modern studies 20 mark essay example

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Structure and planning of essay

Watch this to find out how to structure the perfect essay for Higher Modern Studies (and how to climb the Matterhorn)

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There is a huge mountain that sits above the town of Zermat in Switzerland called the Matterhorn. It is breathtaking.

When most mountains in Europe had been climbed, this one stood unconquered. An international competition was launched for the first to the summit and when this challenge was finally overcome, four of the party of seven who had achieved it fell to their deaths trying to get back down.

Nowadays, about 150 climbers each year get to the top. Some routes to the summit are still regarded as impossible -completely unclimbable; but there are many different routes to choose from, some much safer than others and the route a climber selects is vital to their success.

When you are writing an essay in Modern Studies, just like climbing the Matterhorn, you have to pick the right route. Some routes are safer and will get you to the top. Some routes are more complicated and can lead to trouble.

I want to tell you about the route I use when teaching essays to my class, one that can help you get to the top.

This is thinkfour.

There are two types of essay; I call the 12 mark essays an extended response, because they don’t have an introduction or conclusion, and are more like a long Nat 5 answer. 20 Mark essays, though, are our Matterhorn, and you are only ready to tackle them when you have enough knowledge and training. Like an ascent up a mountain, planning is key. You can’t just start, or you’ll quickly lose your way. You need to know where you are going and that means knowing the answer to your 20 mark essay before you start. Your introduction will lay out the factors that you are going to be discussing, like a plan on the page, but it’s what you do with those factors, in each section of your essay, that really counts. With 8 knowledge marks, and 6 analysis marks up for grabs, I recommend 4 main sections to my classes, each dealing with a different factor.

Take an essay like “to what extent does social and economic inequality exist in the US?” You have a range of options with an essay like this, but you can make a strong case for four main sections focusing on income, health, education and the criminal justice system. Across these four factors you have to do a range of things. You need to make points of knowledge which answer the question, you need to delve into the detail of that and really hammer home the point that you are making. You need to back that up with some evidence, and you need to analyse how that fits with your overall answer. 40sec -1min section

This gives us a rough structure that I call PEEA, Point, Explain, Example, Analyse. For a 12 mark extended response, I would tell you to PEEA for each factor, but in a 20 mark essay it is different, you have to go further to open up the full range of marks on offer. Here, I tell pupils to PEEAPEEA, basically to come up with a second point for each factor. In an essay on inequalities you can easily do this, for example, by doing one education paragraph on high school dropouts by ethnicity, and a second on access to College. In other essays the second PEEA is the counter-argument or balance to the first, such as saying that social class has an impact on voting behaviour, but following that up with a counter-point about partisan dealignment in recent years. The one drawback with this is how long it takes to write, so I suggest that pupils use PEEAPEEA for three factors, and a simple PEEA for the last, but you can get away with two PEEAPEEAs and two simple PEEAs if you really find the clock a challenge.

So remember, whether it’s a trip up the Matterhorn in Switzerland or writing an essay in Modern Studies, planning is key. Know your route before you set off as some are difficult and will get you into difficulty whilst others are more straight forward.

Tackling a 20 mark essay isn’t the same as conquering the unconquerable, but if you follow these steps and take full marks, you’ll feel like you’re on the top of the world.

This was thinkfour, thanks for watching.

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STA Higher Modern Studies

Higher modern studies, potential essays.

See the document below for a list of potential essays. Use this to plan essays and revise knowledge, analysis and evaluation. Remember that there are many ways to word questions so practice being able to determine exactly what the question is asking you and figure out the structure.

For the crime and the law section there are no example questions – I may update this later. Just be aware that you could be asked about the causes, consequences and responses to crime.

