How to write an argumentative essay on compulsory college attendance
Everyone has an opinion about attendance rules, which makes this the easiest essay in the set to write badly. Minimums like 75% are common in Indian colleges and exist in many other systems, including for international students on study visas. The essays that score well anchor every paragraph in evidence or a concrete scenario, and deal honestly with the students their position disadvantages.
The task
The briefMost Indian colleges bar students from examinations if attendance falls below 75%. Supporters say it protects weaker students; opponents say it punishes those who learn better on their own. Write an argumentative essay taking a clear position.
A general reader of a campus magazine.
State your position on the rule clearly
Give at least two reasons with concrete support
Address what happens to the students your position disadvantages
End with a conclusion or a specific recommendation
Length
220–300 words
Suggested time
30 minutes
Level
Easy
Planning tip: This is a topic everyone has an opinion about, which makes it easy to write badly. Anchor each paragraph to evidence or a concrete scenario, not to how you feel.
What a strong answer does
A clear position on the rule itself: keep it, scrap it, or change it in a specific way, for example applying it to labs and tutorials but not to lectures. A change counts as a position if you say exactly what it is.
Evidence over feeling. ‘I learn better alone’ is a feeling; ‘when notes and recordings are available, a register measures presence rather than learning’ is an argument.
Concrete support: a student who works evenings to pay fees, a first-generation student who needs the structure, a lab where safety and hands-on practice genuinely require presence.
It addresses who loses under your position. Scrapping the rule may hurt students who rely on routine; keeping it may hurt those with jobs, health problems or caring duties.
The conclusion recommends something a college could actually do: documented exemptions, a lower threshold, attendance counted only for practical sessions.
The tone is calm and reasoned. This is an opinion piece for a campus magazine, not a complaint to the principal.
How to structure it
- 1
Introduction
40–55 wordsDescribe the rule briefly and state your position, including any modification, in one sentence.
- 2
Reason 1 with support
50–65 wordsYour main reason, with a concrete example or observation.
- 3
Reason 2 with support
50–65 wordsA different reason: fairness, learning outcomes, cost to the college, or what a degree is for.
- 4
Who your position disadvantages
45–60 wordsName the group that loses under your view, take their case seriously, and say what would protect them.
- 5
Conclusion and recommendation
35–50 wordsA specific, workable recommendation.
Useful phrases
Frames, not finished sentences: put your own details where the [brackets] are, and use only the ones that fit what you are saying.
Stating your position
- Colleges should keep a minimum attendance rule, but only for [type of session].
- I would argue that a single fixed threshold does more harm than good.
Giving reasons
- The strongest argument for the rule is that [reason].
- A fairer measure of learning would be [alternative].
Adding support
- Consider a student who [situation].
- In a laboratory course, for instance, [observation].
Addressing who loses
- This position is hardest on [group], who [problem].
- To protect them, colleges could [measure].
Recommending
- A better rule would be [rule].
- Colleges should replace the blanket threshold with [specific change].
Common mistakes, and how to fix them
Arguing from personal frustration.
‘The rule is unfair and stressful’ tells the reader how you feel, not why the rule is wrong. A reader who disagrees has nothing to weigh.
Fix: Replace feelings with reasons and scenarios a reader can check.
Ignoring the students your position disadvantages.
The brief explicitly asks you to address them. Leaving them out loses task-response marks and makes the essay look one-sided.
Fix: Give a full paragraph to the group that loses, and offer a remedy.
A position that changes halfway through.
Starting against the rule and ending with ‘but attendance is important’ leaves the reader unsure what you think.
Fix: If your view is ‘keep it for some classes’, say so in the introduction and stick to it.
Absolute claims: ‘Every student hates attendance rules’, ‘No one learns anything in lectures.’
One counter-example disproves them, and they make the whole essay sound careless.
Fix: Use ‘many’, ‘often’ and ‘for some students’, and show who.
‘Discuss about’, ‘emphasise on’, ‘return back’.
Common in Indian English and among Arabic speakers, whose languages put a preposition after these verbs. In English, ‘discuss’ and ‘emphasise’ take a direct object and ‘return’ already means ‘go back’.
Fix: Write ‘discuss the rule’, ‘emphasise the point’, ‘return’.
‘Compulsory attendance must be removed’, with nothing to replace it.
The reader immediately asks: then what? The brief asks for a conclusion or recommendation.
Fix: Say what should replace the rule, or how it should change.
Before you submit: a self-check
Is your position, including any modification, clear in the introduction?
Is each reason supported by a scenario or an observation rather than a feeling?
Have you written a paragraph about the students your position disadvantages?
Have you avoided absolute claims such as ‘every student’ or ‘no one’?
Does the conclusion give a specific recommendation?
Is it within 220–300 words?
Questions people ask
What are good arguments for and against compulsory attendance?
For: structure helps students who struggle with self-study, some learning (labs, discussions, practicals) only happens in the room, and attendance is a reasonable signal of engagement. Against: it measures presence rather than learning, it penalises students who work or care for family, and recorded lectures make some sessions less essential. Pick the side you can support best.
Can my position be ‘keep the rule but change it’?
Yes, and it is often the most convincing position, as long as you state the change precisely (which sessions, what threshold, what exemptions) in the introduction and defend that specific version.
How formal should a campus magazine essay be?
Neutral and reasoned: no slang or emotional language, but you can use ‘I’ and address the reader directly. Think of a well-written opinion column rather than an academic paper.
Does this help with group discussions on the same topic?
Yes. Writing the essay forces you to find two reasons and answer an objection, which is exactly what you need to say something substantial in a group discussion.
Argue: should colleges enforce a 75% attendance rule?
220–300 words · 30 minutes · Easy. Free to start; you need a TalkDrill account to submit, not to read this guide.
Scored by AI on TalkDrill on
- Task response25%
- Organisation20%
- Grammar20%
- Vocabulary15%
- Mechanics (spelling and punctuation)10%
- Tone10%
