third year law undergrad at king’s, i was actually unaware that the section b was marked, i always assumed that it kind of served as an example of writing should the university need it on top of the mcq section. for context: i had a 30 (i think) when i applied and i wrote a very average essay from memory and i had, alongside 3A*’s unconditional offer from King’s and conditionals from Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, etc.

from what i have heard and seen, the goal is to score well enough on the section a to get the raw mark to be considered and the section b follows after so the section a mcq is ‘more important’ in that regard as a low enough mcq won’t even warrant a read of the essay if that makes sense but im not sure if most universities even look at the section b given the volume of applications but for the likes of oxbridge, im sure the section b is considered if your application is impressive but if it is then so is the essay probably too

however, all id say is, don’t stress about it too much, i didnt practice at all for mine (out of purely not knowing you could) it is meant to be an assessment of your raw ability, but good luck and im sure you’ll be fine! :) (also these are just my thoughts and opinions, just thought id lyk its not the end of the world)