How to Write Answers a Marker Can Follow
You can know the answer, write the right points, and still lose the marks. Not because the knowledge was wrong, but because the marker could not find it. A busy marker works fast, to a scheme, and can only award what they can see. An answer a marker can follow is worth more than a better answer they cannot.
Written by Michael Siaw Larbi
Most exam advice is about knowing more. This guide is about losing less of what you already know. Presentation is not decoration. It is the difference between the marks you deserve and the marks you get, and by the end of this guide you will see your own answers the way a marker does.
The rule
Write for a tired marker at the end of a long day, moving quickly with a scheme in hand. If your point is easy to find, it is easy to award. If they have to hunt for it, they may not. Make every mark you earned impossible to miss.
The Marker Can Only Award What They Can Find
Picture the person marking your script. They have a large pile, a fixed scheme, and limited time per answer. They are not reading for pleasure or hunting for hidden brilliance. They are scanning for the points the scheme rewards, and ticking each one they can find. This is not unfair. It is simply how marking works, and once you understand it, you can write to make their job effortless, which is the same as making your marks certain.
Here is the same answer to the same question, written two ways. The knowledge is identical. Flip between them, then reveal the marker's own scheme and watch how cleanly the structured answer maps onto it.
Same knowledge, two answers
Explain the factors the directors of Adom Ltd should consider in choosing between debt finance and equity finance to fund the company's planned expansion. (6 marks)
The company should consider the cost because debt is usually cheaper than equity and the interest is tax deductible, and also whether the owners want to keep control since issuing new shares dilutes them, and the level of gearing because more debt increases financial risk, as well as whether cash flow can support the fixed interest and repayments, and lenders may also demand security and impose covenants, and the finance should really match how long the asset it is funding will last.
Every factor is in there. But the marker has to dig six separate factors out of one long sentence, and none of them stands out long enough to feel explained. Busy markers miss what they have to dig for.
Cost of the finance
Debt is usually cheaper than equity, and the interest is tax deductible, which lowers its effective cost further.
Control
A new share issue can dilute the existing owners. Debt raises the funds while leaving control where it is.
Gearing and financial risk
More debt raises gearing, and with it the risk that the company cannot meet its commitments in a bad year.
Cash flow
Debt commits the company to fixed interest and repayments, which must stay affordable even if income falls.
Security and covenants
Lenders may require assets as security and impose conditions that restrict how the company operates.
Matching the term to the asset
The life of the finance should match the life of what it funds, long-term finance for long-term assets.
The same six factors, each named in a heading with a line of explanation beneath it. The marker ticks the heading, reads the line, and moves on. Every mark is easy to award.
Marking scheme, one mark each
- Cost, including tax deductible interest (1)
- Control and dilution of ownership (1)
- Gearing and financial risk (1)
- Cash flow burden of servicing debt (1)
- Security required and lender covenants (1)
- Matching the term to the asset's life (1)
In the structured answer, each factor sits under its own heading and is ticked in seconds. In the dense answer, the marker has to find all six inside one sentence, and any they miss are simply gone.
Not one new fact was added. The second answer simply made the marks visible, and mapped straight onto the scheme. That is the whole craft: take what you already know and lay it out so the marker cannot miss it.
One Point Per Heading, With the Explanation Beneath
In written and theory questions, marks are awarded per point, and a point earns its mark when the marker can both find it and see that you understand it. The layout that does both is simple. Give each point its own clear heading, then explain it in a short paragraph beneath. The heading is where the tick lands. The paragraph is what makes the tick safe, because it shows the point is understood and tied to the scenario, not just named.
The shape of a scoring point
Name it. Explain it. Apply it. Name the point in a heading. Explain it in a sentence. Apply it to the scenario in another. Three lines, one safe mark, and the marker never has to wonder what you meant.
Let your headings do a second job too. When a requirement has parts, answer them in order and write headings that echo the requirement's own words. Asked to "explain the treatment and calculate the effect on profit," give one heading to the explanation and one to the calculation. The marker matching your script to the scheme finds each part exactly where they expect it, and awards without searching. Headings are not a courtesy. They are a map that leads the marker straight to your marks.
