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Get Ready to Write

Improve your writing by planning, editing and proofreading.

When you’re working on an extended piece of writing, it’s important to make sure you’re comfortable writing in an academic style. These resources will support you in preparing for writing an essay, and help you to express yourself clearly and confidently in your academic writing.

Academic writing

Develop, edit and manage your academic writing.

Features of academic writing

Understand how to produce effective academic writing.

How to write to a word count

Strategies to ensure you can stick to a word count.

Punctuation

Get help with using punctuation accurately and consistently.

Using evidence in your work

Understand how to use evidence more effectively in your work.

Proofreading

Learn strategies to help you spot and fix mistakes in your writing.

Planning your essay

Plan each stage of writing your essay.

The stages of writing an essay

Try re-ordering the stages of writing an essay to reveal how long you should spend on each.

Essay planner

If you’re about to start working on an essay or report, enter your deadline into this tool to generate a personalised timeline.

Building your argument

Building an argument is a key part of writing academic essays.

1. Making arguments

Learn about making arguments in your work.

2. Understanding how to build an argument

Understand how Bloom's Taxonomy can help you to develop your argument.

3. Forming your argument

Learn how to communicate your argument effectively to others.

Responding to feedback on your writing

Use feedback from your lecturers and tutors to help you develop your work.

Receiving feedback on your work

Get advice on how to process receiving feedback on your work.

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The student-led project that culminated in this website won the University’s Vice Chancellor’s Education Excellence Award in 2025 and was shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Award in 2023.

Illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon.