how to get first class essay

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The 5 Simple Requirements of Every First Class Essay

In this episode, I am kicking off a six-part series on essay writing with a deep dive into the five essential requirements of a first class essay. I’ll break down the core elements that make an essay stand out, from constructing a logical argument to staying within the word count. Then, I’ll share the common problems students face, such as unclear writing and straying from the essay question, and offer practical solutions to overcome these hurdles. Whether you’re balancing work, family, and study, or just looking to boost your grades, this episode provides actionable steps to help you write clearer, more focused essays that impress your tutors. 

Tune in to transform your academic writing and achieve those dream first class grades.

This post originated as a podcast episode which you can listen to below or search for episode 157 of the Chloe Made Me Study podcast. Or, if you’re more of a learn-by-reading student, carry on for the rough-and-ready blog version based on the podcast script.

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• Click to listen on Spotify .

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Writing a first class essay can seem daunting, but breaking it down into manageable parts can make the process much more straightforward.

Ultimately, the aim of an essay is to:

…argue a case, clearly, in response to the essay question and the course material within a set word count.

Now you may be thinking, “this doesn’t sound simple, Chloe!”

Well, let’s take apart this aim into our five requirements and I promise it will sound simpler.

First class essay requirement #1: argue a case

First and foremost, your essay needs to argue a case. This means constructing a logical, coherent argument based on the evidence you’ve gathered. For most subjects, 99% of the time, there isn’t a single “right” answer to an essay question. There will also be way more points that you could include in your essay than will fit in the word count. So the points you include, the evidence you choose, and how you present your argument will be unique to you.

In arguing your case you need to give your tutor reason to take your ideas seriously. So, instead of worrying about whether your answer is “correct” and includes every relevant point, focus on making your argument logical and well-supported. Don’t be afraid to present your perspective, as long as your arguments are backed up with evidence.

First class essay requirement #2: argue a case CLEARLY

Clarity is key in essay writing. Your tutor will be able to find the good stuff in your arguments even if your writing is a bit muddled, but why make them work harder than they need to? Clear writing can also earn you marks for structure and presentation, which will then make it easier for your tutor to understand and appreciate your points – and award you marks.

A common problem I see when I’m reviewing students’ essays is that some students think using complex sentences and fancy words makes their essays better – that this makes them seem smarter. But this is where clarity can fly out the window. At times, when I’m reviewing essays, I have to reread some sections again and again to work out what’s being said. And sometimes even then I can’t and I have to send it back with a request for them to clarify. Your tutor is not going to do that (unless you’re submitting a formative for feedback before the final summative) . If your tutor cannot understand your ideas, because your sentence structure is confusing or because you haven’t explained your ideas fully enough – then they’re just not going to be able to award you marks.

Instead, aim for simplicity and clarity. Use short sentences and straightforward language. Make sure each paragraph has a clear main idea. And read through your work multiple times to pick up areas you might need to review.

First class essay requirement #3: respond to the essay question

No matter how brilliant or persuasive your essay is, it will not score well if it doesn’t answer the set question. It doesn’t matter if your tutor finds your essay interesting, or they can see how hard you’ve worked on it, if it doesn’t exactly align with the marking criteria then they just cannot tick those boxes to give you marks. 

There are two key problems that happen here.

• Not understanding the question from the get-go. You want to spend a substantial amount of time, early on in your process, to break down the essay question so you really understand it. I have a free training called Start Your Essay where I show you how to do this. I’ll link to it in the show notes.
• Understanding the question but then going off on tangents and not linking back to the question throughout. It may be tempting to include all the interesting information you’ve found, but this can lead you away from the main question. Instead, continuously refer back to the essay question while writing. Include the keywords from the question in every single paragraph. And as you’re writing, ask yourself how each section relates to the question. If you don’t know then either the section is irrelevant or your understanding of the question needs more exploration.

First class essay requirement #4: incorporate the course material

Your entire qualification is based around assessing whether or not you have gained specific knowledge and skills. Therefore all the assessments included in your qualification are designed to test how well you demonstrate this knowledge and these skills. So you need to put this stuff in your essays! You don’t get marks for how much you’ve read and how many notes you’ve taken if this doesn’t translate into your essays.

I have reviewed some students’ essays before and there’s not a lot of course material to go on. Writing off the top of your head or making points without backing them up with course material is not giving your tutor a lot to go on when they’re looking to tick off those boxes with proof that you’ve learned some stuff.  

So, you need to back up your points with references to your readings, lectures, and other course content. Explain your ideas with the help of your course material to strengthen your arguments and ground them in the scholarly material you’ve been studying. And make sure your referencing is accurate.

First class essay requirement #5: stay within the set word count

While it may feel sometimes like the word count for your essay is ridiculous – whether it’s too high or low – there is a point to it. Writing a first class essay requires you to strike a balance between the depth and breadth of your answer. It takes time to learn how much detail to go into in your essays.

If you often struggle to reach the word count, then it’s likely you’re missing some understanding of the set question and your task. If you find yourself going way over the word count then this could be because you’re trying to include too many ideas, or you’re not being concise enough – making a point in 100 words that could actually be made in 50. Another area to work on here is a balance between description and analysis. As you progress through your qualification, you will be expected to engage in deeper analysis which means you want to get your description points over with quickly and devote more of your word count to analysis to get the first class marks.

So there we have it, the five key requirements of a first class essay. If you’re not sure where to start, look back at the feedback from some of your previous essays. Work out whether you need to work on your clarity, conciseness, understanding of the essay question, answering of the question, the strength of your arguments or the flow of your ideas.

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How to Write and Get First-Class in an Essay: A Distinction

write and Get A Distinction in Your Essay

Essays cannot be avoided at any academic level. They play a huge role in the grades that students get. Therefore, every student needs to know how first-class essays are written to ensure that they get good grades in their different fields of study.

This enables students to consistently write good essays and cross the boundary between average and good to excellent scores. To add to that, understanding the purpose of the essay is what determines the score of the essay. You can write a first-class essay, but if it does not serve the purpose it was meant to, then it leads to failure.

6 Steps to Write a Good Essay                  

1. research the topic.

To begin your research, read and understand the topic properly to ensure that everything you will look into relates to what the topic requires. The instructions that are given usually bear the nature of the research.

For example, a topic could contain terms such as compare, discuss, prove, and contrast that dictate what to do in the essay.

After understanding the topic, brainstorm the ideas that you will write in the essay. This helps you understand the topic more before delving into deeper research.

When researching the topic, you should use relevant books and peer-reviewed journal articles. Also, only government and education institutions’ websites should be used for research.

While researching, take notes on important points you will use to form arguments in the essay.

Have a dictionary on your side to make sure you understand the meaning of terms you are unfamiliar with. Additionally, formulate your arguments, opinions, and views to avoid plagiarism.

Lastly, write down all the sources you have retrieved information from for the reference page at the end of the essay

2. Prepare an Outline

An outline is important because it helps plan the structure of the essay before writing it. It involves writing a few summary sentences under every major point to give you a picture of how each argument will unfold in the essay.

Sometimes you can be required to submit an outline before writing the essay, but it is equally important even if it has not been requested. To write an outline:

3. Organize your Material

Ideas are not fully formed when writing the essay outline. Preliminary research and sources should help in shaping your ideas into structural arguments. Once you have an idea of how your overall argument will look arrange your content into several arguments.

The different aspects of your arguments should be arranged into categories. For example, you can split your arguments into three main themes. These themes should relate to the thesis statement of the essay.

Also, consider the order of information. It is usually advisable to start with your stronger arguments.

