Many students arrive in the Sixth Form never having experienced writing an essay, yet teachers and examiners often assume they will "just know what to do". Nowadays these skills need to be taught because there are fewer opportunities for practise in earlier school years and the number of resources to select from has increased exponentially. Universities look actively for evidence of this skill amongst applicants.

One area that is often bypassed, even if writing skills are addressed, are the emotional effects involved in sustained writing. This jigsaw puzzle approach tackles issues such as planning, structure, tenacity, proofreading and academic honesty.