Writing the 12, 16 and 20-Mark Essays

Each of your two papers ends with an extended essay, and Paper 1 Section A adds a mid-length one. These questions test AO1 and AO2 equally and are where the largest single blocks of marks are won or lost. Every essay is built around a second-order concept — causation, consequence, change or continuity — and every essay wants the same top-level quality: a substantiated judgement.

Essay	Where	Marks	SPaG	Concept
Bullet-point essay	P1 §A Q6	12	No	Causation/consequence/change
'How far do you agree'	P1 §B Q4	16	4	Cause/consequence/change
Factors essay	P2 §A Q4	16	4	Judging factors
Historic-environment essay	P2 §B Q4	16	No	Cause/consequence, linked to a site

Note on the "20-mark" essays. The Paper 1 Section B and Paper 2 Section A essays are worth 16 marks for history plus 4 for SPaG, which is often described as a 20-mark question. The history mark scheme itself runs to 16.

All the extended essays use the same four-level structure. Progress depends on two things: substantiating your explanations with evidence, and directing them at the exact question.

Level	What it shows	Feel
4	Complex explanation leading to a sustained, substantiated judgement	Directly relevant, well-substantiated
3	Developed explanation of the concept, well supported	Directly relevant, substantiated
2	Simple explanation, some support	Implicitly relevant, partial
1	Basic explanation or knowledge	Basic

The Level 3 to Level 4 jump is the judgement. A Level 3 essay explains both sides well but asserts its conclusion. A Level 4 essay explores the relationship between the factors and reaches a conclusion that is genuinely reasoned.

This question gives you two bullet points and asks which had the greater impact, or which was more important, on a stated issue. You must explain both bullets and then judge between them.

In June 2024 the Germany question was: Which of the following had the greater impact on Germany in the years 1919 to 1923: political unrest / economic problems? A Level 4 answer develops each bullet with evidence (the Spartacist and Kapp uprisings for political unrest; the 1923 hyperinflation and the Ruhr occupation for economic problems) and then makes a relational judgement — for example, arguing the two fed each other, but that the economic crisis reached deeper into ordinary lives.

Plan:
  ¶1  Bullet A — develop with 2–3 precise facts, explain the impact
  ¶2  Bullet B — develop with 2–3 precise facts, explain the impact
  ¶3  Judgement — which had the greater impact, and WHY (relate them)

This essay gives you a statement — usually naming one cause as the "main" reason — and asks how far you agree. You weigh the stated factor against other factors you know.

The June 2024 WWI statement was: 'The failure of the Schlieffen Plan was the main reason why the fighting on the Western Front lasted so long.' A strong answer explains the stated factor (the plan's failure and the resulting entrenchment), then develops other factors (the power of defensive weapons, the balance of forces, the deadlock of trench warfare), and finally judges how far the stated factor really was the main reason.

This is one of the two essays that carries 4 SPaG marks. Write in clear, accurate sentences, use paragraphs, and deploy specialist terms (attrition, stalemate, offensive) correctly to secure them.

The thematic factors essay asks whether one named factor has been the main influence on a development across the whole thousand-year theme. The thematic study lists its factors — for Health these include war, superstition and religion, chance, government, communication, science and technology, and the role of the individual.

Because the theme spans so long, the question requires you to draw examples from at least three of the four parts of the specification. The June 2024 question was: Has the role of the individual been the main factor in understanding the causes of disease in Britain? A top answer ranges across the periods — from Galen and the humours, to Pasteur and germ theory, to modern genetics — weighing the role of individuals against factors like science and technology.

This is the second SPaG essay. As with the Paper 1 essay, 4 marks reward accurate spelling, punctuation, grammar and correct use of specialist vocabulary.

The Paper 2 Section B essay is 16 marks with no separate SPaG, and it is linked to the specified historic-environment site. AQA changes the named site each year and publishes it three years ahead, so you cannot pre-learn a fixed answer; you learn the skill of analysing a site and connecting it to the depth-study content.

The question ties a statement to the site. In June 2024 (Elizabethan) it read: 'Improved navigation was the main consequence of Drake's voyage around the world, 1577–1580.' The mark scheme rewards answers that use aspects of the site such as location, function, structure, design, the people connected with it, how it reflects the culture and values of the age, and how it links to important events of the period — and then reach a substantiated judgement.

Every extended essay is won at the conclusion, but not by summarising. A substantiated judgement is one or two sentences that give reasons for your overall view, usually by exploring how the factors relate.

Weak  (asserted):      "Overall, factor X was the most important reason."
Strong (substantiated): "Factor X was most important because it made the other
                         factors possible: without it, Y and Z would not have
                         produced the same outcome — so it is the decisive cause."

A judgement can appear throughout the essay, but it must be present and reasoned by the end. Threading a line of argument from the first paragraph makes the conclusion feel earned rather than tacked on.

1. Explaining only one side

The bullet-point and 'how far' essays need both bullets or both the stated factor and other factors. Ignoring one caps your level.

2. Asserting the conclusion

"Overall I think X" is Level 3 at best. Give the reasons and relate the factors to reach Level 4.

3. Forgetting the range on the factors essay

The thematic factors essay expects examples from at least three of the four parts of the theme. A single-period answer cannot reach the top.

4. Ignoring SPaG on the two essays that reward it

The Paper 1 §B and Paper 2 §A 16-mark essays carry 4 SPaG marks each. Careless spelling and misused terms throw away easy marks.

5. Pre-learning a historic-environment answer

The specified site changes annually. Learn the skill of analysing any site — location, function, design, people, links to events — not a single memorised essay.