How do I write a really good History essay?

It can seem pretty daunting when you sit down to write a History essay, but these tips will hopefully make it a lot easier. Planning Make sure you plan your essays before you write them. In timed conditions, spend around 5 minutes at the start structuring your answer - it’ll pay off, I promise! Make sure you include an introduction, around 3 main paragraphs, then a conclusion. Consider the different factors that come into play, and explore each of them in a separate paragraph. Make sure you get time for a conclusion - this is where you summarise your argument and make a judgement on the question, so it’s really vital. Linking factorsYou get marks for prioritisation and making links between factors, so you should definitely include some in your essays. Evaluate factors against each other and make comparisons. Some phrases you could try to include are: ‘this was the most important factor because…’ ‘this was more important in the long-term’, ‘this factor triggered another factor…’. DetailsAs you go along through your course, try and learn some specific statistics and details. It looks really impressive when you can put them in your essays, and it helps you to support your arguments. Make sure you learn specialist vocabulary and tricky names: you’ve got to spell them right! Focus on the question I can’t emphasise how important this tip is. Always stay focused on the question to make sure you’re answering it properly. Use the exact wording of the question throughout your essay, even if you think it sounds like you’re repeating yourself. At the end of each paragraph, link back to the question/title to make sure what you’ve been saying is relevant.