The most frequent complaint from examiners in recent years is the “shoe-horning” of pre-learnt, complex vocabulary that does not fit the context. The Rule: Do not memorise a list of “ambitious” words to force into the exam. Use words you understand perfectly. Evidence: “Words such as ‘jubilant, euphoric, lackadaisical, indignant, axiomatic’ were all seen repeatedly... and very rarely were they used accurately”. Why: When used incorrectly, these words “obfuscate the meaning and detract the overall clarity of the piece”. This examiner clearly has a sense of humour, as most people will have no idea what ‘obfuscate’ means. Here it means ‘hide’ the meaning - make the writing unclear and difficult to understand.