How to choose and narrow an essay question.
Most weak essays go wrong before the first sentence, because the question they try to answer is too big. This is how to turn a broad question into one you can argue properly in 1,000 words.
By Ben Stacy, Judge
Why broad questions lead to weak essays
Competition questions are broad on purpose. “What should society change today to create a better world ten years from now?” could lead to an essay about housing, prisons, social media, pensions or a hundred other things. That openness is there so you can find the part of the question you have something to say about.
The mistake is to answer the whole question as it is written. In 1,000 words, an essay about “how technology will change healthcare” can only list possibilities. It has no room to show evidence, weigh objections or reach a conclusion, so it ends up describing the future instead of arguing about it. A narrow question gives you room to do all of those things.
Competition judges and teachers notice this first. One of the first things they ask is whether the question has been narrowed to something that can be argued well in the space available.
Step 1: Start from something you have noticed
Good essay questions rarely come from staring at the competition question. They come from something you have already seen, read or wondered about: a news story that didn't add up, a problem in your town, a topic from a lesson you wanted to go further with, a change you can see happening around you.
If nothing comes to mind, spend ten minutes freewriting: write everything you know or wonder about the broad question without stopping to judge it. Then circle the two or three ideas you keep coming back to.
Write down three or four possible topics before you decide anything. For each one, ask: does this connect to the question you have been set? Do I want to know more about it? Could I find real evidence on it? Keep the ones where the answer to all three is yes.
You don't need a personal connection to the topic. If you have one, it can help you notice things others miss, but the essay is judged on the argument, not on your story.
Step 2: Narrow it in four directions
Once you have a topic, make it smaller. There are four useful ways to do this, and most strong questions use at least two of them.
| Narrow by | Ask yourself | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Place | Where, exactly? | Not “cities” but “cities in your country”, or one city you can find data on |
| People | Who is affected, or who would have to act? | Not “workers” but “people starting their first job”, or “local councils” |
| Time | By when? | “By 2036” forces you to think about what is realistic in ten years |
| Mechanism | Through what change, policy or technology? | Not “AI in education” but “AI marking of written coursework” |
If you get stuck, ask the classic journalist's questions of your topic: who, what, where, when, why and how. Each answer is a possible way in.
Each step makes the question easier to research, because you know what evidence you are looking for, and easier to argue, because a reader can picture what you mean.
Step 3: Check what has already been argued
Spend half an hour reading what other people have already said about your narrowed topic: a few reports, articles or research summaries. You are looking for two things. First, is there enough evidence to work with? Second, where do informed people disagree? The disagreements are where your essay has something to add. If everyone already agrees, either find a sharper angle or pick another topic.
Step 4: Turn the topic into a claim
A topic is something you write about. A claim is something you argue for. “Plastic waste” is a topic. “Your country should ban single-use plastic packaging for fresh food by 2030” is a claim.
The test is simple: could a well-informed, reasonable person disagree with it? If nobody would disagree (“pollution is bad”), there is nothing to argue. If only an unreasonable person would disagree, you are not taking much of a position. The best claims sit where sensible people genuinely differ.
Write your claim in one sentence before you start writing the essay. It will probably change as you research, which is fine. What matters is that you always have one.
Step 5: Check it fits the word limit
Before you commit, test your narrowed question against the space you have. You should be able to answer yes to each of these:
- Can I name two or three main reasons for my position?
- Can I name the strongest objection someone would make? (See answering the strongest objection.)
- Can I find real evidence for each reason, such as data, research or examples? (See how to find and judge evidence.)
- If I am proposing something, can I say who would need to act?
Is my topic too broad or too narrow?
It is probably too broad if you have more than three reasons that all need explaining, if every source you find is about something slightly different, or if you could write a book on it. It is probably too narrow if you can't find any evidence, if you run out of things to say after a few paragraphs, or if nobody would disagree with you. The shorter the essay, the narrower the topic should be.
Broad to arguable: three worked examples
Here is the same process applied to three broad subject areas. These are illustrations of the method, not suggested answers.
Business and enterprise
- Too broad: Problems caused by an ageing population
- Narrower: Unpaid family care for older relatives
- Arguable claim: A service that matches retired nurses with families caring at home could reduce hospital readmissions, and here is how it would pay for itself.
Science and technology
- Too broad: New medical technology
- Narrower: Wearable glucose monitors for people without diabetes
- Arguable claim: Health services should not offer continuous glucose monitoring to the general population before 2036, because the evidence of benefit is weaker than the cost.
Society and politics
- Too broad: Young people and social media
- Narrower: Age checks on social media in one country
- Arguable claim: Requiring age verification for under-16s will not reduce harm unless platforms also change how feeds are ranked.
Notice that each final claim names something specific, could be disagreed with, and points towards the evidence you would need.
Common mistakes
- Answering the competition question word for word. Your title can be your own narrower question, as long as it clearly answers the one you were set.
- Choosing a prediction instead of a position. “By 2036, most cars will be electric” is a forecast. “Your government should stop selling new petrol cars by 2030, even though it will cost jobs” is an argument.
- Narrowing so far there is no evidence. A question about one street in your town may be impossible to research. Go one step wider.
- Picking the topic everyone else picks. Popular topics are fine, but find an angle that is yours. A useful test: would the argument be different if someone else had written it?
Further reading
These guides from university writing centres go further on the same ideas. They are written for university students, but most of the advice applies to a 1,000-word competition essay.
- Developing strong thesis statements, Purdue Online Writing Lab
- Argument, The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Strategies for essay writing, Harvard College Writing Center
Try it on this year's questions
Ten Years From Now is a free essay competition for students aged 14–18, anywhere in the world. Choose one of three questions and make an evidence-based case in up to 1,000 words, judged against six published criteria. Round 1 closes on 28 February 2027 and Round 2 on 15 June 2027.
More guides
The next ten years deserve your best thinking.
Pick a question, investigate it properly and argue for what you think should happen. Entry is free.