How should I structure an answer to a Philosophy essay?

The first thing you should do is Plan. You need to think about what points you will make, the responses and counter-responses you will discuss and how you will conclude.This is the best way to make sure your argument is logical and you have clear, sustained intent to conclude one way or the other. I would recommend covering at least two in-depth argument/evaluations and ideally three so that you show the examiner you have a wide range of knowledge and can consider multiple points at once. An essay is marked so that 80% (AQA) is based on how you evaluate and 20% is based on the actual knowledge of philosophical concepts, so your essay structure should reflect that. If you use any philosophical terms e.g. utilitarianism then you could define them briefly to show that you understand what you are writing.