Then let the page breathe. Leave a line between one point and the next, and never let a wall of text swallow a good idea. Be careful at the other extreme as well: a bare one-word bullet names a point without developing it, and undeveloped points often earn less. The heading with a short paragraph beneath sits exactly between the two, visible enough to find in a second, developed enough to score.
The tick test
Read your answer back as a marker would, pen in hand, and ask of every point: where exactly would the tick go? If you can put your finger on the spot, the mark is safe. If you cannot find where the tick lands, neither can the marker, and the point is not yet earning its mark.
A point the marker cannot see is a point you did not make, as far as your score is concerned.
What I Tell My Students
I have marked hundreds of scripts, and the pattern never changes. The students who score are rarely the ones who wrote the most. They are the ones whose answers I could mark quickly, because every point had its own heading with the explanation beneath it, and I never had to read a sentence twice to find what they meant. Write so that a marker never has to work to give you a mark. That single habit lifts more scripts over the line than any amount of extra content.
Michael Siaw Larbi
Make Every Figure Easy to Follow
The same law governs numbers. In a computation the marker needs to trace your logic, not just check your final answer, because most of the marks live in the method. A wrong final figure built on clear, labelled workings still scores well. A right figure with no visible method can lose the marks it should have earned. Label every figure and give its units, show each step, and let the marker follow the whole calculation at a glance.
Here is a short computation written two ways. A machine cost GHS 50,000, with delivery of GHS 2,000, installation of GHS 3,000, a trade discount of GHS 5,000, and first year maintenance of GHS 1,000. Both answers reach the same figure. Only one earns all the marks.
Same figure, two answers
In accordance with IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment, calculate the amount to be capitalised as the cost of the machine. (5 marks)
50,000 + 2,000 + 3,000 − 5,000 = 50,000
The arithmetic is right, but the marker cannot see which costs you included, whether you knew to exclude the maintenance, or that the discount was deducted on purpose. The method marks are all at risk on one unlabelled line.
Cost of machine to capitalise
Maintenance of GHS 1,000 is an expense, not part of the cost, so it is excluded.
Every figure is labelled with its units, the discount is clearly deducted, and excluding the maintenance is stated, which is itself a mark. The marker awards each step at a glance, and even a slip in one line still earns the rest.
For longer calculations, the same principle scales up: put the detailed work in numbered workings below and reference them from the main answer, so the marker can move from any figure to the working that produced it without hunting. A labelled, referenced working earns the method marks even when the final number is wrong. Here is that layout on a real requirement.
Workings that link
Prepare the statement of profit or loss of Adom Ltd for the year ended 31 December 2025, down to operating profit. (6 marks)
Tap any gold reference to light up the working behind it. This is exactly how a marker moves through a well laid out answer.
Adom Ltd: statement of profit or loss (extract)
W1Cost of sales
W2Administrative expenses
W3Depreciation for the year
Each depreciation charge goes to the function that uses the asset.
Every figure in the statement traces to a labelled working in one tap, and the chain runs deeper: W1 and W2 both draw their depreciation from W3, so one careful working serves two lines of the answer. If a number slips anywhere in that chain, the marker can still see the method at every step, and the method is where the marks are.
The rule students never trust
This is why the own figure rule exists, and why you should never abandon a question because one number went wrong. Suppose your capitalised cost came out as GHS 52,000 by a slip, when it should have been GHS 50,000. If you then take that figure and depreciate it correctly, over the right life and on the right basis, the depreciation marks are still yours. The examiner is marking the method, not charging you twice for the same mistake. But this only works if the marker can see the method. Label the wrong figure, carry it forward clearly, and keep earning. A visible method turns a slip into one lost mark instead of a lost question.
Give Every Answer a Shape
Different questions want different shapes, and knowing the shape before you write means the marker always finds your answer where they expect it. Pick a question type below to see the skeleton a marker can follow.
