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How Long Should a College Essay Be? | Word Count Tips

Published on September 29, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on June 1, 2023.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit. If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

You should aim to stay under the specified limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, if you write too little, it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Table of contents

Word count guidelines for different application types, how to shorten your essay, how to expand your essay, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Each university has a different suggested or required word count depending on which application portal it uses.

Some application portals will allow you to exceed the word count limit, but admissions officers have limited time and energy to read longer essays. Other application portals have a strict limit and will not allow you to exceed it.

For example, in the Common App , the portal will not allow you to submit more than 650 words. Some colleges using the Common App will allow you to submit less than 250 words, but this is too short for a well-developed essay.

For scholarship essays , diversity essays , and “Why this college?” essays , word count limits vary. Make sure to verify and respect each prompt’s limit.

Don’t worry too much about word count until the revision stage ; focusing on word count while writing may hinder your creativity. Once you have finished a draft, you can start shortening or expanding your essay if necessary.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

On some application portals, you can exceed the word limit, but there are good reasons to stay within it:

• To maintain the admissions officer’s attention
• To show you can follow directions
• To demonstrate you can write concisely

Here are some strategies for shortening your essay.

Stay on the main point

It’s good to use vivid imagery, but only include relevant details. Cut any sentences with tangents or unnecessary information.

My father taught me how to strategically hold the marshmallow pierced by a twig at a safe distance from the flames to make sure it didn’t get burned, ensuring a golden brown exterior.

Typically, my father is glued to his computer since he’s a software engineer at Microsoft. But that night, he was the marshmallow master. We waited together as the pillowy sugary goodness caramelized into gooey delight. Good example: Sticks to the point On our camping trip to Yosemite, my family spent time together, away from technology and routine responsibility.

My favorite part was roasting s’mores around the campfire. My father taught me how to hold the marshmallow at a safe distance from the flames, ensuring a golden brown exterior.

These college essay examples also demonstrate how you can cut your essay down to size.

Eliminate wordiness

Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay. If a word doesn’t add value, cut it.

Here are some common examples of wordiness and how to fix them.

Use a paraphrasing tool

If you want to save time, you can make use of a paraphrasing tool . Within the tool you can select the “short” mode to rewrite your essay in less words. Just copy your text in the tool and within 1 click you’ll have shortened your essay.

If you’re significantly under the word count, you’re wasting the opportunity to show depth and authenticity in your essay. Admissions officers may see your short essay as a sign that you’re unable to write a detailed, insightful narrative about yourself.

Here are some strategies for expanding your essay.

Show detailed examples, and don’t tell generic stories

You should include detailed examples that can’t be replicated by another student. Use vivid imagery, the five senses, and specific objects to transport the reader into your story.

Reveal your feelings and insight

If your essay lacks vulnerability or self-reflection, share your feelings and the lessons you’ve learned.

Be creative with how you express your feelings; rather than simply writing “I’m happy,” use memorable images to help the reader clearly visualize your happiness. Similarly, for insight, include the follow-up actions from your lessons learned; instead of claiming “I became a hard worker,” explain what difficult tasks you accomplished as a result of what you learned.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
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Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

If you’re struggling to reach the word count for your college essay, add vivid personal stories or share your feelings and insight to give your essay more depth and authenticity.

If your college essay goes over the word count limit , cut any sentences with tangents or irrelevant details. Delete unnecessary words that clutter your essay.

You can speed up this process by shortening and smoothing your writing with a paraphrasing tool . After that, you can use the summarizer to shorten it even more.

There is no set number of paragraphs in a college admissions essay . College admissions essays can diverge from the traditional five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in English class. Just make sure to stay under the specified word count .

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College Essays

Figuring out your college essay can be one of the most difficult parts of applying to college. Even once you've read the prompt and picked a topic, you might wonder: if you write too much or too little, will you blow your chance of admission? How long should a college essay be?

Whether you're a terse writer or a loquacious one, we can advise you on college essay length. In this guide, we'll cover what the standard college essay length is, how much word limits matter, and what to do if you aren't sure how long a specific essay should be.

How Long Is a College Essay? First, Check the Word Limit

You might be used to turning in your writing assignments on a page-limit basis (for example, a 10-page paper). While some colleges provide page limits for their college essays, most use a word limit instead. This makes sure there's a standard length for all the essays that a college receives, regardless of formatting or font.

In the simplest terms, your college essay should be pretty close to, but not exceeding, the word limit in length. Think within 50 words as the lower bound, with the word limit as the upper bound. So for a 500-word limit essay, try to get somewhere between 450-500 words. If they give you a range, stay within that range.

College essay prompts usually provide the word limit right in the prompt or in the instructions.

For example, the University of Illinois says :

"You'll answer two to three prompts as part of your application. The questions you'll answer will depend on whether you're applying to a major or to our undeclared program , and if you've selected a second choice . Each response should be approximately 150 words."

As exemplified by the University of Illinois, the shortest word limits for college essays are usually around 150 words (less than half a single-spaced page). Rarely will you see a word limit higher than around 650 words (over one single-spaced page). College essays are usually pretty short: between 150 and 650 words. Admissions officers have to read a lot of them, after all!

Weigh your words carefully, because they are limited!

How Flexible Is the Word Limit?

But how flexible is the word limit? What if your poignant anecdote is just 10 words too long—or 100 too short?

Can I Go Over the Word Limit?

If you are attaching a document and you need one or two extra words, you can probably get away with exceeding the word limit by such a small amount. Some colleges will actually tell you that exceeding the word limit by 1-2 words is fine. However, I advise against exceeding the word limit unless it's explicitly allowed for a few reasons:

First, you might not be able to. If you have to copy-paste it into a text box, your essay might get cut off and you'll have to trim it down anyway.

If you exceed the word limit in a noticeable way, the admissions counselor may just stop reading your essay past that point. This is not good for you.

Following directions is actually a very important part of the college application process. You need to follow directions to get your letters of recommendation, upload your essays, send supplemental materials, get your test scores sent, and so on and so forth. So it's just a good general rule to follow whatever instructions you've been given by the institution. Better safe than sorry!

Can I Go Under the Word Limit?

If you can truly get your point across well beneath the word limit, it's probably fine. Brevity is not necessarily a bad thing in writing just so long as you are clear, cogent, and communicate what you want to.

However, most college essays have pretty tight word limits anyways. So if you're writing 300 words for an essay with a 500-word limit, ask yourself: is there anything more you could say to elaborate on or support your points? Consult with a parent, friend, or teacher on where you could elaborate with more detail or expand your points.

Also, if the college gives you a word range, you absolutely need to at least hit the bottom end of the range. So if you get a range from the institution, like 400-500 words, you need to write at least 400 words. If you write less, it will come across like you have nothing to say, which is not an impression you want to give.

What If There Is No Word Limit?

Some colleges don't give you a word limit for one or more of your essay prompts. This can be a little stressful, but the prompts generally fall into a few categories:

Writing Sample

Some colleges don't provide a hard-and-fast word limit because they want a writing sample from one of your classes. In this case, a word limit would be very limiting to you in terms of which assignments you could select from.

For an example of this kind of prompt, check out essay Option B at Amherst :

"Submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay."

While there is usually no word limit per se, colleges sometimes provide a general page guideline for writing samples. In the FAQ for Option B , Amherst clarifies, "There is no hard-and-fast rule for official page limit. Typically, we anticipate a paper of 4-5 pages will provide adequate length to demonstrate your analytical abilities. Somewhat longer papers can also be submitted, but in most cases should not exceed 8-10 pages."