4. Write the outline

A few points should be used to discuss the relation between every idea and the main topic in different paragraphs. The points are presented as short, numbered sentences and phrases that can be split into sub-points when more details are required.

For example, the introduction can have a hook, background, and thesis statement.

Under the body paragraphs, include points and follow them up with two or three pieces of evidence, and the conclusion can have a summary, the importance of the topic, and strong closing statements.

5. Write the thesis and introduction

The first task when writing the introduction of your essay is making sure that you hook the reader. The first sentence should set the tone for the whole essay.

It should be clear, concise, and catchy. Also, it should not be a broad claim or a plain statement of fact.

Secondly, you should give the background information. This is the context that your readers will need to understand the topic. It can be historical, geographical, or social context.

It can be a summary of relevant theories or the definition of key terms. Thirdly, write your thesis statement. This is where you narrow down the focus of your essay and show what your essay is all about.

The thesis statement sums up your overall arguments. It is the most important part of the essay that will require evidence and explanation throughout the essay.

Every argument made in the essay should reflect on the thesis statement. Therefore, it should reflect all the issues that are on the outline.

6. Write a draft essay

With the outline and introduction already written, you only need the body paragraphs and the conclusion to complete your draft essay.

Make sure that the last statement of your introduction, which is mostly the thesis, connects with your first body paragraph. Body paragraphs must have a topic sentence. They also should link with the thesis statement to show that they are relevant and advance your arguments.

No conclusion statements are needed in paragraphs. Additionally, all paragraphs should be connected with the previous one to enhance the free flow and understanding of the reader. The length of the paragraphs should be as your instructor requires.

However, most paragraphs should range from 90 to 130 words to make the arrangement logical.

The conclusion paragraph should synthesize the arguments made in the body paragraphs. It also should reflect on the introduction, but it is important to make sure there is no repetition involved.

The conclusion should reiterate your essay arguments and not introduce any new ideas or make recommendations. It should be simple and straight to the point.

7. Reference your Sources

Two ways are used when referencing sources in essays. One is the in-text citation, and the other is the reference page.

In-text citations are a brief form of references that you include in the paragraphs of your essay. The information they give should be enough to identify a source on the reference list. The technique used when writing in-text citations depends on the writing format used in the essay.

APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago formats all have different ways of writing citations.

On the other hand, the reference page is the last page of the essay. It lists all the sources cited in the essay so that readers can easily find what you have cited.

Similar to in-text citation, the formatting method used determines how the defense page will be written. Therefore, it is important to master all the different formatting methods to ensure you cite essays, as they require

8. Proofread your Essay

Proofreading essays is important in ensuring that they are error-free before submission. You can write the best content in the world, but if it has spelling, grammatical, and structural errors, then you are likely to fail.

To proofread your essay effectively, you will need to:

• Read your essay backward. This helps you look at the surface elements of the essay rather than its meaning.
• Proofread for one type of error at a time. This is done to your known typical mistakes. If they are full stop and comas, read the essay two times, correcting each typical mistake at a time.
• Take a break after writing before you proofread. This helps read through the paper with a fresh mind to increase the chances of detecting every mistake made.
• Ask someone to read your paper for you. Other people will likely have different views to the one that you have and probably detect mistakes you cannot.
• Proofread severally. Do not go through the paper once and think that you have cleared all the errors. Read it again and again.

Read our guide on how to write a college essay.

Tips on how to get first-class in an essay

The pass mark of getting first-class in essays that is hard for many students to get can be achieved if the following tips are understood and put into practice:

Know the marking criteria

Always know what the instructor is looking for so that you can meet the demands of the essay effectively. Mostly, instructors provide a rubric with instructions and sections of essays together with the score expected if they are done effectively.

This is what you are required to do. Do not assume. Always follow the criteria and instructions provided to get full marks.

Understand the Essay Topic or Question

It is important to understand the topic of the essay before you start writing it.  You cannot get a high grade if your essay deviates from the essay topic and question.

If you are required to support, oppose, discuss, or summarize a topic, which is exactly what you are supposed to do to maximize the chances of getting a high grade.

In instances where you don’t understand the essay question or topic, you can ask for help from your instructor or other students.

Quality Sources and Referencing System

A first-class essay should always demonstrate your awareness of available literature on the essay topic and your familiarity with the empirical and theoretical literature applicable.

Books are the most common sources of information, but peer-reviewed journal articles are also reliable because they are published frequently. A first-class essay will always reference these sources and not online unverified sources.

Only websites of government, reputable academic databases, and scholars should be referenced. This ensures that the credibility of your essay’s arguments is not in question.

Frame your Argument Coherently

When you go through the available information, form your opinion on the essay question. Keeping the essay question in mind is important when tailoring arguments and viewpoints to ensure that you do not go out of topic.

Each argument is represented in its paragraph. A first-class essay will always demonstrate logical thinking and a high level of reasoning in each argument made in the essay.

Structure your Essay and make it Clear

The introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion of your essay should serve their purpose. The introduction paragraph should always show what your essay is all about and include the thesis statement.

The body paragraphs should always systematically present the arguments. The conclusion should summarize everything about the essay. To add to that, the essay should engage the reader through the use of appropriate technical terms.

The language used should be formal and avoid jargon and hard vocabulary.

Originality

Even if you are required to use different sources to make arguments, do not copy. Always try to understand arguments and present them in your way. Plagiarized work leads to poor grades.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it hard to get first-class in an essay.

It is not hard to get first-class in an essay. All you need to do is to make sure you are thorough in every aspect of the essay. Everything should be perfect, from the beginning of the research to proofreading. 

How do you write an introduction to a first-class essay?

An introduction to a first-class essay should introduce the essay effectively. It should grab the attention of the reader and provide a background of information that gives the reader knowledge about the essay. Lastly, it should end with a thesis statement

How do you start an essay well?

To start the essay well, you need to know what the essay is all about and introduce it in a way that the reader will grasp everything about it after reading the first paragraph. If the introduction does not make the reader want to read more of the essay, then it has not achieved its purpose.

How long does it take to write a good essay?

The time taken to write a good essay always depends on the number of words required and the expertise of the writer. Experienced essay writers take a shorter time writing an essay compared to inexperienced writers. Also, the amount of time that research takes determines how long it will take to complete writing a good essay.

How do you get an A on an essay?

To get an A on an essay, do quality research and formulate a good thesis statement. Also, write an outline that will guide your writing and start your essay. At the end, cite reliable sources of information and adhere to the format required before proofreading the paper thoroughly to check for errors.

An essay should be structured on three parts. The introduction where what the essay is all about will be presented. The body paragraphs where all the arguments will be fully discussed and the conclusion where the essay will be summarized.

James Lotta

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Tips for writing a first-class essay

• Tuesday, April 13, 2021
• Undergraduate

Chloe Softly

• United Kingdom
• minute read

As a final year student, I have noticed huge developments in my academic writing and ultimately would like to share a few wise words on what I think has helped me to achieve first-class essay marks.

Firstly, how will we ever get a first without being aware of what is expected? We need to get to know the mark scheme. A great way of guaranteeing we are achieving all the key elements of the mark scheme, is to align our initial plan with each point of the criteria and keep checking throughout our essay writing to assure all areas are being covered.

Another BIG thing is always to make sure you understand the question. Now I hope this doesn’t sound patronising, but it is so important to read, read and read the question again to fully understand. A main part of understanding fully includes evaluating the action phrase in the question, so make sure you know what is required when you see phrases such as ‘Describe’ and ‘Critically Analyse’.

Along with understanding the question, we need to be able to answer it effectively, and the best way to do this is through the structure. Within academic writing it is vital to frame your argument coherently so the essay flows from paragraph to paragraph. A massive factor in enabling this stems from our essay structure outlined in the introduction. A thing I like to do after finishing my essay is putting a tick next to each paragraph if it matches with this initial outlined structure to guarantee that the essay flows.

The final tip I have is to make sure your references reflect the depth of your knowledge. I always include references from the core and further reading lists, but also carry out additional reading to provide my markers with new perceptions. They want to learn from us! In order to find new sources, I make sure to use the University of Manchester Library, to certify these sources are credible (Peer-Reviewed). With some essays you may end up having a multitude of sources that can be difficult to organise, so one way that I handle this is by creating a table that consists of three columns: one for the main argument, one for the supporting evidence, and one for the source citation. This presents me with a simple method of creating a bibliography, without adding extra pressure to myself.

Although these tips may be useful, we cannot ignore the abundance of resources that are available to assist us. One great resource is the ‘Academic Phrasebank’, a document put together by Dr. John Morley at the University of Manchester, that provides insights into how to succeed within your academic writing. From providing notes on essay structure, grammar, and most essential key phrases, this document has become an indispensable guide to me. All in all, from mark schemes to structure to sources, these are just a few tips that will hopefully help. It’s time to go get that first!

I am Chloe Softly, follow my blogs for an insight into life as an Undergraduate student at Alliance MBS.

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How to write a First-Class Essay that Scores an A

A first-class essay has an 80 percent or higher score, although some institutions categorize papers graded at 70-75% as first-class. In most cases, not so many students attain the benchmark. Nevertheless, writing high-grade essays in all your classes guaranteed you a first-class degree in your final combination transcript.

An A essay uses an appropriate attention-getting opening, makes a good transition, is well organized, has in-text citations and a bibliographic page, has a thesis statement supported by the body paragraphs , and has a befitting conclusion. Such an essay only attains distinction. Attaining a distinction in your essay takes practice, perfection, and dedication. If you write high-score essays, they will always be used as examples in class. You can also get the privilege of being published on the school's writing center's website.

Maybe you are a law, political science, criminology, music, anthropology, science, or business student, wondering how to write a distinction essay. Your questions end here because we have put together a guide that will help you write a good essay that scores good and excellent grades.

Wondering if you can write a first-class essay? Yes, you can, and here are some tips, tricks, and steps to help you ace your essays.

Top 8 tried and tested Steps to Write a High-Score Essay

Everybody dreams and wishes they get the best grades in their high school, college, and university essays. Even when writing MBA and graduate-level essays, scoring higher grades can be challenging if you are unaware of the steps.

Our confident essay writers have developed these steps to help you achieve much, even with little time.

If you are wondering how an A essay looks, how it is written, and the steps it takes, we clarify all that here.

1.  Read the prompt to understand the marking criteria

A good essay begins with reading the prompt, instructions, and rubric. Although this is a straightforward step, it carries too much weight in your writing process and determines the score you will get. Most students who skip this step end up derailing or getting confused with the ideas they present in their essays.

Reading the instructions helps you determine what the instructor, marker, or professor will look for when marking the essay to grade it among the top-scoring, average, or below-average essays. Knowing these benchmarks allows you to write an essay that meets the points.

All our writers will not begin writing an essay until you provide the prompt or instructions. Sometimes, when necessary, a writer will ask you to present them with the rubric to help them structure the essay and write it by following what the professors will be targeting.

2. Choose a topic or question

Given the understanding of the prompt, rubric, and instructions, you must choose a question or topic.

 You should put effort when choosing your essay question or topic because it determines the scope or direction of the essay. However, do not rush to pick a question because you think it sounds exciting or easy. Although doing so might sound convenient, the fact that you rushed into it will make you lose focus.

Instead, choose a topic or question with the information you can use to support the ideas that are interesting and neither too broad nor too narrow.

A first-class essay is engaging, flowing, and reinforced using academic/scholarly sources. Therefore, choose a topic where you can find high-standard sources and the correct number of sources.

Therefore, cross-check the sources available online through preliminary research to choose an outstanding topic. A focused question or topic guarantees a first-class score. If you are to select the topic, conduct research, weigh the available ideas, and determine if it is an essay, you can write within the number of words given. Choosing a good question demonstrates methodological rigor, a plus when marking your essay.

3. Understand the question/topic

After you have chosen the topic and are well-informed of the marking criteria, you need to understand your topic or essay question. Doing so brings you closer to your essay's high scores.

Someone would say it is a cliche and a fundamental step, but you must do it to avoid failing your essay. Check for the directive words such as elaborate, assess, outline, explore, elaborate, critique, critically analyze, explain, compare, contrast, classify, prove, or discuss.

These signal words help determine the scope of your essay. Besides, understanding the question or topic enables you to develop a creative title for your essay .

After you understand the topic or question, you can write an outline for your essay. This is sometimes called the essay plan. The process is often called brainstorming, which entails evaluating your options, thoughts, and ideas and then coming up with the best.

4. Research and Write an Essay Plan

As you settle down on the topic or question, you must begin researching to understand the topic further and plan your points for the essay. The question or the topic will determine the scope of your research stage for essay writing.

Focus on getting information from non-scholarly sources to familiarize yourself with the topic and develop a perspective. Then, skim through the scholarly resources to earn points and evidence for your essay .

Such evidence includes books, peer-reviewed articles, journal articles, periodicals, news from magazines and international news websites, books, government, educational, and NGO websites, and other relevant materials.

This research's results should help you develop an essay plan. When researching, use the thesaurus to understand technical terms and jargon so that you can simplify and use them in your essay. A high-quality essay does not have to use complex words. The simpler it is, the better.

Writing an essay plan helps you organize your ideas, which you can modify as you research, read, think, or discuss. An essay plan is a basic outline that lets you list the points you want to discuss in your essay.

It entails the essay topic or question, possible thesis statements, introduction statements, paragraph highlights (topic sentence (argument), evidence/elaboration/supporting materials, and the conclusion sentences), and conclusion. You can complete your essay plan as you research the topic.

The essay plan can help you write a good outline for your essay. Besides, you can know where the weight lies and what evidence to use. You can also draw mind maps to help plan your essay.

5. Organize material and Create an Outline

Using your essay plan, create an outline for your essay. Some students prefer to jump straight to the outline and leave out the essay plan, which is still okay. Either complements the other.

Therefore, you can write an outline summarizing the introduction sentence starters, essay hook, thesis statement, signpost, topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences. In addition, your outline should have an organized list of materials you will use in your essay. You can organize these materials using online citation management tools.

Because you have not formed ideas in your outline, you need to refine the ideas in your essay plan or outline in the subsequent stages. Using the citations and references from the sources helps you structure your arguments. Categorize the sources based on the strength they have in supporting your arguments.

For example, if you are writing a three-page essay, ensure that the body of your essay has at least three main arguments that relate to the thesis, each well-supported by facts, evidence, and elaboration. The themes of the body paragraphs should relate to the essay title and the thesis statement. Front your strongest arguments first and go in order of decreasing strength.

The outline should have the structure of your essay. Let it be what you envision the top-grade essay to look like when complete. You can use the numbered approach when writing your outline to ensure that each point is presented. Also, your outline should determine the organization format: either spatial order or a chronological organization approach.

6. Write the first draft of the Essay

By now, you have everything you need to write an excellent essay that scores you an A. The remaining bit is to piece the information into a first draft. As a rule of thumb, when writing the first draft, focus on writing first and editing later. Following this will make essay writing less stressful and straightforward. Therefore, fill your outline by fulfilling the word count for every essay section.

