how to structure an a level psychology essay

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How to Write 16 Mark Essays For AQA A level Psychology

How to write 16 mark essays for aqa a level psychology.

You will hear of numerous different ways to structure AQA A Level psychology 16 marker questions but the most effective tried and tested way will be keeping it nicely split between your theory points (AO1) and evaluation points(AO3) rather than mixing the two together across your paragraphs.

This structure of writing essays for A level AQA psychology has consistently scored students highly, even full marks in their exams.

The reason for this is the examiner is a human being and will be marking your essay as well as hundreds of other student answers and they will appreciate it so much more if you have made your essays explicitly easy to read and differentiate where the marks go as each is capped up to a certain amount.

For 16 marker questions, theory marks are capped at up to 6 marks and evaluation marks are capped at up to 10 marks .

Therefore, the harder you make the examiners work by trying to identify where the AO1 (theory) marks are or where the AO3 (evaluation) is, the less likely it is that you will be scored correctly across both elements up to the correct limit.

So make it nice and easy and the way you do this is write your theory first, and write it to a depth that clearly shows it is up to 6 marks worth of content that is well developed, and also up to 10 marks worth of evaluation points that also have sufficient depth.

Let's look at the theory element first and what information you should be looking to cover.

How do you structure 16 markers for AQA A level psychology?

Firstly, you do NOT need to write any introductions when starting your psychology essays ( or even conclusions in your evaluation at the end) and this is a common way to waste time in this subject. Simply go straight into outlining what the relevant theory states or into the evaluation itself without any filler.

Let's use the example from the A-level Psychology exam in 2023 (Paper 1) which asked two 16 mark questions in a single exam paper (yes you can be asked more than one 16 marker question in a single exam as this paper demonstrates).

The first 16 mark essay question asked this: Discuss research into minority influence (16 marks).

We've covered research into minority influence including consistency, commitment and flexibility here. The AQA specification actually tells you exactly what you need to know for this topic here too and it clearly outlines that the 3 subtopics you are required to know are:

• Consistency
• Flexibility

Therefore your theory element should be focused on outlining these three elements with enough detail to explain what each is with relevant information. Your evaluation would then be about the theory itself and it's strengths and weaknesses. You do not have to offer any conclusion but it is important to outline implications that relate to the theory itself. We'll examine what I mean for this further down when discussing the evaluation side of things but lets focus on theory for now.

The mark scheme for this question itself offers the following tips for examiners when assessing how much to score the theory section:

• Knowledge of factors affecting minority influence including consistency/persistence, commitment (the augmentation principle), flexibility
• Knowledge of other factors, eg confidence
• Synchronic (consistency between members of minority) and/or diachronic consistency (consistency over time)
• Process of conversion/internalisation
• Accept minority influence processes involved in social change, such as the ‘snowball effect’, social cryptoamnesia
• Description of studies of minority influence, eg Moscovici et al (1969), Wood et al (1994), Nemeth and Brilmayar (1987)

The above bullet points as mentioned are from the mark scheme itself and we can interpret the following from this:

• You need to write all 3 elements which are consistency, persistence and commitment.
• You need to show consideration of other factors too related to these 3 elements such as the confidence of the individual too.
• You need to show a good level of depth that explains the process of conversion/internalisation occurs.
• You need to link the theory to how it affects social change through the 'snowball effect' and also how social cryptoamnesia is also a factor.
• You can also bring in relevant studies and describe them too if needed and what they found which will likely be related to the 3 factors consistency, persistence and commitment.

This shows you that to score the full 6 marks for theory (AO1), you will likely need to write a concise paragraph with the above information. I would therefore prepare for my exams by going through all the possible questions that can be asked and creating 16 mark model essay answers for every topic. We talk about all the possible essay questions you can be asked here for paper 1.

A good approach is to download all the past exam papers and their mark schemes to see all the questions that have come up to date and use the mark scheme just as I have shown you above to know what to cover when creating your model example answers.

The way you shape your model answers is therefore by using the guidance from the mark scheme so you know what to include across theory and evaluation.

Use Acronyms To Memorise Your Psychology Essays

Memorising complete 16 mark essays is difficult and will require you to utilise a memory technique known as chunking combined with using acronyms. The way this basically works is you structure the essays in such a way that you are able to form acronyms using the first letter of each paragraph. By remembering the acronym, this should in turn help you remember the rest of that particular paragraph using simply the first letter. It's always important to try and form an acronym that spells either a familiar word or phrase.

