LAT Writing Section: Essay and Personal Statement
Part II gives you 40 minutes to write an essay (15 marks) and a personal statement (10 marks). That is 25 of the 100 marks — often the difference between a pass and a fail.
LAT Essay
15 marks. How to plan in three minutes, structure five paragraphs and avoid the mistakes that lose marks.
LAT Personal Statement
10 marks. What to say about yourself, what to leave out and a structure you can fill in.
How to divide the 40 minutes
| Task | Marks | Suggested time |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | 15 | About 23 minutes: 3 to plan, 18 to write, 2 to check |
| Personal statement | 10 | About 15 minutes: 2 to plan, 11 to write, 2 to check |
| Buffer | — | 2 minutes |
This split follows the marks. It is a suggestion from us, not an HEC rule; adjust it after you have timed yourself two or three times.
English or Urdu?
HEC's announcements say the essay and the personal statement can be written in English or Urdu. Choose the language in which you make fewer mistakes and can write faster, and practise in that language only.
Practise under the clock
Use the timed writing practice: it gives you a topic, runs a 40-minute timer, counts your words and ends with a checklist so that you can assess your own work. A computer cannot mark an essay fairly, so the checklist is for self-assessment; in our online classes written work is reviewed with you.