It is extremely important that you understand exactly what the question is asking you and you need to make sure you stay focussed. Research shows that as many as 70-80% of candidates do not answer the question that they claim to answer. For example, candidates have been known to misinterpret the question, causing them to veer from the focus of the question and consequently write off-topic. This was notable with the following question:
– Should children strike to demand action on a major issue such as climate change?
Many students wrote all about the theme of climate change, not realising that this was just one example given by in the question.
Two other questions that might lead to misinterpretation are as follows:
– In our country, every citizen has one vote. A scheme is proposed which allows anybody to buy additional votes if they want to, with the proceeds being used to pay for good causes. Would this be a good scheme?
It is possible that you might focus on what good causes are and the benefits they bring to society, instead of discussing the proposed scheme which lets people who can afford it to buy extra votes and the implications that this might have.
– Should journalists only be allowed to follow their profession if licensed to do so, like medical doctors?
Here, the example of medical doctors is given and it might be easy to compare journalists with doctors, instead of thinking about the many other professionals in society who are also licensed (such as teachers, architects, engineers etc.).