Here's an example:

Your remembered acronym might be SUMO-TUBO for a single essay (a strange word right? But easy to remember!)

'SUMO' would be for all the theory element of the essay while 'TUBO' would be for the evaluation .

So your theory element would begin with the letter S and this would begin your paragraph and be for all of your first point. The next section would then begin with U and form the next point you are making followed by M for the third.

This is basically how this technique works but it will only be successful if you do the following:

• Create model 16 mark content first using the mark schemes and resources to cover everything in the spec.
• Structure your created essays in a way that helps form memorable acronyms at the beginning of each main point or paragraph.
• You practice your essays over and over again using this technique and memorising your acronyms for each essay. This part is key and provided you do this well, it usually takes students about 2-3 months (or longer) dependent on how often you practice them.

How long should a 16 mark psychology essay take?

The 16 mark essays are broken down with 6 marks for theory and 10 marks for evaluation.

Assuming we are aiming for an A* grade and to score full marks (which is possible and we should always be aiming for), you want to spend about 5 minutes writing your 6 marks worth of theory (AO1) and another 10 minutes at most writing your 10 marks of evaluation (AO2). I would argue you should not spend longer than this and if you could write them both in less time, e.g. 12-13 minutes total, this would be ideal.

To summarise, this should be approximately about 2 pages worth of writing with the theory element making up just over half the page and the rest being evaluation.

How many evaluation points is a 16 marker psychology?

The question of how many evaluation points you should write for 16 mark psychology essays depends on the breadth (how many different evaluation points you make) and depth (how well you explain each point and its relevance to the theory) of your essays.

Let's start with what we know - We know the evaluation section is worth up to 10 marks.

A straightforward approach that ensures you work towards the higher bands will see you write at least 4 well developed points in your evaluation with the goal of them scoring between 2 to 3 marks each.

If you write more relevant points (breadth) that are less developed and linked back to the theory, you can get away with less depth but if you write less breadth (less points, say for example you write 3, you need to consider writing more depth for each one instead).

So ultimately you have the option of writing between 3-5 points of evaluative commentary dependent how well you explain each and the level of depth you go into.

How long is each psychology A level exam?

How long each exam paper is depends on which paper you are sitting and whether it is AS or A-level. A summary of timings below:

In short, the AS papers are all 1 hour 30 minutes while all the A-level papers are 2 hours.

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• Use the notes on this website to create Mind Maps, Cue Cards, Glossaries of key terms etc
• REMEMBER – Its not just about creating revision resources – you need to learn these resources and be able to recall them, without the aid of the resource
• Ensure that any description you write as part of an essay is both accurate and detailed.
• When writing evaluation it is important that you use a perfect paragraph rule (something like PEE (Point, Evidence/Example, Elaborate) or PEEL).
• The exam-board don’t award marks for the number of evaluation points stated. Marks are awarded for quality not quantity – using PEE/PEEL will ensure you write quality evaluation paragraphs.
• For a 16 mark essay, include no less than three evaluation paragraphs
• It is difficult to say how many A4 pages a student should write for their 16 mark essay (the size of our handwriting is different).
• It is hard to remember so many paragraphs of evaluation – learning how to use and apply the PEE/PEEL paragraphs effectively can help to cut down your revision – don’t aim to remember the paragraphs word for word, learn how to formulate the perfect paragraphs and then all you will need to remember is the additional research to support/refute the AO1 you have described.
• You can use research methods as part of your evaluation also – having a good knowledge of research methods can also help to cut down your revision. However, it is important that you don’t rely completely on using research methods to evaluate in your essays. Showing that you have a knowledge of additional research/studies is also important and will help you to get the best grade possible.

The Key Assessment Objectives:

Ao1 effectively outlining a study.

Key Exam Tip!!  

Remember, when outlining a study, in order to achieve the highest possible AO1 marks, it is important that your description is both accurate and detailed! In order to ensure that you include all the necessary details when you are describing a study, make sure you outline the studies A IM, P EOCEDURE, F INDINGS and C ONCLUSION (the APFC method).

AO1 Exam Tip!

Key Exam Tip!!   One of the questions you may get asked in the exam is to outline (a study, theory, definition etc…)

This type of question is looking at your ability to meet Assessment Objective 1 – AO1 for short.

