How to write a method statement that scores

1. Before you write a word

• Find the marking scheme. The documents usually say what a top-scoring answer looks like ("a 5 shows full understanding, with evidence"). That's your target.
• Break the question into parts. "Describe how you will mobilise, manage staff and maintain quality" is three questions. Give each a short heading so the marker can tick them off.
• Read the specification for the same topic. If it asks for a 4-hour response to emergencies, your answer should say how you'll meet 4 hours.

2. Writing it

1. Open with the answer. One or two sentences saying what you'll do. Then the detail.
2. Be specific to this contract. Name the sites, the team, the vans, the first week's plan. "We will" beats "we can".
3. Prove it. A line like "we've cleaned 14 primary schools for one academy trust since 2023, averaging 98% on its monthly audits" (with your own real figures) beats "we have extensive experience".
4. Show how you'll manage risk. What happens when a cleaner is off sick, a van breaks down, or it snows? Buyers mark you up for planning ahead.
5. Use their words. If the question says "mobilisation", don't call it "onboarding".
6. Keep it readable. Short paragraphs, headings, a simple table for timelines or staffing. No marketing language.

3. Common ways to lose marks

• Answering the question you wish they'd asked.
• Pasting a company brochure or an answer from another tender without changing it.
• Going over the word limit (the extra words may not be read) or leaving words unused when you had more to say.
• Claims with no evidence.
• Forgetting social value, if it has its own question. How to answer social value questions.

4. Worked examples

• Taking over a school cleaning contract (mobilisation and staff transfer).
• Planned and reactive maintenance with response times.
• A reusable answer library, so each new tender starts from your best answers.

General guidance. Each tender's questions and marking scheme come first.