To what extent should the period of Conservative dominance between 1951 and 1964 be viewed as "Thirteen Wasted Years"?

This first thing to do when answering an essay question is to read and analyse the question, and to understand what it is that the examiner is asking and looking for. It is helpful to break down the title in to key words and topic words; this helps you to avoid providing a simple narrative of events. In this example, the main topic is the Conservative's period dominance, and the key word is "wasted", with the question asking whether or not this period was successful or not. The next step is to think about your structure of the essay. There are a number of ways to structure but each essay can be based around the same basic framework: an introduction, the main body consisting of 3 or 4 paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction should be concise, briefly outlining what you are going to do. You can sum up in a few sentences what the question is asking and say how you are going to answer it, identifying key areas for investigation. In this case, you can introduce the topic by saying that the period of Conservative dominance was subject to both successes and failures, and identify the primary historical debate. The way you structure the main body of your essay is up to you. One way to do it is to look at key areas such as economic, social, and foreign. You can than analyse successes and failures within each topic paragraph. This approach requires a clear conclusion linking back to the question in order to maintain a clear line of argument. For example, in terms of economic policy, there was a perception of affluence indicated by Macmillan's 1957 'never had it so good speech', as well as economic indicators pointing upwards, and a widespread consumer boom; however, stop-go economics was insufficient to control inflationary pressures, Britain remained behind foreign competitors, and also failed to modernise infrastructure. At the end of this, you should weigh up factors considered and provide a concluding sentence of your overall opinion. Using the PEEL (point, evidence, explanation, link back to question) structure within each paragraph ensures that your essay remains analytical rather than narrative, which is important if you are aiming for the top bands. Finally, the conclusion. This is the part where you sum up what you have said in your essay, and clearly state your overall argument. This is the last thing an examiner reads and subsequently counts for a great deal. A good conclusion should never introduce new ideas or points, but should draw together the threads of your argument and hammer home your points. It is helpful to refer explicitly to the key words of the question, and restate your argument.