Write the introduction

Begin writing your introduction with an opening statement. An excellent way to start your essay is by using facts, contradicting information, statistics, or statements that draw your readers' attention. These attention grabbers signal your readers to read your essay to get the main argument.

These statements should be catchy, concise, and straightforward. Ensure that they are not broad claims or statements without correct facts. After the hook statement or the attention grabber, have a few lines or sentences detailing the topic's background.

Introduce the context of the topic and let the readers know why they should read your essay. Help the reader context the topic you are handling in the essay. You can summarize theories or define concepts and terms.

By now, you have a preliminary or working thesis and need to refine it as you proceed or maintain it. Therefore, follow your background statement with your refined thesis statement.

The thesis statement should condense the gist of your entire essay in a sentence or two.

Each topic sentence is a mini-thesis statement, meaning it draws strength from it. For more extended essays, you can signpost the ideas as they appear in the paragraphs so that your readers know what to anticipate and in what order.

Write the body paragraphs.

After clearing your introduction, you need to develop the body paragraphs. A body paragraph should be between 130 words and 150 words. This means you should balance the sentences: using a mix of short and long sentences to achieve a reasonable word count.

Begin every paragraph with a distinct, relevant, and valid topic sentence. The topic sentences must connect to the thesis because each body paragraph elaborates on the thesis.

Have supporting details such as evidence, examples, illustrations, and explanations expounding on how the topic sentence and the evidence relate to the thesis and the topic.

Finally, you need a conclusion sentence that transitions your paragraph to the next one.

Write the conclusion

After writing the body paragraphs, complete your essay with a firm conclusion. 90% of the time, your professor, marker, or teacher will read the title, introduction, and conclusion and be able to tell the grade you get by skimming through the body paragraph.

A conclusion is worth 10% of the entire word count for your essay. Therefore, you have no time to introduce any new ideas. Instead, begin with the right conclusion statement and draw your readers' attention to the fact that the essay is coming to a close.

Next, write a summary wrapping up the main points in the body. Finally, your last sentence should be a call-to-action or final sentence that announces your stance on the topic.

• The minimum and maximum number of paragraphs in an essay
• How to write the last paragraph (conclusion) of an essay.
• Comparison essay writing guide.

7.  Proofread and Polish your Essay

Although there is no bulletproof way to write an essay, editing, and proofreading thoroughly can turn a below-average essay into a first-class essay. We have received average essays and edited/proofread them to the extent of scoring As and distinctions for our clients.

After completing your essay, you should edit for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and organization. Check whether your points are flowing or whether you need to reorganize the paper and revise your thesis statement.

Likewise, check and correct mistakes to make your paper readable, gradable, and destined for high scores. This is technically the last step in the essay writing process.

Before this step, you can take a break to refresh your brain, break the writing monotony, and develop an objective mind. When editing and proofreading, read aloud to determine if the sentences fit into the context of a paragraph.

When you are done editing, check whether you have met the word count, dotted all your Is and crossed all your Ts, achieved the proper in-text citations depending on the formatting style, and set up your paper to 1-inch margins and font Times New Roman or Arial size 12.

Sometimes, take advantage of our online proofreading and editing services, for they have saved and turned around grades!

8. Submit on Time

After you have ascertained that everything has fallen to its respective place, input your details, countercheck the submission guidelines, and submit the essay.

Submitting a well-written essay early increases the chance that your professor will read and mark it early when they still have a taste for marking.

You can bet that your essay will be marked and appropriate feedback is given. When submitting, ensure that your essay is in a Word document or any format your markers prefer.

Top 9 Hacks and Tips for the First-Class Essay on Any Subject

Now that you know the steps, here are some essay cheats, hacks, and tips to help you write a high-score essay without breaking a sweat. So, whether you want a first-class essay in your law, political science, geography, English and Literature, or government class, here are the tips to help you. These tips can help you write an essay even if you lack the motivation to write one.

1. Begin preparing and writing early

Once you are assigned to write an essay and want to score an A, you should plan, research, and write it early. 95% of the successful students always do and submit their assignments in three-quarters of the allotted time.

It allows them to write the essay when they still have the morale and burn. So, instead of waiting until the last minute, plan and begin writing your essay early.

Beginning early helps you reach out to your teacher for help with any questions regarding the essay prompt, topic, or essay questions. Sometimes, it also enables you to internalize everything and gather as many resources as required to write the essay.

2.  Avoid informal words

Never use words you are unsure of, slang, and other informal words in your essay. Instead of complicating things, make them plain and simple. Professors know many things; they also have a lot of other things to do.

Using words that will prompt them to use dictionaries as they mark your paper makes them hate marking it. When you keep it simple, you are an inch closer to scoring an A in your essay.

3. Demonstrate depth of knowledge

When writing your essay, you must demonstrate that you have researched well beyond the course reading materials. Lecturers prefer and like novel materials and ideas. It makes them think of your essay as one that has in-depth information. And such is fodder for a distinction essay. Therefore, when writing your essay, research widely and in-depth.

First-class essays do not clumsily have unsupported points. All the claims, arguments, and points have to be substantiated. And as you support them, ensure that you critically elaborate on the evidence and weave in your opinions to explain them further.

4. Have coherent arguments

 A good way of demonstrating knowledge depth is through coherently framing the arguments. Then, in most cases, form an opinion based on the research. And you can only do this if you have the essay question, topic, title, and thesis statement in mind.

You can then build insights and thought processes that can be established through reading the essay. When your essay has a high level of logical reasoning and critical thinking, it is undoubtedly a first-class essay.

Let the reader know where your essay stands, given the conceptual and theoretical framework available in the literature. Of course, every claim statement in your essay has to be supported using relevant evidence.

5. Have an essay outline or essay plan

We pride ourselves as a first-class essay service , given our insistence that writers develop essay plans and outlines. We have a post outlining the benefits of structuring your essay during pre-writing.

If you have a well-thought-out structure for your essay, you can present your arguments, support them, and give the right flow. First, map out your intro, body, and concluding paragraphs. A focused essay structure helps you visualize what falls where and in what order. That way, you can take your markers through the essay step-by-step.

6. Maintain Clarity and Style

With the basic structure of your essay, you can easily score a distinction on it, even if you write it at the last minute. The secret lies in ensuring your writing is clear, concise, coherent, comprehensive, compelling, and correct.

Your writing style should engage your readers right from the first sentence to the last dot for you to score an A. Only use the appropriate terms that demonstrate knowledge and not jargon or vocabulary that make reading your essay challenging.

Besides, stick to the citation and formatting styles to allow your readers to determine the scope and direction of your essay. Your arguments, too, must be solid and coherent. Let them demonstrate some technical knowledge to relate well with and engage your instructor or marker. Finally, a good essay sticks to the style requirements of the university or college.

And if there are opposing views, present them in your writing but show why your viewpoint is superior. This demonstrates maturity in your writing and that you have done in-depth research.

7. Use Quality sources and references

A distinction essay effectively uses core readings, further reading, and personal research (scholarly articles and sources outside of what is provided in class).

When incorporating the sources into your essay, use appropriate words such as posits, contends, illustrates, demonstrates, reports, assets, etc., to draw your readers' attention to the evidence.

 You should then provide appropriate citations and elaborate or expound on the evidence given in your thesis. Again, use recent sources (those published in the last five years) unless you have to cite seminal work or primary sources published in the past.

Strive to get scholarly sources from academic databases such as EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Jstor, PubMed, etc., which can be accessed via the university library. If unsure, you can also ask the librarian for good sources. And when you borrow ideas, cite every piece of information to avoid plagiarism in your essay .