In order to achieve the highest possible mark in one of these AO1 questions, it is important that you outline the study/theory/definition in an accurate and detailed manner.

AO3 Key Evaluation Exam Tip!

Key Exam Tip!! Another type of question that you may get asked in the exam is to evaluate  (a study, theory etc…)

This type of question is looking at your ability to meet Assessment Objective 3 – AO3 for short. In order to achieve the highest possible mark in one of these AO3 questions, it is important that you evaluate effectively. Many psychology teachers encourage their students to use a perfect paragraph method in order to evaluate effectively (something along the lines of the P.E.E rule – P oint, E vidence/ E xample and E laborate. ).

Click this perfect paragraph link in order to learn about the P.E.E rule. Practice implementing this rule as part of your revision.

Download Section

Glossary of key terms:.

Create one of these for every topic. List as subject specific key terms and check that you’re able to define each of the key terms when starting revision for each topic. In the exam, you may get asked to define a key term, so make sure you know your terms inside out. Ask family members/friends to test you, create a set of match up cards to help you memorise terms.

Download file here:    Glossary of terms

Star Words Revision Sheet

This is a fantastic resource for helping students to remember the key words associated with a research study and theories.

Follow the instructions of the revision handout which can be downloaded below:

Download file here: Star Words

Research Study Revision Sheet

This helps students to remember the key elements of research studies using the structure; aim, procedure, findings and conclusion.

This revision sheet also has a section for a summary of key evaluation.

Download file  here:   Bubble Summary of Research Mind Map

Theory Revision Sheet

Similar to the revision sheet for research, only it has been adapted to allow for revision of a theory.

Download file here: Bubble Theory and Evaluation Summary Sheet 2016

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Specifications that use this resource:

• AS and A-level Psychology 7181; 7182

Teaching guide: preparing for AS and A-level Psychology assessment - podcast

These podcast teaching guides cover topics from our AS and A-level Psychology specifications. You can download them below.

Podcast 4: Preparing for AS and A-level Psychology assessment

It can be daunting preparing for assessment with new specifications. Whether your students are doing the AS exam or going straight on to A-level, in this podcast we’ve got information about the assessment demands, how students can help prepare themselves for assessment – and we’ll answer your frequently asked questions.

Hello and welcome to AQA’s Psychology podcast aimed at supporting your teaching of our new AS and A-Level specifications . In this podcast we’ll look at the nature and demands of assessment at AS and A-level, the materials provided to support preparation, how students can play a more active role in preparing for assessment, and finally we’ll respond to some frequently asked questions.

Most students when asked how they prepare for exams will tell you that they check that all the topics in the specifications are covered and have a go at some sample exam questions. They then outline the various strategies they use for revising which generally consist of self-testing recall activities to quiz their memory. Few, if any, talk about fine tuning their skills. So today we’re going to focus on this aspect of preparation.

Just to note, you can find sample assessment materials, student responses with examiner commentary and more in our assessment resources at aqa.org.uk/psychology-resources .

To start, we’re going to give you a quick reminder of the exam structure. At AS, there are two exam papers and each is one and a half hours in length. Each paper is divided into three topic areas. Paper one will cover the introductory topics in psychology, social influence, memory, and attachment and paper two will cover psychology in context, so approaches in psychology, psychopathology and

research methods. There will be a series of questions on each of the topics with a total of 24 marks per topic, giving 72 marks in total for each paper.

At A-level there are three exam papers of which each is two hours in length. As in the AS there will be a series of questions on each of the topics, with a total of 24 marks for each, giving 96 marks for the paper as a whole. Paper one will assess introductory topics in psychology, paper two will assess psychology in context and it’s worth noting that the third section of this paper covers research methods and is worth 48 marks.

As illustrated in the specimen assessment materials, knowledge, understanding and application, as well as analytic and evaluative skills will be assessed by a range of different question styles. These will include extended writing in the form of essays, application questions, multiple-choice questions, and a variety of short answer questions.

Let’s look first at the nature and demands of assessment. At AS the assessment is weighted towards knowledge and understanding (AO1) and using that knowledge and understanding in both a theoretical and practical context (AO2). There is assessment of analytical and evaluative skills (AO3) but this contributes less to the overall grade than at A-level. So, at A-level there are proportionately fewer marks for knowledge and understanding (AO1), almost the same weighting for application skills (AO2) and proportionately more marks for analysis, evaluation and associated critical thinking skills such as interpretation, making judgements and drawing conclusions (AO3).

