aqa gcse history essay structure

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GCSE History Essay Techniques

GCSE History essays are difficult. For many students taking GCSE History, how to structure your GCSE History essays and source responses are often the most challenging parts of the course. Learning core facts and remembering key dates for the GCSE History course are relatively straightforward. Analysing and evaluating the importance of various factors, reasons and causes are a lot more difficult and these skills take time to develop.

Below are some templates of how to structure your GCSE History essays and source based questions (N.B. the suggested timings may vary between exam boards, but the structure will remain the same).

What can you learn from source X about…..?

You need to make  two inferences , explained and supported with quotes if a written source or select details if it is a picture. Spend about 6 minutes on this 4 mark question

Describe how…..This is a describe / key features question

You need to make at least two statements that are well supported by own knowledge and presented in separate paragraphs. Say “Firstly….” then “Secondly…” Spend about 8 minutes on this 6 mark question

“Explain the effects of…” This is a consequence question

You need to clearly explain two or more consequences that are set out in separate paragraphs and are supported by well selected and relevant own knowledge. Show links between the consequences for full marks and assess the extent of change. How much of an impact did it have? Spend about 12 minutes on this 8 mark question

“How did X change between….” This is a change or development question.

You need to explain  two or more changes  that developed something or affected something, showing how one led to the other for full marks. You need to support your answer by bringing in your own knowledge and that you put each change in a separate paragraph. It is crucial that in your answer you refer to what the situation was like  before  to make it clear to the examiner that you understand what changed. Spend about 12 minutes on this 8 mark question

For further details about GCSE preparation, GCSE History essays, GCSE mock exams, GCSE Revision Booster courses or private tuition bespoke to your requirements, please contact us .

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AQA GCSE 9-1 History Past Papers

A complete collection of aqa gcse 9-1 history past papers. perfect for preparation for upcoming exams. can be used at home for individual learning or within a classroom environment., gcse examination booklets.

Download our comprehensive practice exam booklets covering every GCSE topic and examination board (2020 & 2021 Syllabus), produced by a highly experienced AQA and OCR marker. These are fully sourced and aligned to the respective boards mark scheme.

It’s time to start preparing for your exams and it’s never been easier with School History. We’ve got hundreds of past papers that are easy to use, come with mark schemes, and are specifically tailored to each specific examination board, so you can get the most from your revision time and enter your examination feeling confident and fully prepared.

Why use past exam papers?

The answer is simple: preparedness. As a GCSE-level student, exams become an important part of your assessment criteria and preparation for A-levels. The use and importance of past papers, therefore, cannot be over-emphasised.

Fill in the blanks

Using past papers are an effective way to establish your strengths and weaknesses so you know where to focus your revision time. Don’t spend hours on a topic you’re familiar with while neglecting an area that needs more time and effort to familiarise yourself with.

Learn effective time management

Proper time management can quite literally mean the difference between passing and failing an exam, even if you know everything that’s required to pass. Your revision time and using past papers is an excellent way to start practicing how to properly manage the time in the exam setting. You’ll be given different styles of questions with different mark allocations, so it’s important to know what’s expected of you and how much time to dedicate to each question, whether its a multiple-choice question, short answer or an essay.

Walk into your exam with confidence

With proper preparation, it’s possible to walk into and out of your exam feeling confident. Confidence is key to performing well as doubt and anxiety can cloud your judgment and affect your ability to think clearly and make the proper decisions. Past papers are the most effective way to familiarise yourself with important terminology, vocabulary, and styles of questions so that you have a solid understanding of what is expected of you to excel in each and every style of question.

Get to know your questions

Remember, some questions will be assessing your knowledge and understanding of key features and characteristics of a period studied, others will require you to explain and analyse historic events, others will require you to compare and contrast source material and contextualise it in the historic environment, while thematic studies will require you to demonstrate knowledge clearly over centuries while following a particular theme. All of these questions require you to substantiate your answers using facts.

All these questions will be awarded marks in levels, i.e. basic, simple, developed and complex, and short answers and essay questions will also have marks awarded for spelling and grammar. By practicing with past papers you’ll have access to mark schemes, which examiners use to evaluate your responses and you’ll quickly learn how to achieve the most marks while striking the right balance with time management.

Where do I find past papers? Right here, of course! School History has hundreds of examination-style questions to help you practice for your history exams. By signing up, you’ll not only have access to past papers but thousands of resources related to what you’re studying, including notes, activities, quiz questions and more. Let’s dive in! Take a look below at the major examination boards we cover. Give yourself every advantage to excel in your exams and sign up today!