So even though there's no word limit, they'd like somewhere in the 4-10 pages range. High school students are not usually writing papers that are longer than 10 pages anyways, so that isn't very limiting.

Implicit Length Guideline

Sometimes, while there's no word (or even page) limit, there's still an implicit length guideline. What do I mean by this?

See, for example, this Western Washington University prompt :

“Describe one or more activities you have been involved in that have been particularly meaningful. What does your involvement say about the communities, identities or causes that are important to you?”

While there’s no page or word limit listed here, further down on page the ‘essay tips’ section explains that “ most essay responses are about 500 words, ” though “this is only a recommendation, not a firm limit.” This gives you an idea of what’s reasonable. A little longer or shorter than 500 words would be appropriate here. That’s what I mean by an “implicit” word limit—there is a reasonable length you could go to within the boundaries of the prompt.

But what's the proper coffee-to-paragraph ratio?

Treasure Hunt

There is also the classic "treasure hunt" prompt. No, it's not a prompt about a treasure hunt. It's a prompt where there are no length guidelines given, but if you hunt around on the rest of the website you can find length guidelines.

For example, the University of Chicago provides seven "Extended Essay" prompts . You must write an essay in response to one prompt of your choosing, but nowhere on the page is there any guidance about word count or page limit.

However, many colleges provide additional details about their expectations for application materials, including essays, on FAQ pages, which is true of the University of Chicago. On the school’s admissions Frequently Asked Questions page , they provide the following length guidelines for the supplemental essays: 

“We suggest that you note any word limits for Coalition or Common Application essays; however, there are no strict word limits on the UChicago Supplement essays. For the extended essay (where you choose one of several prompts), we suggest that you aim for around 650 words. While we won't, as a rule, stop reading after 650 words, we're only human and cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention indefinitely. For the “Why UChicago?” essay, we suggest about 250-500 words. The ideas in your writing matter more than the exact number of words you use!”

So there you go! You want to be (loosely) in the realm of 650 for the extended essay, and 250-500 words for the “Why UChicago?” essay.

Help! There Really Is No Guidance on Length

If you really can't find any length guidelines anywhere on the admissions website and you're at a loss, I advise calling the admissions office. They may not be able to give you an exact number (in fact, they probably won't), but they will probably at least be able to tell you how long most of the essays they see are. (And keep you from writing a panicked, 20-page dissertation about your relationship with your dog).

In general, 500 words or so is pretty safe for a college essay. It's a fairly standard word limit length, in fact. (And if you're wondering, that's about a page and a half double-spaced.) 500 words is long enough to develop a basic idea while still getting a point across quickly—important when admissions counselors have thousands of essays to read!

"See? It says 500 words right there in tiny font!"

The Final Word: How Long Should a College Essay Be?

The best college essay length is usually pretty straightforward: you want to be right under or at the provided word limit. If you go substantially past the word limit, you risk having your essay cut off by an online application form or having the admissions officer just not finish it. And if you're too far under the word limit, you may not be elaborating enough.

What if there is no word limit? Then how long should a college essay be? In general, around 500 words is a pretty safe approximate word amount for a college essay—it's one of the most common word limits, after all!

Here's guidance for special cases and hunting down word limits:

If it's a writing sample of your graded academic work, the length either doesn't matter or there should be some loose page guidelines.

There also may be implicit length guidelines. For example, if a prompt says to write three paragraphs, you'll know that writing six sentences is definitely too short, and two single-spaced pages is definitely too long.

You might not be able to find length guidelines in the prompt, but you could still hunt them up elsewhere on the website. Try checking FAQs or googling your chosen school name with "admissions essay word limit."

If there really is no word limit, you can call the school to try to get some guidance.

With this advice, you can be sure you've got the right college essay length on lockdown!

Hey, writing about yourself can even be fun!

What's Next?

Need to ask a teacher or friend for help with your essay? See our do's and dont's to getting college essay advice .

If you're lacking in essay inspiration, see our guide to brainstorming college essay ideas . And here's our guide to starting out your essay perfectly!

Looking for college essay examples? See 11 places to find college essay examples and 145 essay examples with analysis !

Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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July 8, 2023

College Essay Length: Go to the Maximum Word Count

Previously Published on September 24, 2017:

College applicants should use the real estate offered in college essays to make their case — all of it! If the maximum word count for a college admissions essay is 650 words, applicants should not write 500 words. They should write 650 words — or pretty close to it.

When you’re a real estate developer in Manhattan, and you’re allowed to build twenty-five stories, you don’t construct ten stories and dedicate the rest of the space for the native pigeons of Manhattan. You build up —twenty-five levels. The pigeons have the skies.

And yet even though it seems only logical that college applicants should use all of the allotted real estate to make their case in essays, to tell their stories, to distinguish themselves in super competitive applicant pools, it never ceases to amaze us how many students write essays that don’t come anywhere near the maximum word count. Instead, they leave the space on the table to the disservice of their candidacies.

Students Should Go to the Word Limit in Every College Essay

It’s not as though students only make the mistake of leaving words on the table in their Common Application Personal Statement . They also often do so in their equally as critical supplemental essays.

If Brown University asks applicants to write a 200-250-word essay on how students would take advantage of the Open Curriculum, as the Ivy League school does on its 2022-2023 application, students should not offer them 200 words. College applicants are not interior designers — blank space does not look lovely. They should submit 250-word essays. 

When Brown admissions officers come across an essay that doesn’t come close to the school’s maximum word count, they’re likely to think, “This student doesn’t love our school enough to put in the work to write an essay just for us. She probably wants to go elsewhere.”

And if that thought crosses the mind of an admissions officer, the odds are strong that the same admissions officer is unlikely to offer that student a spot in the incoming class. And, of course, this doesn’t just apply to Brown — it applies to every highly selective institution in America.

Students Should Use the Maximum Word or Character Count in Short Answers Too

We can’t stress enough the importance of taking advantage of the real estate an applicant is afforded in essays to make their case. But don’t be fooled that an essay only means boxes on The Common Application that allow students to include 100 words or more.

After all, many top schools pose short answer questions too. Maybe they’re called short-takes. On the 2022-2023 application, the University of Southern California , for instance, asks applicants to name their favorite movie of all time, their dream job, favorite trip, and favorite snack, among others.

Students should go up to the maximum character count in these opportunities too — and  opportunities  is the apropos word because they’re opportunities to wow admissions officers, present a window into a student’s world and distinguish themselves from other talented applicants. In short, students should not just name their favorite movie — they should say why concisely.

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• Writing Tips

The Word Limit in Academic Writing (and How to Stick to It)

3-minute read

• 24th September 2016

Even the phrase “word limit” can cause panic among students . For some it’s the challenge of writing enough, while others find it hard to stick within the limit given. In either case, it can lead to spending more time worrying about the length of your paper than the content!

But why do college papers come with set word limits? And what should you do to ensure you don’t write too much or too little?

Why Have a Word Limit?

There are two main reasons that academic papers usually come with a word limit:

• Fairness It’s impossible to grade two papers of vastly different lengths (e.g., 20,000 compared to 2,000 words) on the same scale. The word limit makes sure that everyone taking the same class knows what is expected of them.
• Communication Skills As well as testing your knowledge, college papers are about communicating clearly and concisely. Setting a word limit forces you to consider what you’re saying more carefully, helping you to develop your writing skills.

Sticking to the word limit is, therefore, part of being a good academic, since being a long way over or under could suggest you’ve misjudged the scope of the essay topic or that you’re having trouble communicating your ideas.