It’s essential that students are flexible and develop their skills rather than trying to learn rote model answers. Our questions have been devised to assess thoroughly and certain exam questions are used to assess certain skills. Multiple choice questions, for example, allow us to test knowledge and understanding of concepts, theories, processes, approaches and research methods. By using alternatives that focus on understanding of more abstract concepts, or, by using alternatives that represent finer distinctions therefore requiring more thorough understanding, we can make them appropriate for AS and for A level.

Short answer questions allow assessment of a full range of skills but generally require students to be more selective in the material they present, either because the questions are allocated fewer marks and hence involve less writing time, or because the questions make specific requirements for example, “Explain one limitation of …..”

Stem or scenario questions are used to assess application skills and, given the greater weighting of application skills when compared with our legacy specifications, Psychology A and B, there will now be a greater proportion of the overall marks for these questions. At A-level, stem questions are likely to include more elements that need to be taken into consideration or require students to use their knowledge and understanding to select the most relevant material to construct their response. Whereas, at AS the stem questions may be structured to support the student more by including a more limited range of cues that focus them on the required knowledge and understanding.

Extended writing questions allow assessment of a full range of skills but also require students to plan and structure their response. Such questions may be relatively short, for example six or sight marks, or more substantial, for example 12 marks at AS or in the A-level 16 marks out of the 24 marks for a topic.

In questions that assess a combination of knowledge and understanding (AO1) and evaluation and/or application (AO2 or 3) it’s important that students know that at AS the balance is 1:1 whilst at A-level it is approximately 1:2. This is illustrated clearly in the extended writing tasks where at AS the maximum mark is 12, six marks for knowledge and understanding, and six marks for evaluation and possibly some application. At A level the maximum mark is 16, and as in the AS, six marks are for knowledge and understanding, but 10 marks are for evaluation and possibly some application.

Let’s turn our attention now to the materials that we have available to support your preparation for assessment and how students can play a more active role in preparing themselves.

Generally speaking teachers do most of the work analysing exam papers and mark schemes, digesting this information and then conveying it to students in the form of a series of rules to remember, along with other tips about using black ink, legibility of hand writing and where they should and shouldn’t write in answer books.

It could be useful if students did more of the analysis of question papers and mark schemes and associated resources themselves. It may help to build their familiarity with the structure and demands of the paper that will in turn give them greater confidence at answering the different question types.

In the teaching and assessment section of aqa.org.uk/psychology-resources you can find a list of command words, specimen question papers and mark schemes for both the AS and A-level papers, and examples of student responses with examiner commentaries. Each of these resources can be used to build activities that will help students prepare themselves for assessment. On e-AQA, our secure website , you’ll also find another set of specimen assessment materials. We’ve put them there, where they are only accessible by login so that you can use them for your mocks. If you don’t have access to e-AQA talk to your Centre Administrator (usually your Exams Officer) about getting set up. Find out more at aqa.org.uk/e-AQA .

Here’s an idea for an activity that will help students to develop a sound understanding of what each command word requires them to do in an exam. Start by providing one or two exam papers and mark schemes. Ask students to work in small groups to list all the command words used in the exam papers and to then use the mark schemes to generate a description of what they think they need to do if an exam question uses each command word in their list. Students can then check their description with that on the elaborated command word list. To further check their understanding, provide students with some exemplar responses to exam questions and ask them to say what they think the command word was. By doing this students quickly realise how important it is to select and shape material to meet the question requirements.

Students often understand the various task requirements of an exam and the standards required better by scrutinising others’ work. To help students understand what makes an effective response, select a few student exemplar responses to the same question. Get students to work in groups to put the responses in rank order of what they think received the highest mark to the lowest. Then ask them to compare the exemplar responses with the mark scheme and level descriptors to decide what mark they think each should get and why.

In the actual exam it’s vital that students do what the question requires. Too often in the exam students see a few trigger words and write an answer to the question that they hoped would come up rather than answering the question posed on the exam paper. Some write all they know about a topic without selecting or shaping their knowledge to answer the question and other students reproduce a rote learned model answer even if it doesn’t answer the question posed. So students need to adopt an analytic approach to exam questions. They need to practice identifying the command word or words, the topic area identified in the question along with any qualifiers that specify a particular aspect of the topic area or that modify the command word.

