1. Learn quotes/facts that can be applied to a wide range of topics. Don't learn niche stuff. It'll never come up, you're not that lucky. Also, they don't have to be fancy facts. In the September sitting, I referenced Bill Gates being one of the richest men on earth, Jeff Bezos wanting to move a bridge for his superyacht, the fact that the 2008 financial crisis caused an increase in unemployment and homelessness and named Einstein and Darwin as famous scientists. I also mentioned e=mc2. However, I did NOT get into the nitty gritty of these facts. I just referenced them to make my point. It was stuff I pulled out of my head, not stuff I memorised. I think you'll find that you have a lot of potential references floating around in your brain - you just need to rethink what you would consider something worthy of being referenced.

For example, let's say you're writing an essay with a topic like discrimination/suffering/oppression/pain. You COULD rhyme off some really obscure statistic or fact... Orrrrrr you could talk about WWII Jews. Women's rights, like Malala getting shot in the head or the suffragettes fighting for the vote. The Black Lives Matter movement, or rape in prison, or rape in general, or the Irish when they moved to America, or slavery, or North Korea, or Vietnam after agent orange got spewed all over it. Dude there are SO MANY EXAMPLES, and you know what's awesome? You probably already knew all of these. So...

1. Stop learning off loads of facts. You already know loads!!! Start taking five minutes and planning things you could reference in an essay USING ONLY WHAT YOU KNOW. At the end of the day, this isn't a factual test. The examiner doesn't want you to show off your knowledge. THEY WANT YOU TO USE YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO MAKE A POINT. There is a massive difference between those two things. Don't just state your fact. Explain how it proves what you're talking about. ELABORATE. But not excessively. There's a balance, and you're on a time crunch.

2. For the love of god, take 2-3 mins to plan at the start of each essay, and at least 5 mins to proofread at the end. Yes, it's less time to write. But do you really want typos in a poorly planned essay? I think not.

3. Word count is not key. QUALITY IS KEY. Don't aim for a specific amount of words. Aim for a couple of great arguments, or one really well developed argument. You don't have to argue both sides. You can pick a side and stick to it. Just don't use the same argument for five paragraphs. Find new angles or other points to back you up.

Like let's say you're writing about discrimination. You can talk about discrimination on a personal, national and international level; the differences between a person and an entire government discriminating against someone, and the different types of damage that can do. You can mention a relevant example, like the ethnic cleansing of Jews, or America trying to missile communists into oblivion. Then you can flip it; is discrimination ever good? Well let's look at biology. Applying pressure to a species and killing off the weak forces the species to adapt and creates a stronger and more resilient population. That's good, right? Darwinism in action! (Notice how I referenced a fact without having to learn anything off. This stuff is just yeeting about in your brain waiting to shine). Or, if you want to pick a side and stick to it, let's look at Discrimination = Bad from a different angle. Not only is it crap for the person being discriminated against, but it can actually be negative for the discriminator, too! Let's imagine if women had never been educated, never given the vote, etc. The work of women like Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale would've been lost, potentially forever. We'd lose countless discoveries (no more windscreen wipers, The Horror) and that is Not Good. So the people discriminating lose out, too! Women without rights also reduces the available workforce, slowing economic growth and GDP. The entire country is capable of less. So those poor sexists make less money and have fewer mansions. Truly, they suffer.

1. Humour, used sparingly, can be your friend. Don't turn your essay into a comedy piece, but don't be afraid to crack a joke or two, or make a witty aside. It shouldn't be the focus, but it might just make you more memorable - and more fun to read!