An introduction to the essay topic. No more than a couple of sentences – just to summarise what the essay title indicates the essay will be about.

A summary of the structure of your essay. Not too complicated, but you should highlight the main areas of study – the key topics for which you intend to include. You may wish to provide a summary of type of argument you are going to study – for example, that you are going to look at five main issues and analyse the relative advantages and disadvantages of each, in relation to the original essay topic.

Reference to any particular aspects of the essay mentioned in the title. For example, if you had to study a certain topic "citing UK examples wherever possible", you should emphasise this in your introduction so that the teacher or lecturer can see your intent to answer the question. After all, not answering the question which has been set is one of the main ways that people can lose marks writing their essays.

A definition (optional). When writing an essay on some topics, it can be useful to use the first few lines to define exactly what the key word or theme means. This can prove to the marker that you know what you are talking about, and will help to set up the rest of the essay.