So for example, if the question says:

“Briefly discuss how observational research might be improved by conducting observations in a controlled environment.” This question is worth four marks.

The command word is ‘discuss’ and there are two qualifiers, the first ‘briefly’ that should remind students this is a four mark question so they should take a maximum of five minutes to answer it and ‘how’ that tells them the focus is on ways; so in this case the ways in which the research would be improved. The topic is “observational research” and the qualifier is that they must focus on how a ‘controlled environment’ improves observational research.

Or if the question says:

“Explain one limitation of using nonhuman animals to research the brain mechanisms of eating behaviour.” This is a two mark question.

The command word is ‘explain’, so just identifying a limitation is not enough; the student has to also say why it’s a limitation. The topic is ‘limitation of using nonhuman animals’ and there are two qualifiers. Firstly it has to be a ‘limitation of their use to investigate brain mechanisms’ and in particular those mechanisms involved in ‘eating behaviour’.

This type of analytic approach to interpreting questions helps students to select and present material so that it’s explicitly relevant to the question and to understand why generic responses would gain relatively few marks.

A useful exercise to help students develop the skill of analysing questions and selecting material is to provide them with a series of questions and ask them to explain what material from their notes they would include in their answer to each question.

Timing is also important in exams. It’s useful to get students to work out for themselves how long they should be spending on questions. We estimate that students should spend about 1.25 minutes per mark on questions, this timing is the same for both AS and A-level which should help reassure those students who are progressing through both qualifications.

Our mark schemes are quite accessible for students as they list likely content, application points and evaluation or discussion points as appropriate to the exam questions. There is also a single set of bands or level descriptors. Having access to the mark schemes should enable students to check the knowledge and content relevant to the specific questions and to fine tune their understanding of command words.

To help students develop the ability to write a logically structured response with a clear line of argument you might provide them with the mark scheme for a question (tweaking it to match the specific material you’ve taught). The student then has to write the essay. The focus of this activity is then on structuring the response effectively, linking ideas and justifying assertions rather than selecting the content.

Ok, now let’s turn our attention to some frequently asked questions about preparing for assessment.

So, as the AS and A-level have common content does this mean that the same question can be asked on both the AS and A-level exam papers?

It’s possible that the same question could be asked for AS and A-level but we would expect a different level of response at A-level compared with AS. For example, if the question was an essay question at A-level there would be proportionally more marks for analysis, evaluation and associated critical thinking skills such as interpretation, making judgements and drawing conclusions.

In the case of application questions the same basic question may be asked but the stem or scenario at A-level is likely to be more complex and include more elements that need to be taken into consideration when responding. Whereas at AS the stem may be structured to support the student by including a more limited range of more focused cues.

In a question about evaluating a theory how many studies should students present in their evaluation?

There’s no correct response to this question. It would depend on the theory being evaluated. Students need to cover sufficient studies to be able to use research effectively and to generate a coherent discussion. To evaluate a theory, students’ would probably need more than one study. However some of the more extensive research studies where a number of variables are manipulated or in which a whole range of different samples are used it might be possible to develop an effective evaluation of a theory based on one piece of research alone. When deciding on research evidence that you intend to cover, providing evidence that both supports and challenges assumptions of the theory helps students to structure an evaluative essay. It’s also useful to have evidence generated using different research methods.

Will there always be a 12 mark essay on each topic on the AS papers and a 16 mark essay on the A-level papers?

There are no exact rules about the number of 12 or 16 mark essays. But you will be able to see from the sample assessment materials on the AS paper one, that there is no 12 mark essay on memory, instead there is a shorter eight mark extended writing question. Similarly, on the A-level paper one, there is an eight mark extended writing question for attachment and no extended writing for psychopathology. On the A-level paper three the optional topics are grouped into three sections. To ensure comparability of demands if one of the topics in the section has a 16 mark question so will each of the other topics in that section.

In short answer questions do students have to write in continuous prose?

Continuous prose is not required in all short answer responses. There are some instances where a diagram or a list of stages would provide a more coherent response than would continuous prose. The important thing to stress to students is that what they present needs to be clear and coherent.

In application questions where there is a scenario and students are asked to refer to the scenario or to the characters in scenario can students embellish the details in their answer. For example “if the character was A then it could be explained by reference to B theory.”