How to Stick to the Word Limit

Although many colleges give you roughly 10% leeway on the word limit, you should aim for your finished paper to be as close to the suggested word count as possible. If you find yourself writing too much, you can reduce the word count by:

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• Editing out repetition, redundant words and padding phrases
• Cutting down long or unnecessary quotations
• Reducing the number of examples or case studies used (if you’ve included several)
• Using the active voice instead of the passive voice

More generally, you should re-read your work and eliminate anything that isn’t directly related to the question you’re answering. As well as helping you stick to the word limit, this will make your work more focused, which could boost your grades.

How to Increase Your Word Count

If you’re struggling to write enough, the temptation might be to add padding phrases like “in my opinion” or long block quotations until you hit the minimum word count. But this will simply detract from the clarity of your writing.

Instead, the answer is usually to go back over your work and look for things that could be improved with a little additional attention. This might involve:

• Addressing anything from your essay question that you’ve overlooked
• Adding illustrative examples to support a point
• Considering different sources and views on the same issue
• Using short quotations as evidence for your arguments

Moreover, whether you’ve written too much or too little, getting someone else to read your work and offer feedback is a fantastic idea (especially if you ask a professional for help). This will help you to identify areas that could be expanded or cut in the next draft, so eventually you should be able to get your essay to the required length.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, what's a good word count for college essays.

As I start thinking about applying to colleges, I was just curious: how many words should be in my college essays? I want to make sure I hit the sweet spot between too short and too long. Any suggestions?

Hey there! It's great that you're considering word count while working on your college essays. Most colleges have a word limit for their required essays, like the Common Application essay, which has a limit of 650 words. Generally, it's a good idea to aim for around 500 to 650 words, as it provides enough space for you to share your thoughts and experiences in a meaningful way.

When writing your essay, focus on the content and your story rather than aiming for a specific word count. Make sure your essay is well structured, engaging, and effectively conveys your main points. Once you finish your draft, you can edit it to fine-tune the length, staying within the given word limit guidelines.

Also, pay attention to any supplementary essays for specific colleges, as these will have their own word limits and might be shorter than the main essay, sometimes around 250 to 300 words. Again, follow the provided guidelines and focus on clearly addressing the prompt.

In summary, aim for roughly 500 to 650 words for your main essay, and make sure to adhere to the specific word limits for supplementary essays. Good luck with your applications!

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Unveiling the Mystery: Navigating College Essay Word Counts

Many students find it hard to figure out how to meet the complicated standards for college essays. In this in-depth guide, we’ll talk about the important topic of word counts and show you how to handle this important part of your college application.

Understanding the Significance of Word Counts

The word limit isn’t just a number when you’re writing your college essay, it’s also a tool for planning. Sticking to the word limit shows that you can tell an interesting story in a short amount of space. You can visit https://papersowl.com/ writing service website to look around perfect college essays. Professional essay writers will craft your college paper in time. Admissions officers like things that are clear and precise, which can often be seen in a well-managed word count.

The Art of Brevity: Why Less is More

In a world full of data, being brief is a good thing. When you have a limited number of words to use in an essay, you have to get to the heart of your ideas quickly. Admissions panels like it when applicants are brief; it shows that you value their time and shows how well you can communicate.

Striking the Balance: Expressive vs Concise Writing

It takes skill to find the balance between sharing a story in a way that feels natural and sticking to word counts. Every word you use should add to the story and paint a clear picture of your experiences and goals. Find the right mix so that your essay is both interesting and doesn’t go over the allotted time.

Tips for Managing Word Counts Effectively

1. write and re-write.

Don’t worry about how many words you have in the first draft; just let your ideas run. During the revision process, carefully cut out any words that aren’t needed while keeping the main idea. You can improve your story without making it too long by redrafting.

2. Use Vivid Language

Use vivid and powerful words to get your point across quickly. Strong verbs and exact adjectives not only make your essay better as a whole, but they also help you say more with fewer words.

3. Focus on Key Themes

Find the main ideas that make up your story. Focusing your essay on these themes will help you stay on track and avoid going off on tangents that aren’t necessary. Not only is a focused article easier to read, it’s also more likely to stay under the word limit.

What Precision Means

When it comes to getting into college, accuracy is key. Following word counts isn’t just about following the rules; it’s also about giving your story a finished look. Each line should have a purpose and add something important to the story as a whole. Admissions officers like it when you can send a strong message without adding extraneous details. By being precise, you raise the quality of your writing and show a level of skill that sets you apart from other students.

How to Write a Memorable Ending

When you finish your essay, make sure the ending stands out. Summarize the most important points so that the reader remembers them. A well-written ending builds on the story’s main ideas, giving the reader a sense of closure and leaving a lasting impression. Remember that the last few words of your essay are very important. Use them to make an impression on admissions officers that will last.

The Art of Revision

Revising is the hidden hero of good writing. After writing the first draft of your essay, look it over again with fresh eyes. Look for ways to make things clearer, get rid of unnecessary words, and make sure that every word has a purpose. Revision is more than just fixing things; it’s also about making them better. During this step, your essay goes from being good to being amazing, which makes people who read it admire and respect it.

The Role of Admissions Officers: What They Look For

Admissions officers are very good at telling the difference between content and volume. They want writings that are honest and show who the applicant is and what they want to achieve. By sticking to word counts, you show that you can follow directions, which is a very useful skill in school.

Learning How Many Words You Need for a Good College Essay

When it comes to getting into college, being clear and precise are very important. To get around word numbers, you need to really understand what the story is about and be able to communicate it clearly. Remember that every word you write is a chance to make an impact. If you can master this skill, your college essay will reach new heights. Best of luck with your work!

For a good application, you need to know how many words are allowed in a college essay. It’s not just a number limit; it’s a blank slate for an interesting story. It’s important to keep things short, and each word adds to the depth of your story. The ability to write a short essay shows good speaking skills that admissions officers look for. Do a lot of rewriting, use lively language, and keep your attention on the main ideas. This not only follows the rules, but it also shows how unique you are. When it comes to getting into college, a well-written essay is what makes you stand out. Good luck writing an essay that makes a mark on admissions committees and sticks with them.

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• Writing Tips

Essay Tips: Word Count Advice

3-minute read

• 10th October 2017

Most students have experienced a few sleepless nights worrying about the word count of an essay . After all, you don’t want to write too little. And writing too much is almost as bad! However, if this sounds like a familiar problem, you might find these tips helpful.

Why Is the Word Count Important?

The word limit for an essay reflects how much you’re expected to write. Most universities allow around 10% leeway either side of the suggested figure. If you’re not sure what the rules are about this at your university, check your style guide or ask a supervisor .

The word count matters for two reasons:

• Writing too little suggests that you may have underestimated how complicated a problem is or not done enough research.
• Writing too much may mean that you’re not expressing yourself clearly, or that you need to focus on a specific issue.

In either case, your marker may have a lot of work to get through, so they will appreciate concise writing ! But how can you make sure you get the word count right in a document? The keys lie in planning and editing.

Planning Ahead

How do you ensure your work is the right length? The first step is to plan before your start writing. To do this effectively, you’ll need to:

• Work out the structure of your essay, breaking it down into sections.
• Check the word limit and assign a certain number of words to each point you need to make, plus the introduction and conclusion.

You can then see how much space you have to make your argument. And if you find that you don’t have enough words available per section, you can revise your essay plan to focus on the most important points.

Reducing the Word Count

Say your plan doesn’t quite work out, though. What then? Well, if you’ve written too much, there are a few things you can do. These include:

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• Looking for and cutting any repetition in your work
• Cutting unnecessary words or phrases (particularly redundancies )
• Using the active voice instead of the passive voice

Having your work proofread can help with these issues. However, if you need to reduce the word count in your work by a large amount, you may need to make bigger cuts.

