When you are tired, and working to a deadline, it is easy to spell words incorrectly or make a typing mistake. You must allow yourself a couple of days to check over your work in order that you can try to ensure it is error free. Many programmes and applications offer spell checking options but remember to use the English spellings of words not American English. You should also get used to using a reliable online dictionary or hard copy dictionary.

It might be a good idea to get someone to look over your work for you as sometimes they will be able to see mistakes that you may not have noticed. However, remember that the work you hand in must be your own, so you can't get someone to correct your mistakes for you.

Homophones  - Homophones are words that sound the same when you say them but are spelt differently and have different meanings. Common homophones can cause many spelling issues for students so make sure you are sure when and how to use these words.

Example:  Where is used to talk about a place but were is a verb, and we're is the shortened form of we are.

You may find that you have to review your knowledge of punctuation. In academic writing as you are being factual, you should avoid using exclamation marks ( !) as this would usually indicate you think something is surprising or exciting. You must try to avoid placing personal opinions in your text.

Make sure you know when you have to use capital letters. For example, when you are using the name of someone or something the first letter should be in capitals.

Full stops are used to show the end of an idea or topic. Make sure that you are regularly reading over your work and putting in full stops . This will help your sentences from becoming too long and prevent your reader from becoming confused.

A common error that you will have to look out for is not using citations, missing out citations, writing citations out incorrectly or not doing your references properly. You are meant to be convincing your reader that your information is reliable and can be trusted so it is vital that you learn how to reference.

A citation is used when we mention the work of someone else in our own writing and a reference list shows all the sources you have written about in your assignment. Check the Cite Them Right website if you are unsure of what to do and remember Greenwich use the Harvard system of referencing.

http://www.citethemrightonline.com/

Avoid using personal pronouns such as " I", unless you are writing a self reflection piece or have been told you are allowed to. Instead of saying I believe or I think, you should get in to the habit of saying this essay will show, or this essay aims to prove that.. or this essay will argue that.....

In the same way, you should avoid using slang words and informal language. For example, if you are writing about children make sure you use the word children and not kids, if you are writing about cigarettes, you would use that word as opposed to fags.

Extreme or absolute language tries to sway the reader by making them think something is a certain fact when it is not. If you use this type of language in your writing , it will become too emotive. This means that you will be accused of trying to play on someone's emotions to help change their viewpoint while they read.

You should avoid generalisations.  Example: All men like football.

You should avoid dramatic, extreme language. Example: These shocking figures show that we must do something,  otherwise the world will come to an end.

In English grammar, this is called subject verb agreement. What it means is you have to make sure that if your subject is singular (one thing) that you make sure your verb is singular too or if your subject is plural (more than one) your verb indicates plural too.

Example: The people at university are friendly.

In this example the people at university is the subject of your sentence. The subject means the main thing you are talking about within your sentence. As the word people shows us there is more than one thing being talked about, we have to make sure that the verb does too. The verb here is are, this is correct as it connects to the subject / verb agreement pattern below

 I am

You (singular) are

He  /she / it is

We are

You (plural) are

They are

Take special care with subjects like " everybody". Even though this looks like it is talking about a number of people it actually means every one person within the group so we would say "everybody is"

Sometimes , in an attempt to try to make themselves sound more academic, students will use " academic sounding words" over and over again.

For example: Smoking is expensive , moreover, it can damage your health, henceforth, it should not be done and it should be banned which is something that hitherto has not been done before.

It is more important that your work is clear than it is to fill your sentences with words that you think make you sound learned.

Sign posting means that you show the direction that your work is going to go in. there are key points in your written work when you will need to use sign posting.

In your introduction: you should make sure you have included an outline as this is a form of sign posting. An outline is a brief description of what you are going to be doing in your essay and when you are going to do it.

You can signpost that you are giving examples in the body of your text ( the main section) by using expressions such as for example, or for instance or a case in point is..

You can signpost in your conclusion that your work is coming to an end by using expressions such as finally, or in conclusion.

It can be very easy to get carried away with an idea when you are writing. At regular points read through your work to see if it is clear, what point it is that you are trying to make, that you have shown its importance and that you have referenced any supporting information properly.