnt at key stage 4 and elevate it.

Below should act as a starting point to help guide the flow and structure of an A*-worthy essay but our specialist A Level tutors can help put this into practise and support exam and coursework preparation to ensure children are well-equipped to write a top mark English essay.

The main assessment objectives

Whether the essay focuses on prose, drama or poetry, teachers, tutors and examiners will look out for these key assessment objectives within a top mark English essay:

• Presents critical evaluative argument with sustained textual examples.
• Evaluates the effects of literary features with sophisticated use of concepts and
• terminology.
• Uses sophisticated structure and expression.
• Exhibits a critical evaluation of the ways meanings are shaped.
• Displays a sophisticated understanding of the writer’s craft.
• Presents a sophisticated evaluation and appreciation of the significance and
• influence of contextual factors.
• Makes sophisticated links between texts and contexts.
• Evaluates connections between texts.
• Exhibits a sophisticated connective approach with sophisticated use of examples
• Sustained evaluation of different interpretations and alternative readings.
• Supported by sophisticated use of application of alternative interpretations to illuminate
• own critical position.

Start the essay buy laying out an introductory argument

An essay introduction should almost act as a guide for the direction of the argument and response.

• Formulate an overall response to the question, summing up the main idea or response.
• Use keywords from the question to demonstrate that your response is focused and relevant to the question.
• Evaluative phrasing to show critical thinking rather than a regurgitation of ideas

Explore supporting ideas and evidence in the main body of your essay

After laying out the main argument in the introduction, the main body of an essay should show examiners that your claims or point of view is supported and logical.

• Typically there should be 3-4 substantial paragraphs but be careful not to add paragraphs for the sake of it as you run the risk of the essay becoming too repetitive.
• Each paragraph should represent a separate, relevant idea which contributes to the overall argument.
• Each paragraph should refer to relevant evidence in order to establish its ideas. This is where quoting or citing a text is essential.
• Topic sentences are used at the start of paragraphs to create a clear line of argument. If all else was removed from the paragraph and only the topic sentence remained an examiner should still be able to clearly determine what you might have  explored in that paragraph.

Conclusion

This is an opportunity to summarise what the essay has actually explored and emphasise the main argument or idea which has emerged so examiners, tutors or teachers can see that you have developed a clear, relevant and convincing response.

• Don’t repeat what has already been said – an essay must sum up the essential idea or point of view you have arrived at.
• Try to make this critical and evaluative in its phrasing to show you have your own ideas and opinions.
• Aim to keep this concise or to a single paragraph. The hard work and extended ideas should come in the main body of the essay.

Higher Education: Age 18+

At university level, the structure of a top mark English essay will be very dependent on the specific course and chosen modules but speaking to a Course Director or tutor should help provide clarity on what they’re looking out for.

The Questions Themselves Can Help Shape A Top Mark English Essay

Something as simple as the way an essay title or question is framed can act as a great starting point when approaching and structuring a top mark English essay. This breakdown of key words to look for can help children at any key stage level but particularly during GCSE and A-Levels essay writing.

• Analyse – this should be an investigative essay that identifies and comments on the main issues explored in lessons, lectures and tutor sessions. Break up into parts; investigate.
• Compare and Contrast – The essay should explore the similarities and differences. Show the relevance or consequences of these similarities and conclude the essay with a preference and rationale as to why.
• Define – Explore the meaning of something within the essay and, where relevant, show if and how the definition may be problematic.
• Describe – Outline the main characteristics, features or events pertaining to something.
• Discuss – Investigate or examine by argument; sift and debate; give reasons for and against; examine the implications.
• Evaluate or Examine – Assess and come to a conclusion about the merit, importance or usefulness of something. Where possible, back judgements with evidence.
• Explore – Examine thoroughly; consider from a variety of viewpoints.
• Illustrate – Make something clear and explicit, giving examples of evidence.
• Justify – Give evidence which supports an argument or idea; show why a decision or conclusions were made; answer the main objections which might be made.
• Outline – Give the main points, features or general principles; show the main structure and interrelations; omit intricate details and examples.
• State – Give the main features briefly and clearly.
• Summarise – Draw out the main points only; omit details and examples.
• To what extent – Consider to what degree something is true, or contributes to a final outcome. Also consider ways in which it may not be true.

Of course, if your child struggles with essay writing – for English or any of their other subjects – then hiring a tutor can be of enormous benefit as it provides them with tailored one on one support so they can gradually build up the skills and the confidence to craft a strong essay, whether it’s for a homework, coursework or in an exam environment.

At Hampstead and Frognal Tutors, we work with experienced and specialist tutors who are passionately dedicated to supporting children’s learning and are equipped to design a tailor-made programme of tuition to help accelerate their academic growth throughout their educational journey. Contact us today for more information.

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Useful Resources

• Exemplar AQA English Essay – Level 9