Generally we would expect students to focus their response on cues provided in the scenario. However where application is included as a part of extended writing, or where the phrase ‘such as’ is used in the question wording, students could gain credit for well-reasoned speculation.

Will ‘economic implications’ be assessed in every exam paper?

As can be seen from the sample assessment papers available online not every exam paper has an explicit question on economic implications, however students will be credited where relevant economic implications are included in discussion and/or evaluation.

In extended writing is it necessary for a student to provide an introduction and conclusion to the essay?

Even in the 16 mark extended writing at A-level the student only has 20 minutes to plan, structure and write their essay, therefore introductions and conclusions that don’t go beyond the material presented in the body of the essay are unlikely to gain further credit. Such material may have some value in that the introduction can provide signposts for the reader and the conclusion may clarify points in the body of the essay. In the case of evaluative essays where students need to make some judgement based on the evidence or line of argument presented, writing a conclusion may be useful as long as it goes beyond the material in the body of the essay.

How important is it that students use psychological terminology in their answers to exam questions?

If you look at the levels descriptors in the mark scheme it’s clear that in extended writing questions students will need to show understanding and the ability to use psychological terminology. At A level there is an expectation that students will be more familiar with subject specific terminology so questions may more frequently include such terminology and students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to use it effectively in their own writing.

Can students use their own opinions in their answers to exam questions?

Most exam questions direct students to present and/or evaluate material from psychological research. As a science, psychology is evidenced based. If assertions or opinions presented in students’ work are to gain any credit they would have to be underpinned or supported explicitly by psychological evidence.

Thank you for listening to this instalment in AQA’s series of psychology podcasts. We hope that this has helped to effectively introduce you to preparing for assessment. If you have any questions feel free to contact us by phone on 01483 477 822 or email us at [email protected] . Thank you and goodbye.

Document URL https://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/psychology/as-and-a-level/psychology/teach/teaching-guide-preparing-for-as-and-a-level-psychology-assessment-podcast

Last updated 16 Feb 2021

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How To Write Aqa Psychology Essays For 16 Marker Questions

Advice on how to answer essays, including key terms in questions and how to meet the assessment criteria.

Date : 13/02/2020

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Cognitive Approach Comparison Essay: Example Answer Video (16 Marks)

Last updated 31 May 2018

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In this video, we look at how to write a model answer to the following question: Outline the key features of the cognitive approach in psychology. Compare the cognitive approach with the psychodynamic approach. [16 marks]

• Approaches in Psychology
• Comparison of Approaches
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A Level Psychology (AQA) Essay Writing Booklet

Subject: Psychology

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

10 March 2021

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Essay Writing Skills in Psychology: Booklet (22 pages)

I created this booklet to support my students with essay writing, designed to use across the 2 year course and covers guidance and activities linked to a range of essay questions.

I designed it to use across the course, not all in one go. Lots of activities that I have adapted over time and work really effectively and helps students to develop effective essay writing skills.

The booklet includes:

• A list of standard essay questions - that my students use throughout the 2 years to produce writing frames for as part of their revision process. I also use writing frames as a way to introduce essay writing as they require students to reorganise material and see how A01 and A03 points may link together (paragraph development).
• Command words
• Mark band criteria
• Types of essay questions - student task (identify the assessment objectives)
• 2 example Milgram essays to cover ‘outline and evaluate’ and ‘discuss’ questions.
• Advice on good writing practices: including structure, organisation and signposting
• Activity: How to demonstrate depth in your answer
• How to build an elaborated paragraph (example)
• Application essay task: colour coding activity
• Application essay activity: planning the assessment objectives
• Approaches comparison question activities.
• Using comparison as an A03 point activity
• List of example application essays for students to practice.

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What makes a good essay?

These resources are designed to develop essay writing skills in A Level Psychology students by providing teaching and learning resources to be used online and offline independently and in the classroom.  The resources are based on the idea of breaking down the components of a good Psychology essay and then considering how each of these elements can be achieved.

The examples are all taken from Contemporary Debates (WJEC Unit 1, Eduqas AS/A Level Component 1) issues written by students either under exam questions or for homework. However the skills can be extended to work for essays at A2 Level and in other subjects

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Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

• Writing essays in science subjects
• Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
• Writing extended essays and dissertations
• Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

• Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principal tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

• Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
• References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

• Approaching different types of essay questions  
• Structuring your essay  
• Writing an introduction  
• Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
• Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

• The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
• Explanation of the focus of your work.
• Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
• List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

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