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How to tackle the Historic Environment question in AQA GCSE History

The way AQA have included the Historic Environment (HE) study in their specification is an absolute gift to students and teachers. Rather than having an extra paper to think about, the HE is embedded seamlessly into the highly engaging British Depth Study units. Our department ‘sells’ this section of the course to our budding historians by reminding them that they know for certain what Question 4 of this paper will be about, and that there is only a limited amount of questions that can be asked about each site – basically, they can go into the exam with confidence, knowing that as long as they know their stuff, question four is probably already ‘in the bag’.

As teachers, the HE site changing every year enables us to really deepen our knowledge of different sections of the course over time – I must admit, I feel like quite the expert on the Spanish Armada at the moment!  We have found that it is best if we teach it embedded into the British Depth section of our course, changing where we deliver it each year, depending on where it would be most appropriate. This prevents the HE from becoming a ‘bolt on’ to the GCSE course. However, if you do decide to deliver this at the end of the Depth Study, students can do further research on the section required, and those aiming for Level 4 can really consider how the HE fits into the wider context of the period, as they have a secure understanding of the whole period.

To support teachers, AQA provide excellent resource packs for each site – these can be given to students as a pack, or adapted to form part of an enquiry in class. Of course, you cannot beat a visit to the site itself (over 75% of the students that attended our trip last year actually got half the marks or above on this question!). If you can’t make it though, the Oxford AQA GCSE History Kerboodle animations are the next best thing: not only do they give you a virtual tour of the site itself, but they give you a practice exam question for each site, and a suggested summary of how it could be answered.

We like to organise a lecture in our school theatre too: the whole History cohort comes together to discuss the history of the site, particular features, events and people linked to it, and what questions could possibly come up. Each class can then go away and do their own enquiry and exam practice depending on their needs and abilities.

2019 AQA Historic Environment sites

The sites for this year are superb – Pevensey Castle has great links to the Norman conquest itself, and shows how castles became a way for William to control England, as well as defensive structures for the new oligarchy. Caernarfon Castle was a part of Edward I’s ‘Iron Ring’ of Welsh castles. His eldest son, Edward, was even born there, and became our first Prince of Wales – this is obviously something that links to the wider context of Edward’s conquest of Wales.

As I’m teaching the Elizabethan unit, I’m thrilled that we’re studying the Globe Theatre . The Globe shows just why this era is known as the ‘Golden Age’: culture was flourishing, and the social structure starts to become less rigid. Theatres themselves were microcosms of this huge change. Do I even need to mention the links to the Bard himself, William Shakespeare? I am a bit jealous though, that those of you teaching the Restoration get to look at Ham House , a beautiful example of a Restoration house, home to one of the power couples of the day – the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale. The house is a brilliant reflection of changing tastes of the time. You can even link the European influence to Charles’ time spent in exile on the continent.

How to tackle the question

No matter which site you are teaching, students will need to consider a similar range of questions:

• Motivation: What was the motivation behind constructing purpose-built theatres, like the Globe? What was the motivation behind creating a luxurious home like Ham House – what were the Lauderdales trying to prove? Why were Caernarfon and Pevensey Castles built at the time?
• Location: What was the strategic importance of the locations of Pevensey and Caernarfon? Why is Ham House located close to the seat of royal power? What was it about Southwark that made Shakespeare put the Globe there?
• Function/purpose: What was the main function of a castle like Pevensey of Caernarfon? They have other purposes besides defense – what are these? Stately homes like Ham House were made for showing off essentially – but what other purpose did they serve? What were the functions of the different parts of the Globe?

And to consider the wider context:

• Structure : What can the structures themselves tell us about culture, values, society, fashion, developments, changes and technology of the time?
• People and events: Which key people in our Depth Studies are linked to the site? Which key events are linked to the site? What does the site tell us about the period itself?

Ultimately, my top tip to you and your students would be: don’t just write a narrative about the site in question, regurgitating everything you know. Answer the question focusing on the wider period, and use the HE site as a ‘source’ to support the points you are making. For Level 4, students need to analyse how the chosen site really tells us about changes, developments or key aspects of the wider period being studied, rather than seeing the site in isolation.

Good luck to you and your students with the HE studies this year, I hope you enjoy teaching this section of the course as much as our department does. As sad as it sounds, I’m already on countdown for next year when I can visit Kenilworth Castle , the Elizabethan HE for 2021!

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