Answer skeletons
What shape should this answer take?
Arguments for
A heading for each point, with a line of explanation beneath.
Arguments against
The same shape, each point explained and applied to the facts.
Conclusion or recommendation
A clear, decisive line that actually answers the question.
Never bury the recommendation in the last sentence of a paragraph. Give it its own heading, so the marker finds it instantly.
The proforma
A clear title and headings, figures lined up, every line labelled.
The workings
Longer calculations numbered below (W1, W2) and referenced from the main answer.
The answer
A final figure that stands out, clearly labelled.
A labelled, referenced working earns the method marks even when the final figure is wrong.
The heading
To, From, Date and Subject. The format itself carries marks.
A short introduction
One or two lines stating the purpose of the report.
Headed sections
One section for each part of the requirement, in order.
A recommendation
A clear, separate close that gives your advice.
An essay written where a report was asked for loses the format marks before the content is even read.
State the rule
The standard or principle that applies, briefly.
Apply it to the scenario
Work the rule through the specific facts you were given.
Conclude the treatment
State the resulting accounting treatment plainly.
State, apply, conclude. The application to the scenario is where most of the marks sit, not the definition.
Group by assertion
A heading for each: existence, valuation, completeness, rights.
One procedure per line
Each line is the action, then the source, then what it confirms.
Make each procedure specific
Not "check the assets" but "physically inspect a sample from the register".
Action plus source plus purpose is what scores. A vague procedure earns nothing at all.
Learn these shapes and you never face a blank page wondering how to begin. You reach for the skeleton, hang your points on it in order, and hand the marker an answer built exactly the way their scheme is.
Write It at Pace
Everything so far is easy in a quiet room. The exam is not a quiet room. By the last question your hand aches, the clock is against you, and structure is the first thing to go. The answer is not to try harder to be tidy under pressure. It is to make good structure the fast option, by deciding the shape before you write and letting a few habits carry the load.
Four moves for the last hour
Make structure the fast option
Write the headings first
Before a word of content, put the parts of the requirement down as headings with a gap under each. Now you are filling a structure, not building one, and no part can be forgotten.
Give the recommendation a home early
Write the Recommendation heading at the start, even though the line under it comes last. A point that already has its own space can never be buried.
Open with a line that commits
Start each answer with a line that points somewhere, and the rest falls into shape behind it.
Number workings as you go
The moment a working looks long, write (W1) beside the figure and do the work below. You never have to come back and untangle it.
You can even carry the opening lines in ready before you sit down, so the shape arrives before the thinking does. For a discussion, open with a line that names both sides, then For, Against and Recommendation. To recommend, make "I recommend that..." the very first line and let the reasons follow. To explain a treatment, reach for "The relevant standard is...", then "Applying this to the scenario...", then "Therefore...". For a report, lay down To, From, Date and Subject, then a heading for each part of the requirement. None of these needs a single fresh thought. They are shapes you pour the thinking into.
Under pressure you do not rise to the occasion, you fall to your habits. So make these the habits. Practised a few times, they cost no extra minutes, and they protect every mark your knowledge earns when the room is against you.
Score It Like a Marker
The habits in this guide only help if they are automatic on the day. So build them in now, by marking your own work against them. Run through this list on your next written answer, honestly, and make the ones you miss into a habit.
Markability check
Would a marker find every mark?
Tap each habit your answer already has. The rest are where your marks are quietly leaking.
From the Marking Desk
When I mark, three faults cost students marks far more often than any gap in knowledge. The first is the wall of text, where three good points are pressed into one sentence and I can only credit what I can separate. The second is the buried answer, where the question asked for a recommendation and I have to search a paragraph to find whether one was even given. The third is the unlabelled number, a figure sitting alone with nothing to say what it is or how it was reached, which I cannot award the method marks to. Not one of these is a knowledge problem. Every one of them can be fixed tonight, and fixing them is often worth more than another week of revision.
