1. What the examiner rewards
Every WAEC essay is marked for content, organisation, expression and mechanical accuracy. Content means you answered the exact question asked; organisation means a clear plan a stranger can follow; expression means varied, precise sentences; accuracy means grammar, spelling and punctuation that do not interrupt the reader.
- Underline the key instruction: narrate, argue, describe, or explain
- Narration wants events in time order; argument wants points plus rebuttal
- A formal letter earns its salutation, indentation and complimentary close
Key point: half of lost marks are lost to answering a question the paper did not ask.
2. The five-paragraph plan
The safest structure for a 450-word essay is one you can rehearse tonight.
- Introduction: restate the topic in your own words and announce your stance
- First body paragraph: your strongest point, one example, one explanation
- Second body paragraph: next point, developed the same way
- Third body paragraph: acknowledge the other side, then answer it
- Conclusion: restate the stance and close with one memorable line
Each paragraph is a point, example, explanation sandwich. One idea per paragraph; the moment you start a new idea, start a new paragraph.
The paragraph rule
A paragraph opens with a topic sentence, develops it with two or three supporting sentences, and closes by linking to the next paragraph. If you cannot name the topic sentence, the paragraph has no job.
3. The errors that cost the most
- Tense drift: pick past or present for narration and hold it to the end
- Subject-verb disagreement: "the boys were", not "the boys was"
- Ambiguous pronouns: every "he", "she" and "it" must point at one clear noun
- Spelling of small words: "receive", "accommodation", "government", "alright is not accepted, use all right"
- Punctuation: a comma splice joins two full sentences with only a comma
Key point: reserve five minutes at the end to hunt these five errors. It is the cheapest mark you will ever buy.
4. Practice loop
Write one timed essay per week on paper, mark it against the four criteria, and rewrite only the weakest paragraph. Rewriting beats re-reading: the hand learns the fix the eye merely noticed.