What is the best way to approach an essay plan in a time-pressured exam based environment?

Step 1: firstly take a breath. Take ten seconds before opening the exam paper to take a deep breath and calm and focus your mind before tackling the question. Step 2: Choose a question that you feel comfortable with and that makes you genuinely think; you want to be able to respond with a persuasive and convincing argument so you must be comfortable and familiar with the question before doing so. Step 3: Highlight and circle the key words in the question so as to ensure that you are really tailoring your answer to the question itself as this is the most important thing. Step 4: Brainstorm the key concepts and arguments with relation to the question, a mind map can be a really good way to do this quickly, simply and visually. Step 5: once you have brainstormed, formulate your key points and order them so that you have a cohesive argument. Put each point at the top of a block and put the key evidence to support it underneath. Once you have done this you can piece together an overarching argument and start tackling the question. Do not be afraid to take time on the planning as this is what will set you apart and will help you to formulate a convincing and cohesive argument.