In the Writing exercises, how important is it for candidates to get the word count exactly right?

Candidates should not be excessively worried if they are slightly over or under the word count.

However, if an answer is significantly longer or shorter than the word count, it will most likely be self-penalising. Answers that are too short are very likely to be penalised for lack of content, whilst answers that are too long will probably not be written with concision and precision, and so be penalised for style and possibly for repetition.

We suggest that candidates should practise answering these types of questions before the exam, and take note of how many lines/pages they should write in order to answer within the word limits (this will be different for each candidate, depending on their handwriting).