This will mean looking for arguments or examples in your work that aren’t essential to your point. In a longer thesis or dissertation, you may also be able to move some information to the appendices.

Increasing the Word Count?

There’s no trick to boosting the word count in an essay. But there are things you shouldn’t do! For example, you shouldn’t add extra words unless they offer something useful. Unnecessary waffle will make your work hard to read, and your marker will spot it quickly.

Instead, reread your essay and look for things to expand on, such as:

• Adding another example
• Explaining an argument in more depth
• Comparing different points of view
• Using short quotes to support your points

If you find it difficult to know what to write, a little extra research should help. The key is that anything you add should contribute to your work as well as your word count! And if you need any help proofreading your essay , our academic writing experts are available 24/7.

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Essay Word Counter

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What Is Essay Word Counter?

An essay word counter is a simple yet powerful tool that has the ability to quickly count the number of characters and words within an essay. While the primary goal of an essay word counter is to measure characters and words, this tool allows you to determine the number of sentences and paragraphs that your essay consists of.

If you're tasked with reading your essay aloud in front of a classroom, this online word counter can help you prepare by providing you with an estimated speaking time and reading time. If you're asking yourself "How do I count the words in my essay?", plugging your essay into an online word counter will allow you to receive nearly instantaneous results.

Benefits of Using This Tool Compared to Alternatives

Online word counter tools offer the functionality you need to determine what your current essay word count is. There are several additional tools that can provide you with similar functionality, which include Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and PDF documents. Even though all of these alternatives allow users to measure the word count and character count for their essay, they lack many of the extra features that set the online tool apart from the competition.

Wordcounter vs Microsoft Word

When comparing this online word counter to Microsoft Word, the online word counter allows users to paste any kind of text into the box. Even if the text comes from a PDF file, it can be easily copied into the word counter. Among all of the alternatives for an essay word counter, Microsoft Word may be the most comprehensive of the three. Along with measuring the number of words, it can also count characters, pages, lines, and paragraphs. The main issue with Word, however, is that it's less intuitive than using an online tool.

When you click on word count in Microsoft Word, you'll be provided with data on the lines, paragraphs, words, and other aspects of your essay. However, the word count extends to every page of the Word document. To identify the number of words and characters in a specific section, you'll need to highlight the section and select the word count option again.

Wordcounter vs Google Docs

As for Google Docs, this tool doesn't display a status bar that tells you how many words are present in the document. To receive an updated word count, you must select the "Tools" tab that's found in the "Menu" section. From here, you'll be able to select "Word Count". When compared to the online word checker tool, Google Docs doesn't include information about how many sentences are in your essay or the frequency of a specific word.

Wordcounter vs PDF Tool

When it comes to a PDF document, you'll find that these documents are similar to Google Docs in that they don't include a status bar. You're also unable to access any kind of menu that allows you to view the word count of the essay you're writing. There are two distinct options for identifying the word count in your essay. First, you can convert the PDF file into what's known as the Rich Text Format, which makes it easier for you to count the words. You could also upload the file directly into this online word counter, which will give you an accurate word total.

The primary benefit of using the online word counter tool is that there are a number of exclusive features like speaking time and reading time that can't be found in other tools like Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Essay Length Best Practices

Whether you're writing an essay for a high school class or for graduate school, there are some best practices that can guide you through the process and help you write the best essay. The most important element of writing an essay is getting the length right. If the essay is too long, there's a good chance it isn't as succinct and direct as it should be. The essay length guidelines you should adhere to include:

High school essay

The average essay word count for a high school essay is 300-1,000 words. Most high school essays are five paragraphs long with an introductory paragraph, three total body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.

College admission essay

This essay should be around 200-650 words long. Along with having a set word limit, these essays should include a look at your motivations and interests.

Undergraduate essay

This essay can be around 1,500-5,000 words long. The content and length depend on the college and program you're entering.

Graduate admission essay

An admission essay should be 500-1,000 words in length. Make sure you include a lengthy personal statement that details your motivations and academic achievements.

Graduate school essay

This extended essay word count is usually around 2,500-6,000 words. The assignment you receive depends on the course you're in. Most graduate-level essays are lengthy and can involve research papers.

IB extended essay

The IB extended essay word count is 4,000 words. This essay is mandatory for every student of the International Baccalaureate program and is based on independent research.

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An essay is a piece of academic writing which makes an evidenced argument in response to a question or series of questions. Some essays aim to prove something by developing a case, by reasoning, using examples and by taking a position. Essays may also involve providing clear explanations about a topic and allow you to demonstrate your understanding. In many cases, writing essays will involve gathering examples and evidence, and involves carrying out some initial research and reading.

Sometimes you will be assigned an essay question; in other cases, you will be given a topic and it is up to you to identify the possible questions you will seek to address in your essay.

At university, you will therefore usually be expected to read more widely and support your essay argument by referring to a more diverse range of sources and evidence.  Good essays will still need to meet important criteria that you have probably encountered at school and college: essays should be appropriately presented, clearly structured, and should demonstrate they have been proofread to check for clarity of expression and to minimise errors.  However, you will also be expected to follow academic conventions on how to reference existing research from books and journals as well as other appropriate sources.  You will need to engage critically with what has been written on the subject so that you explain the significance and importance of issues and examples.  You may also need to discuss the consequences and purposes of theories, methods and analyses presented by existing scholarship beyond identifying what has been said or done. 

For many students, writing essays at university may be difficult to begin with and it is very important to pay attention and try and respond to any feedback you receive.

Starting an essay

The first thing you should do is to read any guidance your school has provided and make sure you understand how your essay will be assessed. Pay particular attention to any assessment criteria or marking sheets, as well as any feedback you've been given previously.

• Identify the question(s) to be addressed
• Develop your thinking and reading to note down some initial ideas and thoughts
• Don't become fixed in your early ideas: remain open minded, as you may wish to change your perspective as you read more
• Consider the arguments against your view - how could you defend or rebut alternative positions
• Begin to think of the structure of your essay and the sequence you wish to introduce points. Work towards sketching out an outline of how these points can be linked together
• Start writing - some students find they can refine their ideas by trying to express them in written form
• Be prepared to re-draft your work before final submission
• Where possible, give yourself time to put the essay aside for a day or two and come back to it during the drafting phases. Seeing it with fresh eyes will be particularly useful when re-considering the structure and placing of paragraphs.
• Try asking friends to read your draft work. It can be very difficult after repeated reading to see your own mistakes.  Alternatively, use text-speech software such as TextHelp Read&Write (available on the UoN network) to read the text aloud to you.
• When you have a fairly complete and well-organised draft, revise sentences, with special attention to transitions, checking that a reader will be able to follow the sequences of ideas within and between sentences and between paragraphs.

Points to remember

Check that when you are starting work on your essay and reading materials and sources, make a clear note of the bibliographic details (e.g. author, date, title, publisher etc.) as you will need this information to accurately complete any citation of references and list of sources or bibliography.  Harvard is often used in many schools, but check and follow the recommended system of the School or department offering the module.

Before submission, proofread the final copy checking for grammar and spelling mistakes. You might find it helpful to print out your essay and make notes on the hard copy.

Structuring your essay

Your structure should embody a basic plan necessary to write an essay relevant to the title.

It will need an introduction, a main body and a conclusion (or summing up at the end). However beyond this basic structure, it is likely that your school can provide more detailed guidance.

