How do you write an interesting historical essay while satisfying the needs of exam boards?

There is no fixed method or style to writing a history essay. There are, however, certain elements which must be included to both engage a reader and satisfy the stipulations of an exam board - it is important to remember that at A-Level these are ultimately the same thing. Many students are taught the latter, often with neglect towards the former. The best history essays - and those that receive the highest marks - read as if they are written with the engagement of the reader as a priority. Therefore the myth that a successful historical essay must be dry, humourless, colourless and purely fact/date driven actually costs students higher marks. There are three key ways in which to tackle the aforementioned double task, allowing essays to remain tight to the expectations and prescriptions of the exam board, while engaging and challenging the reader.Style is key to historical essay writing. By ensuring the question asked remains at the heart of analysis allows students to employ their evidence to fit around their argument. A history essay should read as if the writer has more evidence to give, but has selected the most important and compelling to answer a set question(s), even if this may not actually be the case sat in an exam hall. It should not read like a list of facts, dates or figures. Therefore, an argumentative style - which can been taught/tutored - is crucial. Secondly, the use of historiography is often deployed to merely tick the exam boards boxes. Historiographical evidence is crucial to a successful essay, but must come secondary to the argument. Many students will just support/challenge a historiographical source with no actual engagement. The best essays will take piece of secondary argument and agree with a part of it and explain it's merit. Successful writers will then, however, use the pitfalls of the secondary argument to further boost their own: where did the historiography go too far or not far enough? Finally, A-level students often structure historical essays poorly, giving 'fors' and 'againsts' a question. The best students will structure their essays to engage with the deeper implications of a question. Often there is more to do than just answer yes or no to a question. Rather, often the very premise of the question needs unpacking. The best way to teach this is to develop the ability to unpack questions and look for a more complex means of answering. This is essentially structuring an essay - a skill often lost in the obsession with fact and exam board stipulations.