ESSAY GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS

The following is intended as a generic guide for essay-writing. It is not definitive, as there is
no single “right way” in which to write an essay, but some simple tips might be useful.

1. Always write a plan before embarking on the essay. This will provide you with the
basic framework for your answer.
2. Be sure to answer the specific question. Read the essay title several times and be
absolutely clear about what it is you are being asked to discuss.
3. Create a coherent structure. An introductory paragraph should outline for the reader
your intended argument. The bulk of the essay will elaborate and explore the themes
which you have sketched in the introduction. A conclusion should summarise your
argument and offer a concise but informed critique of the subject under discussion.
4. Your personal opinion on the subject of the essay is valid, but should be backed up by
authority from citable sources, e.g. cases, statutes, books, articles from academic
journals.
5. Offer analysis and criticism of the particular area of law, policy and/or practice under
discussion, rather than mere description.
6. Write with clarity and simplicity. A convoluted writing-style invariably obscures any
argument which the writer is trying to make. In other words, don’t use twenty words
when ten will suffice. Read the essay aloud to yourself. Does it make sense? Is your
argument as clear and coherent as it should be?
7. Number all pages.
8. All quotations, from any source, should be in inverted commas and acknowledged in
footnotes. Failure to do so may lead to charges of cheating.
9. Cite all sources in footnotes, giving full publication details the first time you refer to
that particular source. If you are quoting from a source, always give the page number
from which the quotation was taken. If you refer to a source again, you should
acknowledge it in footnotes, but abbreviate the reference.
10. Do not exceed the word limit. The word limit includes all the main text (apart from
the essay title) and any discursive text in footnotes. The word count does not include
the full citation of sources, given in footnotes.
11. Always include a bibliography at the end of your essay, in which you give full
publication details of all works to which you have referred. Each entry should include
the following: author (surname, followed by first name[s] or initials), title of work,
place of publication, publisher, year of publication, number of volumes [if more than
one]). Include also separate tables of cases and statutes to which you have referred,
giving full citations. The bibliography, and tables of cases and statutes, are not
included in the word count.