Introductions

Introductions are like an itinerary or road-map for your reader.  They will usually identify what specific questions or issues you are tackling in the essay (the focus) and indicate how you will work through answering the question/title you are writing about (the method or theory applied). 

It can help to think of the introduction to an essay being around 10% of the total word count.  For a short essay of 1500 words, it may be just a single paragraph of approximately 150 words.  For longer essays, you may need to set the scene of the topic first, so it may be two or three paragraphs in length.

The paragraphs in the main body develop your argument or response to the essay title, using examples to explore the different aspects of the question.  Think about how each paragraph builds up the argument and use connecting words and phrases to link together the paragraphs.  In some departments, you may be encouraged to use headings for the different sections, but check this with your assignment guidelines or tutors. 

Conclusions

The conclusion will indicate the overall themes and summarise the key points you have raised in the essay, identifying how this has addressed the question.  It can help to think of the conclusion as being around 5-10% of the total word count.  For a short essay of 1500 words, it may be a single paragraph of approximately 100-150 words.  For longer essays, the conclusion may be a couple of paragraphs long. The conclusion is where you summarise and synthesize the significance or importance of the key evidence and examples you have discussed.

Remember to not include any new ideas or information in your conclusion.

Proofreading

Many students find it easier to proofread from the printed page rather than a computer screen, but do think about using technology to support your proofreading process.  Text-to-speech software such as TextHelp Read&Write can read text aloud to you, highlighting each word as it reads, and can help identify homophones along with a range of other proofreading support strategies. Read&Write is available on the UoN network. 

• Check paragraphing for length, transitional links, and internal coherence
• Check word choice - use a dictionary to check accurate meanings
• Review your style and check for clarity - reading aloud can often help
• incomplete sentences
• missing or mis-used punctuation 
• possessives (The dog's bone or the two dogs' bone)
• matching verbs and subjects (plural or singular).
• Check spelling and typing for possible errors. Run a spell checker, but remember if your mis-spelling actually spells another real word it often won't identify these.

Evaluating your essay

When finishing an essay you should check it against the marking criteria provided by your school. Here are some useful questions to ask yourself:

• Did you give a brief introduction that provides any indication of the overall flow of your essay?
• Did you use a logical progression of concepts and information using subheadings, if appropriate, for the main body?
• Did you include too little information?  You will need detail, or specifics and examples.
• Did you include too much?  You often don't need more than one or two examples to make a point; you need to make theories, issues or arguments clear, but not verbose. Make sure you keep within the word limit set for the essay.
• If appropriate to your discipline, did you use clearly labelled diagrams, figures, or images that are referred to in the body of the text? (Diagrams are not free-standing items and are of benefit only when they highlight key points or mechanisms.)
• Did you write clearly and unambiguously? Keep your sentence construction simple, and avoid overlong sentences. Punctuate correctly.
• Did you give a brief concluding paragraph to round off your essay?
• Did you acknowledge your sources using the appropriate referencing system?

Further reading

• Creative and critical thinking

Preparing for assessment

• Using feedback

Reading and interpreting sources and data

• Finding sources
• Reading strategies
• Citing, referencing and bibliographies

Practical strategies for managing writing

• Preparation and planning
• Technical advice on writing
• Choosing your words and improving your writing
• Writing critically
• Referencing and bibliographies 

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Academic writing

Strategies and advice on how to communicate your ideas using an appropriate academic register

Introduction to academic writing

Producing written work as part of a university exam, essay, dissertation or another form of assignment requires an approach to organisation, structure, voice and use of language that differs from other forms of writing and communication.

Academic writing is a language that no one is born speaking. Understanding more about the conventions of your discipline and the specific features and conventions of academic writing can help you develop confidence and make improvements to your written work.

Academic writing is part of a complex process of finding, analysing and evaluating information, planning, structuring, editing and proofreading your work, and reflecting on feedback that underpins written assessment at university.

Here we focus on the key principles of academic writing as a way to communicate your ideas using appropriate language, structure and organisation. 

301 Recommends:

Our Academic Writing Essentials workshop will explore the challenges of writing in an academic register and provide a range of strategies that can be used to develop your academic voice. The workshop will cover the use of language, structuring your writing and critical writing to take a holistic view of the writing process from a blank page through to a completed piece of work.

Try out our Academic Writing Interactive Digital Workshop  to explore the key principles of good academic writing.

Our Paraphrasing workshop will explore the roles of paraphrasing, quoting and 'para-quoting' and provide strategies for formulating and referencing paraphrases.

Join our 301 Writing Club sessions which include three 25-minute blocks of silent writing time, plus time to share your writing goals and progress with others. This is not a workshop, please bring an piece of academic writing to work on.

Academic language

Academic writing is defined by conventions rather than rules. This means that they are flexible and adaptable at least some of the time.

The point is not for you and your peers to produce identical pieces of work, but to provide a shared framework of communication that allows specialists within a field to access information, ideas and concepts quickly and easily.

It goes without saying that academic writing uses a more formal register than everyday communication. The following are four important conventions to follow that will help you to hit the right level of formality in your writing:

Use formal language

Academic writing tends to adopt formal language derived from Latinate, rather than Anglo-Saxon roots. This distinction is particularly evident in the use of verbs in academic language.

In general, phrasal verbs are used when speaking (eg in presentations), whilst Latinate verbs are used in academic writing (eg essays). Phrasal language is more informal, whilst Latinate verbs sound 'posher' and more formal.

Phrasal verbs tend to come in two parts: they use a  verb  together with an  adverb  or preposition.

There is often a one-word equivalent, which usually comes from Latin root, reflecting the origins of formal English among educated Romans and the Church.

Examples include: 

Carry out = perform

Talk about = discuss

Look up to = respect

Why is this useful? Latinate verbs use fewer words, so can help you develop a more concise writing style.

Latinate verbs can also be more specific than their phrasal equivalents, for example, the phrasal verb 'set up' has several Latinate equivalents: 

Set up a room: I’m going to  arrange  the room for the meeting.

Set up an experiment: The experiment was  prepared.

Set up an organisation: The NSPCC was  established  in 1884.

You may wish to use a mixture of phrasal and Latinate verbs in your writing, and to tailor it to your assignment. For example, if writing a more informal blog post, you may want to use more phrasal language.

Some common examples of academic verb use include:

Carry out: Perform "The experiment was carried out/performed..."

Find out:   Investigate "The aim of this project is to find out/investigate…"

Leave out: Omit "Therefore this was left out of/omitted from the analysis..."

Awareness of how and when to use different registers of language can help to improve the level of formality of your writing. 

Avoid contractions and abbreviations

Academic writing tends to avoid the types of contractions and abbreviated language that you might use in other forms of communication.

In some cases, this is obvious, but in other cases, where abbreviations have become commonly used forms of words, it can be more difficult to spot.

For example:

Are not/is not: Aren't/isn't

Quotation: Quote

UK: United Kingdom

However, some commonly used abbreviations or acronyms relating to the discipline will often need to be used to enhance the clarity of your writing and reduce the word count.

In these cases, it is important to use the full form of the abbreviated name or phrase in the first instance, including the abbreviation in parentheses.

A key role has always been played by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)...

World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations state...

The use of an Electrocardiogram (ECG) is recommended...

Certain extremely commonly used acronyms have become part of common usage and do not require further explanation within a text. For example, AIDS, laser, radar, scuba. 

Write objectively

Academic writing tends to strive for an appearance of objectivity.

Although you will no doubt have an informed opinion or theory that you are trying to get across in your writing, it is important to build a compelling objective case for your ideas using evidence and data.