8. Maintain originality

Plagiarism is the first of the things you can do to mess up a first-class essay. A top-grade essay demonstrates reasoning, creativity, critical thinking, and mature writing and presentation skills. As you weave in what others have said, bring in your personal perspective to demonstrate independence and mature reasoning.

You can do this in the body paragraphs. Present logical arguments that are concise, clear, complete, correct, and coherent. Demonstrate confidence in your writing by expressing your perspective when explaining the evidence. Stay formal and original all through to make a first-class essay.

Avoid using too many quotes from other sources unless stated otherwise. Likewise, do not paraphrase too much. Instead, let your personal opinion be seen and demonstrated through your writing.

9. Seek a second opinion before submitting

You can be stuck in your world of wrongness throughout the pre-writing, writing, and post-writing phases. However, when you have a second and third eye on your work, chances are that things will be okay. Therefore, check with someone outside your class, such as a professional proofreader, grading, marking services, or your professor, if your essay meets the standards set in the rubric.

Let them read and critique your essay's presentation, content, and organization. Our advice is that you take their critique seriously and revise the essay.

And as you revise, check the marking criteria to ascertain that your changes improve your grading. Remember, your target is beyond 75 marks to attain a first-class in your essay. Getting 80 points and above makes it a distinction essay.

Checklist for an A-grade Essay

A typical university- or college-level essay is assessed based on several characteristics that make it score an A or a lower grade. You can produce a first-class essay consistently if your paper meets the criteria below. After writing your essay, ensure to countercheck if it checks all the checkboxes in this first-class essay checklist.

Introduction

• Appropriate and relevant use of a hook statement to grab the attention of the readers
• Use of transitions to introduce the topic and the essay question
• An outstanding thesis statement that is debatable, informative, and concise
• Signposts the ideas in the essay
• Is 10% of the entire essay
• Uses clear topic sentences with a variety of placements
• The topic sentences relate to the topic and thesis
• Uses strong transitions into support sentences
• Incorporates sufficient evidence (quotations, paraphrases, and summaries) from scholarly sources
• Good organization of ideas and points
• Clarity of the writing and choice of language
• Demonstrates solid research without over-relying on a few sources to support claims and arguments
• Provides abundant and supported examples and elaborations
• Has outstanding concluding sentences with transitions to the following paragraphs
• Meets the word count allotted for the body paragraphs (80% of the word count)
• Has in-text citations as necessary
• Has original thought and demonstrates imagination
• Uses strong clincher sentences
• Begins with appropriate conclusion starters
• Links to the introduction to the body
• Summarizes the main points
• Creates closure or final insight that comes in the form of a lesson or call to action
• It does not introduce any new ideas

We often get questions regarding how to write good essays. We have provided answers below to some of the commonly asked questions.

What is the score for a first-class essay?

The score for a first-class or distinction essay varies depending on the university. Some universities cap 65-75 as the best score, whereas others are 70-80 percent. To be safe, strive to write essays scoring at least 80% to attain first-class grading.

Can someone write a first-class essay fast?

Yes, you can write a perfect essay that scores the top grade in your rubric. To do so, research, read, plan, and write well. Ensure that your essay's argument is supported and weaved in your voice. Your essay should be mechanically sound and devoid of any errors and mistakes. A first-class essay is good; it is written up to the standards of essay writing and has a thesis statement, a hook, and a reasonable conclusion.

How do you begin writing an essay?

Start writing your essay using an attention-grabber or a hook. Let it be a statement, an idea, a fact, a statistic, or some statement that can attract the attention of any reader. Let the readers know the value of your essay off the bat.

Can I score an A in an essay if I write it overnight?

Yes, why not? If you get your peace and pieces of ideas, thoughts, and arguments together and follow the eight steps we illustrated and the tips we gave, you can write an essay overnight and score an A. But, of course, the secret lies in how deep your research is. Writing an A-grade essay is as easy as snapping your finger if you have researched well. Oh! And remember to organize your research; this is where your essay plan and outline comes in handy.

How can I write a first-class law essay?

To write a distinction law essay, start in advance. Deconstruct the question early enough, research widely, write an essay plan, write your essay, include the relevant citations, meet the length requirements, and have a reasonable conclusion.

How do I write a political science essay that scores an A?

When writing a political science essay, choose a good topic. Ensure that you can convince your readers using the few words at hand. Plan your essay early enough, brainstorm ideas, write an outline, write the paper beginning with the intro and finishing with a conclusion, polish your thesis, and proofread the essay.

How many sources should I use in my essay for the best scores?

Referencing is a mainstay in academic essay writing. References help the markers understand your thought process and tell the reader you have researched. Writing an essay with evidence helps shine a light on your readers and advances a scholarly discussion. It is proof that you organized your ideas, researched what scholars are saying, integrated the evidence into your essay then explained using your own words.

The number of sources you can use depends on the length of your essay, the data you are using, and the university essay instructions. A one-page essay should have at least two references. A two-page essay can have 4-5 references. The three-page essay will have at least 6-8 references, and the trend continues.

If you are writing a 1200 to1500-word essay, use 10-13 sources. And if you are writing a 2000 words essay, have up to 15 or 17 references. A 10-page essay can have up to 20 sources. Do not depend on just two to three references when writing an essay beyond two pages. In most cases, you will be told the number of sources to use. Do not overcite as you need to present your opinion as well.

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How to Write a First Class Essay

When you write a first class essay, a primary concern is the right know how & comprehension of the precise stipulations asked by the lecturer, keep in mind that all of the written & oral instructions from your teachers who will check on you. To add up to this, if there may be any queries rising, don’t be hesitant to inquire before you start with the writing, this can help you save a lot of time in possibly rewriting your errors later on.

Before you make a research about how to write a first class essay , you need to keep in mind that the ideas must be shown in clear and very reasonable way.  If you can manage your ideas well, there will be a very strong argument. The rationale arrangements will share of the convincing power and keep in mind that you are not obliged to go over the detail, since your argument will be elaborated and protected in the next part of the paper. There are few ways to learn how to write a first class essay .

Initially, you need to learn how to have a powerful argument and strong structure of the paper, which will entice your readers to go on and finish reading the paper. Hence, you must show off some of your insights in short and precise paragraphs, imposing creative style of writing, good language abilities and freedom in thinking. The construction of the paper will be according to the argument or topic you have selected. It will answer the question what, how & why of the primary argument. As an outcome, you will surely boost your possibilities of getting a high mark.

  Even if the arrangement differs for every essay, the pattern might seem to appear in how to write a first class essay. A well written essay normally has these mechanisms, the introduction, the main body & the conclusion. A first class essay starts with the introduction section & its essence is provided by the role of enticing the  interests of the readers in what is going to be tackled and what arguments must be used to invite them, a well written introductory page will always make the reader more responsible about the shown arguments. The introduction should only be short and you need not use a lot of details.

The main body is the lengthiest part of the writing and it must contain an introduction sentence, the thoughts that you want to relay to the readers, the sustaining arguments & a final sentence, all structured in well-made paragraphs. The chosen argument dictates the number of paragraphs, but in principle that the main body is the part where the questions why, what and how will all be answered. The question what is essential to the paper for the readers and you also need to elaborate every claim and then bring proof, so you can also try to make your readers fully comprehend your thoughts and show some proof that you also have a know how about the topic.

When you answer the question how, keep in mind that the readers should comprehend if the statements are just composed for a general topic or if they are only written to convince a particular case. Moreover, in composing your first class essay, keep in mind that counterarguments must be taking over your arguments; you need to carefully work on your chosen counterarguments to be sure that the paper will give an appropriate presentation of the topic that must be discussed.

The next step in learning how to write a first class essay is to answer the question why. You must who your readers are and expect if they will comprehend and impartially assess your arguments. Focus on the truth that the readers has every right to find out the reasons behind the topics you have picked to present, so be sure that your paper is easy to understand.

If you want to compose a first class essay, you need to give a good presentation of the arguments. This is very essential in working on an essay. Summing up the arguments is a structural mistake that will make your paper weak. Hence, structuring the arguments and then keeping them similar to a debate will stimulate the interest of the readers.  Another usual error in a poorly written paper is neglecting to show a strong theoretical base. Accordingly, protect & make your view point stronger about the theme you have chosen to discuss in the paper by means of getting enough number of references.

If you will use significant remarks accordingly to emphasize strong points tackled in the main body, you will surely get a high score. A well written conclusion will eliminate the doubts from the readers about the rationality of the methods you used and will summarize the discussion, showing the suitability of your viewpoint and the relation of the discovery.

Originality and knowledge

  Learning the ways to compose a first class essay includes the right presentation of the thesis itself. You must learn how to organize your paper, so that the reader will easily comprehend your view point.  You are highly suggested to use an impersonal & informal style & offer a sense of professionalism that is well suited for the thesis. A first class essay must always be unique and well thought of, showing your capacity to think freely and without supervision. More so, your thoughts should be shown clearly to the readers, enticing them to go on in reading your paper. You are advised to make a comparison and distinction about various academic insights, which will make your argument powerful.

Lecturers are expected to have a clear understanding of the text. This is to be able to express & convey your own comprehension; you will often times find it appropriate to convey the language of the other authors in such a way that you can represent your own ideas, this is understandable to deliberate on your understanding while going through this stage, which will allow you to show appreciation of your own level of understanding and learn how to formulate arguments and counterarguments required in a balanced debate.

For an appropriate documentation procedure, the most advantageous when you learn the ways to write a first class essay, sites like Google, scholar, Google books & springer link are highly suggested. If you do not have time, know how and self-assurance, then you can easily get the essay writing advice in the essay writing part of our site. It is essential to bear in mind that the precise formatting style asked by the lecturer. If there are no style formats requested by you, then you can use the Harvard or the APA, which are always used in academic essay writing.

The last step in working for an essay is to submit it to your lecturer for the proofreading. As soon as the essay is done, revision is highly recommended to have the right grammar, spelling and logical flow errors. To be able to achieve this, you can also check the paper again or better yet, ask your friends to find some errors if there are some or better use a spell checker for it. You can also ask a professional to the revision like the The Uni Tutor.

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how do you write a top quality essay to get first class degree?

How do you receive a first-class degree.

Here are the top ways to obtain an honors grade of first-class at a university:

Keep your eyes on the best mark.

It's not to say that it's obvious or anything else, but if you're seeking the first-class level, you must be prepared to give the most effort .

Students who earn an honors degree of first-class are the ones who always strive to be the best throughout the year, not just securing now and then top marks and hoping that they'll get just a handful of minimum scores.

To get consistently excellent academic results at school, you'll have to prepare ahead, be organized, and try to complete your work in plenty of time before the deadline. In addition, you'll have to improve your productivity. You are being more efficient.

Although you may think that you're a good writer under pressure, don't fall enough to believe that you'll be able to get an A grade by putting everything until the very final minute. If you often leave your coursework up to one next day, just before the deadline, consider asking yourself what you'd like to get from the first-class degree.

Develop your research skills

If you're wondering, "I've been to all my lectures and seminars, so I'm doing everything I can," You might decide to quit right now.

Contact hours at the university are typically low. While it's crucial to attend every class, it's time you work between classes and in lectures that count. Study your handbook for the course carefully, and you'll discover that you must be working hard and doing a significant amount of work during your spare time.

A first-class honors degree isn't about grinding the way to success or trying to complete an essay in one day. When you're serious about this taking a look beyond your reading list of recommended books is essential.

It's not about reading books on academic subjects from cover to cover. Don't waste time reading in one go; It's ineffective, and you'll wind in a state of forgetting most of what you have read.

Instead, it would help if you bookmarked relevant websites, Set Google Alerts for topics you're considering writing essays about, and generally attempt to stay up-to-date on current debates. Researching the latest developments in your field of research interests is a must in your routine .

Studying and discovering diverse perspectives will help you think critically and develop a personal opinion (don't simply assume the same position as your instructors since this isn't the goal and won't be a good way to make them feel good about themselves.

Except if you're genuinely defending your position, that is, of course).

Make use of the library resources available at the university.

Although online journals can be an excellent resource, the highest grades are usually given to students who have shown that they've tried to use several different sources, such as old papers.

We're not suggesting you create your library shop between dawn and dusk. Placing half of all of the stuff in your room on your desk to make you feel more at ease even as you appear you're working. As you might have already guessed, we're not a big fan of this.

Make the library your space to concentrate. After some time, you'll appreciate the process of searching for books and finding those pertinent to your interests.

Keep track of every thought or fact you learn from the book before you put the book back on your shelf (i.e., note down all pertinent pages, chapter authors, serial numbers, authors, all of it). If you've never written this information down, you'll have to go back to the book and will be resentful for it.

Whatever you do, do not make the mistake of mentioning a critic without any justification. Understanding your critics and making an informed decision on whether you agree with or disagree with their opinions is crucial.

Remember that a first-class student is likely to come up with an idea and utilize critical sources to back the idea, not the other opposite .

Enhance Your presentation

It's not unusual for students to fall short of a first-class honors degree because they believe the presentation style doesn't matter.

It's essential to ensure the correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar in your essay. Many instructors will slash your grades significantly if your writing isn't top-quality, regardless of how good your ideas may be.

Writing well-developed skills can help you communicate your thoughts effectively. It can also help make a dull subject seem fascinating (an accomplishment by itself).

If you have trouble with the art of writing essays, It's not an issue. You should start your course longer to give yourself enough time to edit it afterward fully.

The computer program you use to write your papers includes spell checkers. These are likely to be able to spot grammar errors, too. If not, download Grammarly.

You can also email your assignments to someone in your family or an acquaintance and invite them (nicely) to review your work for any obvious mistakes.

If you're concerned about your writing abilities and think you could benefit more with a little help, contact your university's educational support. They're there for a reason! Don't let this hinder your chances of earning that first-class grade.

Ask your tutors for assistance.

Make appointments with your tutors whenever you can, whether to discuss a project you're planning to tackle to get feedback or to talk about your ideas. tutors are paid to help you and assist those struggling.

It is also possible to earn brownie points for discussing an interesting topic in their area of specialization. It shows that you are interested in the subject and provides them with an opportunity to see a new view on a topic they've likely been drowning in for the past decade.

You can set up meetings via email or by asking after a conference. If the teacher has graded you, take it in and ask how you can improve. Tell them about any areas you've struggled with, and don't spend your time asking for specific feedback on all your work, and you'll end up in the bad books.

Take advantage of your classes at the university.

In the first point, the requirement to attend seminars and lectures is a different (very vital) component of the piece of the class degree puzzle.

Making sure you're on time for every one of your scheduled obligations is the most basic thing you can do to maximize the value of your education. If you require convincing, try the price-per-hour tool to determine how much you're spending each time you choose to stay up late for the 9 am class.

Being present in class is another way to win over your teachers (who are grading each of your assignments). They'll likely find it more difficult when they grade work from people who don't attend class, as opposed to someone they know is taking part and doing the best they can each week.

Be careful when you are using social media.

While social media is fun, however enjoyable it may be, nothing is achieved. Studies have revealed that social media only adds to the stress of university since you're more likely to be comparing yourself to other students.

