Driver Trett Digest Issue 25 - Flipbook - Page 20
WHY CONSTRUCTION
DISPUTES ARE LIKE EXAMS
Toby Randle
Partner
Fenwick Elliott LLP
At the moment, I have the dubious pleasure as a parent of trying to help two ‘head
strong’ teenagers navigate A levels and GCSE’s in the English schools system.
In exams, (in fairness they haven’t had much practice due to COVID) neither can
resist the urge to write down everything they can remember about their subjects,
regardless of whether it is really relevant to the question. It sometimes reads like
a stream of consciousness.
They are long on facts and short on analysis. They struggle to ensure that each
particular fact or argument being regurgitated is relevant to the issues in hand. In
their mocks, despite working pretty hard, they didn’t do quite as well as they had
hoped.
We talked about ‘exam technique’ at the weekend (parental feedback never well
received in my household!). We discussed resisting the urge to try show the reader
how much work you have done and how clever you are. You simply don’t get any
marks for that. Rather, focus solely on the issues in hand, relate every point being
made back to the question and be clear and concise in your answers. And most
importantly do not repeat yourself!
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