Secondary sources should be used to build a foundation of background thinking, ideas and theories to support your approach.

All secondary sources (books, journals, webpages, conference presentations, films, audio recordings, etc.) should be referenced using the standard system recommended by your department.

A bibliography of all referenced works should be included at the end of your assignment, ordered alphabetically and formatted using the recommended standard system. 

Visit the  library referencing pages  for more information, examples and tutorials.

Primary sources include any information or data that you have found, collected or generated to illustrate your arguments or explore your hypotheses. Primary sources may include texts that you are analysing, survey responses, experimental data, artefacts and much more.

When writing about primary and secondary sources, it is usually better to avoid using the first person ('I' or 'we' forms), as your focus should be on an objective interpretation of that evidence. 

The first person is most commonly used to indicate where you are going beyond an objective analysis to put forward your own informed opinions, for example as part of a discussion section or conclusion. 

Some principles of using the first person include:

Avoid overusing the first person (I) and use passive forms where possible: "the experiment was conducted..."; "evidence suggests..."; "a sample was taken..."

Watch out for adjectives that imply a value judgement: fantastic, brilliant, rubbish, interesting, good, etc.

Avoid using cliched phrases: "a hot topic..."; "the other side of the coin..."; "at the end of the day..."; "the fact of the matter..."; "in the current climate..."

Avoid overstatement. Make cautious use or avoid the following altogether: extremely, very, really, always, never, a lot, the most, the least

Note: always check department guidelines   on the use of first-person forms in your writing.

301 Recommends: Manchester University Academic Phrasebank

The Academic Phrasebank is a repository of the most commonly-used phrases in published academic work, organised according to purpose and function. Explore the Phrasebank for ideas on how to express yourself using established academic language.

Paragraphs and flow

Paragraphs are the building blocks of your written work, and a good essay or assignment will organise the content clearly at a paragraph level.

However, in a piece of academic writing paragraphs can be tricky to structure due to the complexity of ideas that you are likely to be working with.

The following structure is not the only way to write a paragraph, but it is a common model that is used in academic writing to build sources and evidence into your writing in a critical and analytical way. 

Writing good paragraphs: structure

Most paragraphs of academic writing tend to follow a similar organisational structure:

The topic sentence:  States the main idea or area to be covered by the paragraph.

Explanation or definitions (optional):  Can be used to clarify any difficult or uncertain terminology introduced in the topic sentence.

Evidence and examples:  One or more sentences introducing key ideas, sources, quotes, case studies, evidence or data.

Comment:  Explores what the evidence means, how it can be summarised or whether it needs to be challenged.

Concluding sentence:  Relates the paragraph to your overall argument and links forward to the next paragraph.

The final sentence is often the most important part of a paragraph as it clarifies your interpretation of the topic area and identifies how it contributes to your overall argument.

Watch this short  study skills hacks video  for more information. 

Writing good paragraphs: unity

A paragraph will usually discuss only one idea as outlined in the first sentence, the  topic sentence . If you find a paragraph drifting away from this controlling idea, it is time to split it into more than one paragraph:

The opening sentence of paragraph should outline the main idea (topic sentence).

Every supporting sentence should directly explain, refer back to, or build on the main idea using specific evidence and examples where possible.

Use the final sentence(s) to refer back to the topic sentence and lead into the following paragraph.

Writing good paragraphs: flow 

The skill of structuring your writing and building effective connections between paragraphs is one that will allow you to develop and sustain a compelling argument in your written work.

By setting out your ideas and evidence with a natural flow, you will make your work much more readable.

This important technique will help you work towards higher levels of attainment in assignments and help to improve the quality of your everyday writing.

Paraphrasing and quoting

When you are producing a piece of writing at university, you will often want to talk about what someone else has written about the topic.

There are four distinct ways of doing this.

Quoting:  directly including in your work the published words or other data you have found in a source

Paraphrasing:  expressing in your own words the ideas, arguments, words or other material you have found published elsewhere

Para-quoting:  paraphrasing an idea or area but retaining one or more important words and phrases from the original in quotation marks

Summarising:  providing a top-level overview of a single larger area of work or multiple sources

There are many reasons for quoting or paraphrasing in your own work, but essentially these techniques allow you to show your understanding of current knowledge about the topic you are studying and respond to that knowledge in your work.

Remember that you will need to cite and reference all of the sources that have informed your work.

It is a complex linguistic skill to incorporate others’ work smoothly and efficiently into your own by quoting or paraphrasing.

Skilful use of sources and selective quoting and paraphrasing are important elements of the critical writing process, which is in greater detail on the critical thinking pages – see  Legitimation Code Theory  for more ideas.

It is also a key skill of academic writing that will help to ensure that your work does not include elements of plagiarism.

For more information on unfair means and plagiarism, including suggestions on how to avoid it, see the following  resource .

As with other aspects of working with sources, it is important to  follow your department's specific guidelines about these skills.

When to quote and when to paraphrase

You should direct quote

if you are referring to a formal definition in which the specific language is important

if you are quoting an opinion (with which you do not necessarily agree)

if you are reporting direct speech, eg the reactions or experience of someone actually involved

if you wish to highlight specific features of the author's writing style

 You should paraphrase

to elaborate on or explain a concept or definition to your reader

to engage critically with an opinion or source and demonstrate that you understand it fully

to summarise the reactions or experience of one or more individual

if the general concept is more important than the specific language used

Writing to a word count

If you find you often go over the word count on an assignment, there are several possible causes and solutions.

In this online resource, we will think about the purpose of the word count, the reasons why we might go over it, and strategies to tackle it.

Why is there a word count?

Word counts are part of the challenge of academic writing for several reasons:

To suggest a level of detail: with one topic, you could write a 100-word summary, 1,000-word essay, 10,000-word dissertation, or a 100,000 word PhD thesis. The word count gives an indication of the level of depth you are expected to go into

To ensure fairness: each student has the same number of words to show the marker what they know. 

To test your communication skills: being able to keep within a word count requires a concise writing style and excellent communication skills – it helps you get straight to the point.

To demonstrate your critical thinking skills: to stay within word counts, you need to focus on what is most important and select the best examples and case studies. It puts critical thinking into practice

As a matter of practicality: markers only have a finite amount of time to mark work.

Why do we go over the word count?

First of all, it is important to remember that being over the word count is better than having a blank page. The ideas are down on the page but might need refining. There are several reasons why you might have exceeded the word count: 

Still developing an effective structure: Do you have a clear plan and have you stuck to it? If not, can you map out an overall structure for your essay and identify areas where you have departed from it?

Fear of missing out on something important: try to be selective with examples and arguments. What is your mission statement or key argument, and how does each section help you make it?

Waffling (using 200 words when 100 will do): work on developing a concise academic writing style. Even if you’re not over the word count, this leaves you more words for your critical analysis and discussion

Writing to a word count involves careful planning and organisation to make sure that you get your main points across. The following points might help you to stay within the parameters that you are aiming for:

• Plan what your key points are, and what percentage of your word count to spend on each. Are any sections disproportionately long?
• Avoid repeating arguments – try reading your work backwards (paragraph by paragraph, not word by word). This can make it easier to spot ideas that are repeated, as you are viewing each paragraph individually rather than your argument as a whole
• Use topic sentences at the start of each paragraph. This can help you (and the marker) to identify what key point you are trying to make. Are there any paragraphs that are making the same point? Can you link them?
• It might be tempting to show all of the reading you have done, but select the most important case studies, and explain why you have chosen them. This can be evidence of critical thinking (eg whilst many studies have examined X, a key paper is Y because…)
• Are you using 200 words where 100 will do? One way of testing this is to calculate your  Fog Index  to find out how clear and concise your writing is.

Remember: Having a more concise academic writing style gives you more words to use on things that are important, eg critical analysis and discussion. It’s not just about cutting the odd word here and there to get you under the word count.

The following are some simple tips to make sure you stay within your word count:

Find out what counts towards your word count (for references, footnotes, abstract, captions, tables, text boxes…)

Consider combining related sections or cutting irrelevant sections.

Focus on condensing your key arguments.

Use a concise academic writing style, eg avoid excessive hedging, remove redundant adjectives.

Lie about your word count.

Cut sections just to meet the word count.

Focus on removing individual words – this will be extremely time consuming and will make little impact on your overall count.

Use contractions to meet the word count (eg isn't, doesn't, shouldn't) – this is not academic.

Useful resources

Internal resources.

University of Sheffield Library –  R esearch and Critical Thinking Resources

Digital Learning - Using Turnitin  (login required)

English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) –   P araphrasing

External Resources

Manchester University –  Academic phrasebank

UCL Institute of English –  Word count

Gunning Fog Index Calculator –  Online tool

Purdue Online Writing Lab –  Quoting, paraphrasing and summarising

Wisconsin Writing Centre –  Paraphrasing vs. quoting

Using English for academic purposes –  Writing paragraphs

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Essays types of assignment.

Many assignments need to be written in the form of an essay. The structure of essay-style assignments varies but should generally include an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. You'll find detailed guidance under the Assessment tab of your module website for each assignment. The following is a general list of sections you should include:

• introduction
• references.

Each of these is discussed in more detail.

You should write the full question (title) at the top of your assignment. It'll contain keywords (known as content and process words).  Understanding the question  has more information on these.

• Introduction

An introduction provides your reader with an overview of what your essay will cover and what you want to say. It's generally a paragraph or two to define key terms and themes and indicate how you intend to address the question. It should:

• set out the aims of the assignment and signpost how your argument will unfold
• introduce the issue(s) and give any essential background information
• include major debates that lie behind the question
• define the keywords and terms used in the question/title
• be between 5% and 10% of the total word count.

Some students prefer to write the introduction at an early stage, others wait until they've almost completed the assignment. If you write it early, don't allow it to constrain what you want to write. It's a good idea to check and revise the introduction after the first draft.

The main body of your essay should present your case. Each main point should have its own paragraph and be written in full sentences. You should use evidence to support the arguments you make in this section, referencing your sources appropriately.

You can set out the issues and supporting evidence whichever way you feel is appropriate for the essay. You may find more guidance on this on your module website but in general you can choose to:

• deal with all of the supporting and all of the challenging evidence separately
• take each issue in turn, describing and evaluating it before moving on to the next issue
• describe all the issues first before moving on to your evaluation of them.

How to order your arguments

Although you'll need to clearly describe the issues related to the essay title (for example the concepts and theoretical positions), you're expected to go further than mere description. An essay question might expect you to take one of the following approaches.

• Make an argument by examining competing positions. This type of essay requires you to make a balanced and well-argued case for the strength of one position over another.
• Present an unbiased discussion. You might do this by comparing and contrasting things (such as arguments put forward by individual scholars).
• Explain something in a discursive way to explore all the elements involved in a particular concept or theory in an even-handed way.

In all cases, you'll be expected to:

• clearly describe what your essay is trying to do and define any essential terms
• present an argument that is balanced
• base any conclusions you draw on evidence
• present evidence using references to the original published work.

Your conclusion should be a short section to sum up how your essay has answered the question, reinforce your introduction, and include a reference to the wording of the title. Try to focus on the question but avoid repeating what you wrote in the introduction.

If your essay has presented evidence or data, ensure that the conclusions you draw are valid in light of that evidence and data. Draw your conclusions cautiously: use phrases such as 'the evidence suggests that ...', or 'one interpretation is that ...' rather than 'this proves that ...'.

Your conclusion should:

• summarise the key elements of your argument clearly and concisely
• demonstrate how you've answered the question
• perhaps suggest what needs to be considered in the future.

It should not:

• include any new arguments, ideas or examples
• be too long, for an assignment of fewer than 1,500 words a conclusion of 50-100 words is probably enough
• repeat examples, phrases or sentences from the main body of your essay.

You should include a list of sources (including module materials) that are mentioned in the essay. Find out more in the OU library's  referencing and plagiarism  area.

Adding an appendix or appendices

Whether you can or can't add appendices to an essay depends on your module or assignment. You need to check with your tutor when and how an appendix can be added to an assignment.

Related links

• Preparing assignments
• Writing in your own words

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Assignment length requirements are usually given in terms of numbers of words.

Unless the lecturer tells you that these limits are strict, it is normally acceptable to be 10% above or below this word limit (so, for example, a 2000 word assignment should be between 1800 and 2200 words). If the assignment uses the words “up to” (as in “up to 2500 words”) that usually means that you cannot go above the limit.

Use the tool below to calculate the acceptable range for an assignment (based on +/- 10%).

Unless the lecturer tells you otherwise, the word limit does not include ‘administrative’ sections of the assignment: the cover or title page, table of contents, table of figures, reference list, list of works cited, bibliography, or any appendices.

The word limit that you are given reflects the level of detail required . This means that if your assignment is too long, you're either taking too many words to explain your point or giving too many / too detailed examples. If your assignment is too short, either there is more to the answer than you have written or the assignment has not gone into enough detail about the answer.

• Don't try to remove single words from your assignment. It is unlikely to reduce the assignment's length significantly, but it may confuse your argument . Instead, aim to remove or condense whole sections of your assignment.
• You should not include something just because it is a fact, or just because it is included in your course materials. Include something only if it is relevant to your argument.
• Be direct. State your point rather than writing many paragraphs to ‘lead up’ to it.
• Go back to the question . Which sections relate to the point and which are secondary?
• Go back to the plan . Which paragraphs fit in the overall structure? Which paragraphs overlap and can be combined?
• Remove sections where you
• Over-explain your point
• Over-specify your point
• Repeat yourself
• Write off-topic or ramble
• Remove multiple examples where one or two are sufficient.
• Remove hedging language that adds little to the argument (e.g., it would seem that, it is possible that).

If you are often over the word count you should look at your writing style. See writing concisely for more.

Explain your argument fully

• Make sure every argument in your head and in your plan is on the page.
• Would a general (i.e., non-specialist) reader understand your point? Have someone else read over your assignment and ask you questions about it. What do they think is missing?
• Are there gaps in your argument?
• Does each point logically follow the last one, or do you jump over important points?

Look for the ‘hidden’ answer

• What theories do you think the marker expects?
• How does this relate to the materials from lectures and study guides? Use the course information in your answer to the assignment question.
• Are there complications or contradictions in the argument or in your research? Explain them and explore them.

Flesh it out

• Define any special terminology you've used that a general reader would not be familiar with.
• Illustrate with more examples and/or quotations.
• Contextualise and explain the quotations you use. How do they relate to your argument?

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success Last updated on 12 December, 2018

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7.11 Calculating Your Word Count

You are responsible for including an accurate word-count on the cover sheet for each piece of work you submit. Failure to be honest in this respect will itself be penalized under the University’s cheating and plagiarism regulations.

The word count specified for assessments will include footnotes, quotations and in-line references, but exclude the titles, bibliography and appendices. The exception to this are modules taught within History; please see the History Subject Handbook for their guidelines. 

Some assessment tasks ask for diagrams, tables, maps, and/or visual images which are either placed together in an appendix or placed at appropriate points in the essay. These are normally labelled, for instance as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc. Such visual material should be clearly captioned; the captions do not count towards the overall word count. Unless module handbooks or departmental guidance explicitly allow otherwise, appendices should not normally contain writing other than captions or writing that is integral to diagrams, etc.: in other words, an appendix is not the place to argue a point. 

Academic staff will check the declared word count on the cover sheet against the word limit specified for that assessment; where the word count exceeds the specified word limit, the appropriate penalty will be applied.

Where academic staff suspect that you have not declared the word count honestly, and that the piece of work is over the specified limit, staff will ask the Humanities Education Team to check the word count in order to determine the appropriate penalty to be administered.

FBMH 2019-20

Student Handbooks

Assignment Word Count (Including Dissertation)

In accordance with the University  Policy on Marking :

Each written assignment has a word limit which you must state at the top of your first page. It is acceptable, without penalty, for you to submit an assignment within a range that is plus 10% of this limit. If you present an assignment with a word count exceeding the specified limit+10%, the assignment will be marked but 1% will be deducted from this mark for every 100 words over the limit given.

For an original word limit that is 1000 words and an assignment that is marked out of 100.  If a submission is made that is 1101 words then it exceeded the 10% leeway, and is more than 100 words over the original limit and should receive a 1 mark deduction.

  In accordance with accepted academic practice, when submitting any written assignment for summative assessment, the notion of a word count includes the following without exception:

• All titles or headings that form part of the actual text. This does not include the fly page or reference list
• All words that form the actual essay
• All words forming the titles for figures, tables and boxes, are included but this does not include boxes or tables or figures themselves
• All in-text (that is bracketed) references
• All directly quoted material

Certain assessments may require different penalties for word limits to be applied. For example, if part of the requirement for the assessment is conciseness of presentation of facts and arguments. In such cases it may be that no 10% leeway is allowed and penalties applied may be stricter than described above. In such cases the rules for word count limits and the penalties to be applied will be clearly stated in the assessment brief and in the submission details for that assessment.

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January 17, 2022, by Helen Whitehead

Word counts and Turnitin

Footnotes can be a large proportion in some cases

We are often asked about Turnitin Word counts. Turnitin states that they use a word counting algorithm very similar to that of Microsoft Word but not identical. Some of the main differences include:

• Turnitin does not count the words in footnotes and end-notes.
• Turnitin does not count words in text boxes, So, if your whole submission is in a text box ( (e.g., a form, or some other formatting using text boxes), then it may be rejected because the word count is too low.
• Turnitin will count each separate word within a URL, however a PDF or Word document will count a URL as one word.

Even the counts within Word and PDF versions of the same document may result in slightly different word counts, as well as the Turnitin count. Word count within Turnitin isn’t really intended to make sure a document is within an assignment target. It’s intended as a tool to indicate to markers where words are “hidden” from the software.

It’s worth noting that it is neither Word nor Turnitin word counts which are important in themselves: what counts is to be aware of the method the relevant School approves for word counting. This may, for example, include end-notes but not references. It may exclude text in tables. So using the wrong counting method can result in quite a different total. If there are penalties for going over the maximum word count, it should be clear what is included and excluded in the word count. Students are advised to check word count before submission, based on their School or University’s policy, and not to rely on Turnitin.

When marking in Turnitin there isn’t a way to get a quick report of word counts without opening submissions. If necessary, we’d advise markers to check word counts as you mark. Alternatively you can do a spot check by opening an assignment and then using the arrows within Feedback Studio to quickly move between papers. The word count shows at the bottom of each screen so you can flick through, and spot counts that are borderline. It’s important to further check those by downloading the original version of the submission and using the appropriate Word or PDF app to count words.

Further information

Here are examples from other universities where word counts have been investigated and compared: UCL , University of Brighton  and  Royal Holloway.

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Florida pre-med student stabs mother more than 70 times, killing her during visit, authorities say

A Florida pre-med university student killed his mother by stabbing her over 70 times without saying a word when he visited her from college over the weekend, authorities said.

After Emmanuel Espinoza, 21, killed his mother on Saturday, he perplexedly told detectives that he loved her and that they had a good relationship — but that he had wanted to kill her for years because she irritated him, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Espinoza has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother, 46-year-old Elvia Espinoza, the sheriff's office said.

The student at the University of Florida in Gainesville had traveled to Frostproof, Florida, for a family event Saturday and was going to stay with his mother, Judd said .

He arrived at her home around 2 p.m., knocked on the front door, and seemingly without provocation stabbed her "many times" after she opened the door, Judd said.

On Sunday, Judd shared doorbell camera video from Elvia's home that showed Emmanuel approach with a small knife in his right hand, hidden behind his back, and knock on the door. Judd said that Emmanuel had put AirPods in his ears and was playing Kanye West and Jay-Z's song “No Church in the Wild” when he drove up to the house and knocked on the front door. 

“His beautiful mother, who was so excited to see her son, opened the door. The second she opened the door, he charged in and started stabbing her,” Judd said.

The mother ran from him, but "he stabbed her until she fell down and died."

Judd said Emmanuel confessed to stabbing his mother repeatedly, even when he noticed her hands were still moving. He told detectives that he knew where to stab her for maximum effect because of his biology classes. 

Emmanuel told detectives that he had cut his hand in the stabbing. When he went to the kitchen sink to wash himself and the knife off, "he wanted to ask his mother for the Neosporin for the cut on his hand, but he noticed she was dead," Judd said.

Emmanuel immediately dialed 911 and confessed to operators. 

Audio of the dispatch call was played for reporters Sunday.

“I killed someone,” Emmanuel is heard telling dispatch. “I stabbed my mom.”

When Emmanuel spoke with detectives, he told them he loved his mother and had a good relationship with her but that she irritated him.

“We talked to him and he confessed. He said, 'You know, I have wanted to kill my mother for many, many years because she got on my nerves,'" Judd said.

When asked, "What’s your relationship with your mother?" Espinoza replied: "About a eight out of 10."

"He really loved her, but she irritated him and he made up his mind today on his way from Gainesville that he would murder her, and that’s exactly what he did," Judd said Saturday.

The sheriff said Emmanuel told detectives he wasn't on drugs or alcohol at the time of the stabbing — nor did he have any history of such abuse or mental health issues, no arrest record and there was no record of calls under the Baker Act (which focuses on crisis services for individuals with mental illness) to the home.

Emmanuel was known to be introverted and quiet, with zero issues, Judd told reporters. He was the Class of 2020 valedictorian at his high school and was "described as being a genius."

"[Elvia] wanted to come see him because she hadn’t seen him in a while. They text every day, every other day, they stay in constant contact. No issues over money. She would send him money to make sure she appropriately funded his ability to go to college and enjoy his college life. No argument that day. He never said a word to her," Judd said.

Elvia Espinoza was a mother of three and beloved second-grade teacher at Ben Hill Griffin Elementary in Frostproof, and was "well-loved" by the community, the sheriff's office said, calling the incident "an inexplicable vicious murder."

“I want you to understand this lady who was a school teacher for 20 years actually moved around and taught at different schools while her kids were in school so she could be close to them,” Judd said. “I want you to understand that she was the perfect mom. I want you to understand that she was very proud of his accomplishments.”

“Then I want you to understand that he viciously murdered her and confessed to it,” he added.

Polk County Public Schools said in a statement: “Her students and colleagues greatly loved her, and her sudden, unexpected death is a devastating loss. She was a very special part of her school family.”

Grief counselors have been made available at her school and another school where she previously worked. 

Breaking News Reporter