Therefore, it is not surprising that all day long on social media can be pretty poor for your grades.

If you can resist, you can set yourself a target not to use social media after the late hours. If you're struggling with this aspect of your addiction is extremely serious, you might think about temporarily deactivating your accounts.

Select topics that you are interested in.

The purpose of getting an education degree is to increase your knowledge of the field. And the most detrimental thing you could do is focus on a subject that does not inspire you.

It's unlikely that each task will be awe-inspiring to you. However, it would help if you chose exam topics and essay topics in which you're interested. If you're not inspired by the topic you're writing about is a guarantee that your readers are also.

Throughout the year, note any information you've heard about in classes that you find fascinating. This list will be your saving grace when the time to write your dissertation arrives.

What Does a First-Class Essay Look Like?

First-class essays are essays that precisely and succinctly address the essay's questions and cover every aspect of the assignment concisely. First-class essays will go beyond the fundamental requirements and display a knowledge of the subject on behalf of the student, as well as eloquently written content that includes different viewpoints and arguments and demonstrates the originality of thought organized coherently. The design of the first-class essay can be examined in greater in-depth by examining every section.

Introduction

The purpose of the intro is to provide the reader with an introduction to the subject and create an interest that will make them want to keep reading. In addition, the introduction must be able to explain what the topic is about and set the stage for the following text.

The essay's body must be broken down into simple to read paragraphs that are logical and cover a distinct aspect of the subject matter that offers substantial content, which adds to how the essay is addressed. Many different kinds of essay formats could be used depending on the essay being composed.

For an argumentative paper, students may present the case that begins with the underlying issues in the initial few paragraphs before proceeding to the arguments that contradict each other. In other words, every issue related to the essay topic could be discussed and refuted in the following paragraphs.

When the writing is written in an expository way, it will have more factual information backed with deeper research. Contrastive or contradictory evidence is included in the concept theory, theory, or review research. In all instances, it is recommended to use authentic examples that illustrate how could benefit from the theories is a great way to show the understanding of the concept and serve as the opportunity for the integration of original ideas.

In all cases, the style should flow smoothly in a seamless manner, with one paragraph flowing to the next, and the contents should be able to answer the questions without straying. Furthermore, the structure should guide readers in a coherent direction, moving from general ideas to more specific concepts. In all first-class essays, the ideas from all available sources will be thoroughly and precisely cited according to the format of citations demanded by the educational institution.

The conclusion should flow naturally from the part of the text by reiterating the ideas or facts previously described. There should be no new theories or concepts required within this part. The conclusion should summarize the key elements related to the query posed in the introduction. The conclusion should provide an easy and concise response with any objections or remarks.

How To Write A Law Essay?

Writing reflectively.

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Recommendations For Writing The Best First-Class Essay And Leveling Up Your Degree

This article will be dedicated to the first-class essay writing, how you can create it and use for improving your chances to graduate from the university with a first overall.

Recent reports inform that more students in the USA/UK are regularly awarded a first-class degree, comparing to the previous years. This is not surprising that some people consider this is that result of decreasing university standards.

Students now pay for their education and there are some assumptions that universities want to fulfill their clients’ desire to get “privileges”. Sure, this can be a reason for the increasing number of first-class graduates. But this also can be resulted by the fact that students improved their researching and writing skills and become able to write better first-class works. They now know better how to make examining notes etc. Moreover, they often share some recommendations and tips with each other that allow more students to improve their results.

Why this information can be useful to you? Well, if you think that now you have more chances of ad an undergraduate to be rewarded with first-class, you should better hold the horses. To achieve a first-class degree, you need to work hard and be dedicated to the subject of your study.

Regardless of the reasons for an increasing number of first-class degree holder, the following things are very likely:

– Universities will make their standards even stricter. They will revise the criteria for awarding graduates with first-class degrees and the works for this degree will be estimated closer;

– Due to the increasing number of graduates with first-class degrees on the job market, HRs will expect this in any other applications by default.

How to get a First?

So, do you want to get your own new and shining first-class degree after you graduate? Sure, you would not mind getting an extra prof for your professionalism. That is why you need to know more about what can make you stand out considering your goals.

Here are some tips:

– Try to write your first-class essay and constantly practice to improve your skills.

It is obvious that the more you write and develop your writing skills, the more chances you will have to get the highest overall. Moreover, getting first-class after your essay is not to the complicated task anyway. But we will get back to this later.

– Deepen your knowledge of the subject.

When you read an essay, you can tell almost for sure whether the author of it was engaged with the topic and the subject and got into every detail. It is also noticeable when the text is written only with understanding the basics.

– Learn how to express your thoughts and expertise.

Even if you have learned every possible material on your subject and know everything about your topic, you still require skills to express your expertise fluently. You need to know how to implement your knowledge into the problem-solving activity.

It is daunting when the person has the deepest knowledge in the topic but cannot convey it. If you have received feedback that you need to improve your text, trying to express the thoughts in your own word, use this as an opportunity to improve your skills. Use all the available tools for improving your writing such as online tutorials, mentors or university writing workshops. Almost every university provides help for students in order to help them to improve their skills, especially in writing. Usually, they take place in the libraries.

You can also look for Tutoriage blog and study its posts to get general tips and advice on academic writing.

Moreover, such services can be a great place to ask for writing assistance. For instance, we have academic writers who are experts in their task and they can provide you with the completely original essay, without plagiarized parts of other flaws.

– Be prepared to work hard and put all efforts on this task.

Simple following the points of your writing assignment is not enough to stand out. After all, this is why the classing system was incorporated. You need to show results that are much better than average good results of the second-class category. Think out of the box. Discover the new ways of expressing your thoughts, disclosing your subject. Find the opportunity to explain the topic to make it memorable for the reader.

– But the most important point is: you need to be a gambler!

You need to realize that you need to take risks in order to come out of the second-class level and do your best to reach the reward. We will talk more about it further in the text, but now you need to get the main idea that sometimes you may require to act controversially and be skeptical towards your own work.

You also have to be prepared to make a step back sometimes. If you have ever seen the poker game where only professionals take part in, you might have noticed that even the best player leave the table sometimes. But be sure, they do so because it is their choice.

What is a First-class essay exactly?

We have talked about various things like risks, enhancing expertise, looking for opportunities to express your thoughts etc. But it may sound too abstract. People who write such essays may have a different point of view on the creating process. But we all will agree to the same look of the first-class essay and that it has the same features, regardless of the topic or subject:

• The accurate following of the points from the assignment.

You may consider that it goes without saying – follow the points in your brief. But can you tell for sure that you study the brief good before start writing? When it comes to the first-class essay, the main features of it would be originality and creativity. But following the instructions is on the same importance level.

If you have previously composed guidelines on how your essay should look like, follow the given instructions. You can take some notes on the most complicated points to may more time to them. But you need to check with the brief from time to time in order to walk in the right direction and exclude cases when you need to rewrite everything from the very beginning.

Protect yourself from the situations when you have written a great essay from scratch, but not following the brief will spoil all the impression about it. Yes, originality is really important. But the accuracy is as much important and if you meet all the requirements, you will get all the credits.

• Use clear and understandable argumentation.

Another distinctive feature of the first-class essays is that they are explicit about their intentions. Your reader must understand what points you are going to prove from the first paragraphs. And by the end of it receive the conclusion that will explain your points.

Your essay should be shaped by your main idea, your thesis. So work on it and thought it through well. When it comes to the first-class essay, it should not be just a retelling the thoughts of the original material. You need to express your views on one or another aspect. You need to make the reader want to follow your thinking process.

• Maintain your arguments.

Your essay is not about the complicated arguments, but about proving them right. You need to include thoughts from various sources in order to prove your points. Make sure that all your arguments and explanations are in the logical sequence.

Sometimes undergraduates forget that they need also to provide counter-argumentations as well. If you know that there are some opposite points of view on the aspect you are disclosing, mention this in your essay. You can also quote the authors of the opposite thoughts. Or you can assume what opposite arguments could be used in the discussion of the topic. Using this “tool” you can prove your point, even more, comparing it to the alternatives.

If you do everything right, you will see that the opposite thoughts do not distract from your main views but just support them and provide additional proofs. You show that you have evaluated all the possible arguments and still are confirmed that your statement is right.

• Develop a logical structure that will suit your task.

We all have ever had to write comparative essays about a few things, let’s say books. And we probably all face the same problem: we had so much to write about the text and completely nothing about another one. Do you have any techniques to avoid such problems? It is fine when you start working on the essay where you can simply write down all your thoughts on a particular topic. You decide to focus on the aspects you care about, forgetting completely on the aspects you are supposed to write about as well. And you end up with having an essay with 1000 words one book you liked and less than 300 words at the end of the essay about the one you did not like. For such cases, you need to adjust your mindset for writing the first-class essay.

The remarkable feature of the good first-class essay is that it contains all relevant proofs for the points in a logical sequence and in a way to suit reaching the goal. It is not shaped by the aspects the author finds interesting. You need to maintain the balance between things you care about and the arguments that are required for disclosing the topic.

• Intellectual risks and proofs of in-depth engagement.

This is the point that discloses the going-above-and-beyond aspect. Everything about your essay starting with the intro and ending with the list of references will serve as a marker of how deep you are engaged in the topic you have disclosed. And if you have done deep research, used various sources of information to study all the aspects of the topic, then you have got more chances to overcome other graduates and show results worth first-class degree. But this is not the main challenge. You also need to be sure that all arguments and fact you present to prove the point should be organized in a logical sequence.

• Prove you realize your input in the process of creation of the knowledge.

Many students do not pay attention to this aspect as they consider they cannot make a serious contribution to general academic knowledge. But in fact, we all are the participant of this process. Students often may affect the views of the tutors on the well-known aspects of the subjects. This even may lead to the changing of the way of teaching etc. So the students who want to get a first-class degree should be aware of this and realize that they also can influence the direction of knowledge development.

There are two main things you need to pay attention to considering this. Firstly, you need to select the sources of information carefully and in accordance with your subject. Secondly, take into consideration the style of those sources. You can incorporate the way the respectable scholar write and use similar phrases, like openings or the conclusions etc.

Shortly speaking, your essay should be presented in the following way:

Clear purpose, integrated structure, original arguments and confident presenting of thoughts.

Sure thing, you will not become a master in essay writing in a blink of an eye. You need time to practice and learn all these aspects. But constant work on this will definitely bring you closer to the level that first-class degree holders deserve. But now use some tips that will help you on your way:

An early start

There are high chances that you will have a lot on your plate during the term. If you have access to the syllabus, take some notes on what essays it will include and what tasks you will need to cover. Think about them in advance. If your studying starts in September, find some time during the summer to prepare for future work. This is the time when you can easily define the areas that will be interesting to you.

As soon as your module starts, you need to realize that it is never early to start working on your essay, even if the deadline is far. Do not miss the opportunity to choose the most interesting topic, as other students may also be engaged with the same things. As soon as you have got it, you can start reading about it, collecting sources of information and stimulate your own critical thinking.

Read beyond the syllabus

Regular students often consider that if they have got a reading list, all they need to do is just read it. They do not look beyond it. And as soon as they have done “all the reading”, they think that their task is completed. But being a first-class student you need to realize that the reading list is just a starting point. You can use it as a source of origins and stories connected to your topic. Having this approach, you will find materials that will be above the one that is offered in the syllabus.

Research the literature offered in the syllabus and look for the original sources of the thoughts that are disclosed there. Often there are suggested simplified versions or materials that were sourced from the original and more complicated scholar works. In the syllabus, those materials are presented in a form of overview for easier understanding. But if you will find the full version of the work, you will get a deeper understanding of the topic and may find some useful points as well.

Create your bibliography during the research

Take notes of what sources and materials you use during your research. This will definitely save some of your time later. But collecting all the sources from the syllabus and during the research can be time-consuming as well. So you need to take advantage of the special referencing tools that save your time on organizing the sources. You need to make a habit to add all the sources you use to these tools like software for bibliography creation or similar.

Ask your tutor or other students whether your university has a subscription to the premium tools like RefWorks or Endnote. There might be available free version of Zotero as well, and it will be enough for collecting sources. Usually, these tools are based on adding DOI to your text while working on it. This method is the most informative as this identifier keep all the details about the source and the reader may refer to it (if it is an open source).

We also advise you to organize your researches and divide it into the categories. This will help you to find the required source, if needed and to cover all the aspects without missing any.

Create your own topic ideas, and consult with to your tutor

Even if you like to work alone and skip meetings with your tutor, you need to do so if you want to work on your first-class essay. This is the sign of your serious attitude to the thing you do. Visit every meeting with your tutor as often as possible. Use them as an opportunity to discuss all your ideas and find the right direction for topic disclosing. If it is allowed, create your own topic to make sure it will be interesting to you and original. If you do not know whether it is possible to do so, ask whether you have this opportunity.

The best way to show that you are engaged and able to write an original content is to suggest a particular topic. This is a great opportunity to show that you are interested in creating something original and new. You will not lose anything, but you will definitely show your enthusiasm that can add you some points at the very beginning of your work. Your tutor may guide you in the right direction, but in most cases, they approve student’s ideas and help them in defining the right arguments and sources.

Learn how to express your own thoughts

Students often got frustrated if they receive feedback where their work was estimated as second-class worthy. This can be resulted due to the troubles with the student’s own understanding of the topic. During the work on the essay, the students usually read a lot and it is mostly a good thing. But sometimes it may cause a loss of confidence in your own ideas.

You may be tempting just to rewrite the materials of other scholars and simply express their thoughts in other words. This may be caused by the fact that you have read a lot of works on this topic and you “borrow” the point of view of the scholars.

But this approach cannot bring you closer to a first-class degree as, apart from the deep knowledge of the topic and scholars thoughts; you need to express in your essay your own positions about everything in it. You need to think what thoughts you share and what ideas do not relate to you. Ask yourself some questions like:

• Do I share this opinion?
• Why? Why not?
• What arguments can help me to defend my position?

Take some time to think about these things on every stage of your researching and essay writing. This is the right approach if you want a first-class degree. Sure, there is a risk that you did not understand some fundamentals correctly. And eventually, your argument will be built on the wrong fundament.

But it is a part of our life when we can make mistakes and chose the wrong direction. You do not have to be embarrassed or disappointed in yourself. Being a gambler, you will be able to cope with these realities. After all, you always can consult with your tutor. Ask him/her to reread your essay or the first drafts and correct some critically wring aspects.

Is it worth the risk?

Sure! We all understand that risks in academic writing can exist. But following the guidelines from this article as well as recommendations of your tutor will allow you to minimize cases of failures. Moreover, you will definitely grow as an academic.

People who will estimate your essay will consider this as well, but they will show what aspects of your essay do not fit. Even if your risks will not work out, you will definitely get much higher than you could by playing the safe “2:1” zone. So anyway you will get a higher mark and will enhance your writing skills.

Also, you will get more benefits from working deeper on the topic, than just an academic recognition. You will become more educated and your thinking will become more trained. You will not be afraid to express your thoughts as you will always have the argumentation to support them. So, good luck you with your professional and personal growth.