Interpret and select an essay question
Read the command, key terms and limits before selecting a question and planning the exact argument it requires.
Original StudyForA teaching and fictional practice scenarios. Model responses illustrate reasoning; other well-supported answers are possible. These tasks do not award Cambridge marks or grades. A broad topic map is not a complete current-affairs reading programme. Full-length unseen-paper practice, an authenticated reading bank and calibrated human assessment remain outstanding.
Before you begin
- Read short English passages
- Distinguish a claim from its supporting reason
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What should a reasoned answer do?
What you will learn
- Identify an essay’s command, scope and restrictions
- Choose a question with relevant knowledge and a workable argument
Read the boundaries
Underline the decision or claim, the command and qualifiers such as only, always, in your country or to what extent. Define ambiguous terms in a way that is useful for the question. Discuss asks for consideration of an issue; an extent question also needs a judgement about how far a claim holds.
Choose a question you can answer with relevant examples and counterarguments. Recognising a topic is not enough: a question about public funding requires a funding argument, not a history of the activity. Test your choice with a two-sided outline before committing.
Make a task-specific plan
Write a provisional answer, two or three distinct reasons, the evidence for each, a counterargument and the criterion for your conclusion. If a national setting is required, centre it in your answer; international comparisons should illuminate that setting rather than replace it.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
What should come before choosing an example?
Worked example
Interpret: ‘To what extent should public transport be free in your country?’
Show the worked solution
- Focus on a public policy choice, not transport history.
- Define free at point of use and identify who funds it.
- Make a national judgement using affordability, access and capacity.
Answer The essay should judge how far fare-free transport is desirable in the specified country, distinguishing user fares from public cost. Relevant reasons could concern access, funding and capacity, with a counterargument and a conclusion tied to the national context. A general description of buses does not answer it.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Guided: Identify the restriction in ‘Is online education the best solution for rural learners?’
Give me a hint
Look for the group and the comparison.
Compare my reasoning
- The group is rural learners.
- Best requires comparison with alternatives.
- Solution needs criteria such as access and learning quality.
The essay must focus on rural learners and compare online education with feasible alternatives. It should define what best means, considering connectivity, teaching quality, costs and access. Evidence about urban learners alone would not resolve the required question.
Look for these in your work
- Identifies the group
- Recognises comparison
- Defines criteria
Independent: Why is a paragraph about the history of libraries insufficient for ‘Should libraries receive more public funding?’
Give me a hint
Connect information to the allocation decision.
Compare my reasoning
- The question asks for a policy judgement.
- History can be relevant if it explains a present role.
- The paragraph needs benefits, costs or alternatives linked to funding.
Historical information can help explain a library’s role, but the task requires a judgement about allocating more public money. A relevant paragraph must connect the history to present benefits, needs, costs or alternatives. Merely recounting dates leaves the question unanswered.
Look for these in your work
- Names the decision
- Allows relevant context
- Explains the missing link
Application: Choose between two unfamiliar essay topics when you have strong evidence for only one. Explain your choice and first planning step.
Give me a hint
Assess usable knowledge, not which title sounds impressive.
Compare my reasoning
- Select the topic with relevant examples and counterarguments.
- Check its command and restrictions.
- Draft a provisional answer and outline reasons.
Choose the question for which you can apply reliable, relevant evidence and consider competing views. Then identify its command and limits and make a short two-sided outline leading to a provisional judgement. Topic familiarity alone is insufficient if your evidence does not fit its precise question.
Look for these in your work
- Uses evidence readiness
- Checks scope
- Plans an argument
Common mistakes
- Ignoring a required place or group
- Describing the topic instead of answering the question
- Treating a provisional conclusion as fixed before evidence
What can you explain now?
What should come before choosing an example?
Compare with the explanation
Identify the question’s command, key terms and limits
An example is useful only if it helps answer the actual task.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
Your review choice appears on Today. Sign in to sync it across devices.
Make it stick
What should come before choosing an example?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.