Get a Better Grade: Seven Steps to Excellent Essays and Assignments (Student Success)

Not sure how to start your essay or prepare for a presentation?  Worried about how to structure your report?  Questioning what a good assignment actually looks like?

With encouraging, jargon-free advice and a clearly defined seven-step plan to getting better grades, this book takes the fear out of academic writing and gives you the tools you need to succeed.  Punchy and packed with the dos and don’ts of good writing, it helps you improve your grades quickly and with minimal hassle.

Covering not just essays, but also group work, reports, reviews, research projects, journaling, and presentations, it provides effective tips on:

• Defeating writers’ block
• Identifying and using relevant sources
• Planning and outlining strategies
• Building arguments and providing evidence
• Developing critical and analytical thinking
• Cultivating writing style
• Mastering presentation.

Focused on explaining and demonstrating the core requirements of academic assignments through detailed examples, this book provides all the support you need to build confidence and produce high-quality assignments. 

The Student Success series are essential guides for students of all levels. From how to think critically and write great essays to planning your dream career, the Student Success series helps you study smarter and get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips and resources for study success!

Mal Leicester is Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham. Mal has taught English in schools, Liberal Studies in Further Education, and Philosophy of Education and Adult Education in universities. She has also been a local authority advisor for Multicultural Education and Director of an antiracist community organisation. Before her retirement, Mal was professor of adult teaching and learning at the University of Nottingham. Since her retirement Mal has written a memoir of her beloved daughter’s remarkable life and death―Jane’s Journey: a Medical Story of Survival and Hope.

Dr Denise Taylor is an environmental and wildlife conservation professional with a focus on large carnivores, and in particular wild canids. She was awarded her PhD as a mature student in 2012 in the field of environmental education from the University of Nottingham.  Denise has written books and papers on environmental education and canid conservation, and more recently has been involved in education projects on badger conservation in the UK. As an entrepreneur, Denise is the owner and managing director of Bridge PR & Media Services Limited, where she also delivers educational workshops on marketing strategy, and writing content for press and marketing.