Michael Siaw Larbi
Do This Today
Take your last written answer and mark it yourself against the eight checks above, as if it were a stranger's script and you were in a hurry. Every check you cannot tick is a mark you may be losing to presentation alone. Now rewrite it with a clear heading for each point and a short explanation beneath, without adding a single new fact, and put the two side by side. The second is the one that scores, and it took only better presentation to get there.
This is where the series comes together. The earlier guides showed you how to decode what a question is really asking and how to take the marks that sit in plain sight. This one makes sure that once you have earned a mark, you actually get it. Read the question like a marker, answer it like a marker, and present it like a marker, and almost nothing of what you know is lost on the way from your head to your script.
Questions Students Ask
Why do I lose marks when my answer is correct?
Often because the marker could not find the points. A busy marker scans for the points on the scheme and awards what they can see. If your correct points are buried in a dense paragraph, or your recommendation is hidden in a final sentence, some are missed even though you made them. Clear headings, with one explained point under each, protect the marks your knowledge already earned.
How should I lay out a written exam answer?
In written questions, give each point its own heading with a short paragraph beneath that explains it, since marks are awarded per point. Echo the words of the requirement in your headings, and answer the parts in the order they were asked. Leave a line between points so nothing is swallowed by a wall of text. The aim is that a marker can find every point at a glance and see at once that you understand it.
How do I know if my answer is clear enough?
Use the tick test. Read your answer back as a marker would, and ask of each point where exactly the tick would go. If you can put your finger on the spot, the mark is safe. If you cannot find where the tick lands, the marker will not find it either, and that point is not yet earning its mark. It is a fast way to catch buried points before the exam does.
How do I show workings so they earn marks?
Show the method, not just the answer, because most of the marks are in the method. Label every figure and give its units, so the marker knows what each number is. Put longer calculations in numbered workings and reference them from your main answer. Done this way, a labelled working earns the method marks even when the final figure is wrong.
Do I really get marks for headings and structure?
Structure rarely carries marks on its own in a simple answer, but it protects every other mark by making your points easy to find and award. In report questions the format itself is marked directly, and in higher papers there are professional marks for clarity and structure. Either way, a well structured answer scores more of the marks it contains than a disorganised one.
Should I use bullet points in exam answers?
Bullets suit lists, such as audit procedures, where each line is a complete point on its own. In written and theory questions, a heading with a short explaining paragraph beneath usually earns more, because a bare bullet names a point without developing it, and undeveloped points often earn less. Whichever you use, the principle is the same: one point at a time, visible at a glance and explained enough to show you understand it.
Does neat handwriting matter in an exam?
A marker cannot award a point they cannot read. You do not need beautiful handwriting, but it must be legible, and clear layout with space between points helps far more than trying to write elegantly at speed. If a marker has to strain to read a figure or a word, the mark attached to it is at risk. Legible and well spaced beats neat but cramped.
What is the own figure rule in exams?
It means that if you carry a wrong figure from an earlier part into a later one but apply the right method to it, the later marks are usually still awarded. The examiner is marking your method, not charging you twice for the same slip. So if one number goes wrong, do not abandon the question. Label the figure, carry it forward clearly so the method is visible, and keep working, because most of those later marks are still yours.
How do I keep my answers structured when I am short on time?
Decide the shape before you write, so structure becomes the fast option rather than a luxury. Put the parts of the requirement down as headings first, with the recommendation heading already in place, then fill them in. Open each answer with a line that commits, and number long workings as you reach them. Practised a few times, these cost no extra minutes, and they protect your marks when the clock is against you.
How many points should I make for the marks?
Use the marks as your menu. As a working rule in written questions, one well explained point per mark, so a six-mark factors question wants about six explained factors. Fewer than that and there are not enough places for the ticks to land. Many more and you are spending time the question cannot pay for. Check the marks before you write, and let them set your target.
This is the fourth guide in the Excellence Blueprint, MSL Business School's study and exam technique series. A new guide publishes every week, written by Michael Siaw Larbi.
