Hey!!
I'm glad my advice was helpful!! In terms of writing history essays-
Mine are always 20 markers and have two styles;
Non source questions e.g. To what extent was ww2 a key catalyst to social reformation? Okay so when considering this question the first thing that you would do in an exam is write a quick plan.
Below is the structure that I follow (intro, argument 1, argument 2, disagree 1, disagree 2 and conclusion) for a 20 mark question.
Introduction- this is where u talk about the context of the question- so in this question you might say things like "World War Two caused devastating impacts on the infrastructure of Great Britain and ultimately changed the way in which the country viewed itself and its future." The introduction should be short and sweet-my teacher reckons that you get very few marks from the introduction but u still need to make sure that it's catchy and sets the scene. I would recommend 3-4 sentences.
Yes I agree with the question - this is your strongest argument for agreeing with the question. This should be around 10 sentences at the minimum and should always end with a sentence that says something like "this means that ..... (eg- this fundamentally changed British values and led to an increased acceptance of government interference). The aim of this last sentence is to act as a mini conclusion to the argument
You should then do another supporting argument and two disagree arguments using the above formulaFinally, your conclusion is the most important part of the essay. This should be full of analytical words and phrases such as "crucial", "catalyst" "notably" and almost any other word which shows that you are making a judgement. Importantly, you need to reach a personal conclusion that is well founded and is well evidenced. You shouldn't do the whole "yes-but-no-but" argument but you can argue that multiple factors were involved.
Source question Source questions are difficult because they are very much dependant on how many sources and of what kind. If you are asked to compare multiple sources then you should follow the above outline but in each paragraph discuss how the sources agree with each other and disagree but importantly you also need to include
your own knowledge - this could be by saying "this is supported by my own knowledge of so and so" or "source A importantly draws into the discussion of.... when it argues that..." and the most successful but sometimes hardest "source A crucially ignores (insert important factor) which fundamentally reduces the usefulness of this source."
If you are just looking at one source then I reccomend following a similar structure but there should be slightly more focus on your own knowledge. The key words discussed above are still hugely important and should be used throughout. My teacher recommends 8 quotations for a 20 mark source essay which should be thouroughly evaluated and discussed.
Another point to mention is that with source questions you should evaluate the source in terms of its origin and its intentions. This should be a seperate paragraph so that this easy for the markers to find it but also integrate some into the essay just to show that you can. This should include a consideration of whether it is a primary or secondary source, when it was published, who the intended readers were and what the purpose was. You could also consider the factuality of it based upon who wrote it eg a captain in the army is likely to have a reasonable idea of what is going on in the Crimea. Use this to support you in reaching a conclusion.
It can be really confusing getting to grips with mark schemes but I would recommend that you look into the exam board an specimen/past papers and look for the general mark schemes which will show you the marking bands and what they contain.- I attached a CIE A level history level band but there are others too!! Don't bother looking at the lower bands, just make sure u remember to do the upper bands and then you will make it extremely easy for examiners to say "yes this is definitely a smart kid". Also make sure that the quality of your writing is good, including key terminology and a good set of vocabulary. It is helpful to spend a few minutes after an exam checking through it
I hope this was helpful!! Please remember though that this is from my experience of Edexcel (2015) A level history spec and so I cannot guarantee the relevance of everything!! If you have any more questions then don't hesitate to ask!! I could send you some of my previous essays that are marked if that would help as well??