Begin with a breakdown of the question. Define key terms and explain to the examiner how you will go about answering the question. it is important at this stage to be concise and explicit.
The length of your answer will vary based on the number of marks in the question, it is important that you are familiar with this and know what to expect in your exam or coursework papers.
For a medium to long length answer, stick between 2 and 3 healthy size paragraphs. The paragraphs should start and end with explicit reference to the question, then go on to justify a point. The point should be backed by evidence, and the evidence should be followed by an example. This structure of Point, Evidence, Example will provide examiners exactly what they need to fulfil the marking criteria.
The conclusion should draw together the ideas of everything discussed. At A level and GCSE, nothing new should be discussed here.