Examples of ku Possible Questions MARCH 2018

USA Model Essays

See blow for model essays on various USA sub-topics:

USA Influence – USA Influence Model Essay

USA influence 2 – USA-Influence-Model-Essay

Rights and Responsibilities 12 mark analyse paragraph – Rights and Responsibilities USA Essay

Political progress minorities essay paragraph – Progress for Minorities Essay

Participation Essay paragraph – Participation Voting Paragraph

How democratic paragraph – How democratic paragraph Feb 2018

Government responses to social and economic inequalities, Affirmative Action paragraph – Government Responses to S and E inequalities model para AA

Checks on Government Model Essay – Checks on Government Model Essay

Analyse Paragraph – Social and Economic Inequalities – Analyse – Social and Inequalities Model Essay

Knowledge Questions

See the document below for a 20 mark essay guide:

20 Mark Knowledge Question September 2015

Remember that for 12 mark analyse questions, there are 8 marks for knowledge and 4 marks for analysis – no need for an overall conclusion and just a one sentence introduction if any.

For 12 mark evaluate questions, there are 8 marks for knowledge and 4 marks for evaluation (conclusions). You may do an overall conclusion for this type of question but you can also do mini-conclusions at the end of each paragraph.

Skills Questions

The PowerPoints below explain the techniques for answering the two different  types of skills questions:

Conclusion Questions UPDATED JAN 2018

Objectivity Questions

Remember to use the SQA website for the last three years of past papers and the specimen paper:

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47924.html

Online Study Materials

Visit Modernity Scotland for extra Higher materials  – https://www.modernity.scot/  (Username is stthomas, see Mr Canning for password)

See the US and Canada section of the BBC news website for up-to-date stories relevant to the world powers topic – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/us_and_canada

See the politics section of the BBC website for up-to-date news relevant to the Democracy in Scotland and the UK unit – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics

See BBC Bitesize for Higher Modern Studies revision materials on all three units – https://www.bbc.com/education/subjects/ztsvr82

All PowerPoints below:

1. Lessons 1 and 2 USA Intro, geography etc. Blog

2. LESSONS 3-8 Political System and Process Blog

3. LESSONS 9-16 Social and Economic Inequalities Blog

4. International Influence of the USA Blog

You can also use the Modernity Scotland website for more information on the USA topic – https://www.modernity.scot/ – see Mr Canning for login details.

Democracy in the UK

Below you will find materials for the Democracy in the UK unit.

Participation –  Participation in the Political System Blog

3. Impact of EU membership Blog

Welcome to the Higher Modern Studies Blog!

Welcome to the St Thomas Aquinas Higher Modern Studies blog. Here you will find class materials for all topics. PowerPoints from class will be posted here following lessons. If you miss a period you can catch up by accessing the blog.

Materials posted here will be the same as in class but will not include images.

• Past Papers
• National Qualifications  >  Subjects  >  Modern Studies  >  Higher  > Higher Modern Studies

Higher Modern Studies

Alternative certification model.

The alternative certification model is how National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses will be resulted this year, following the cancellation of the 2021 exams. It involves five different stages.

View the alternative certification model and see what will happen at each stage.

Essential Information

Course specification ( 20/12/2023 ).

Explains the structure of the course, including its purpose and aims and information on the skills, knowledge and understanding that will be developed.

• Higher Modern Studies Course Specification (Gaelic translation) December 2023
• Higher Modern Studies Course Specification July 2019

Past Papers and Marking Instructions

Access all past papers by subject/level

Additional question papers resources

Illustrates the standard, structure and requirements of the question papers candidates will sit (includes marking instructions).

• Higher Modern Studies Specimen Question Paper 1 August 2018
• Higher Modern Studies Specimen Question Paper 1 (Gaelic Medium) June 2019
• Higher Modern Studies Specimen Question Paper 2 October 2022
• Higher Modern Studies Specimen Question Paper 2 (Gaelic Medium) June 2019

There were no exams in 2021. The 2020-21 question paper resources are, for most subjects, modified papers which reflect the modifications put in place for session 2020-21

• Higher Modern Studies Question Paper 1
• Higher Modern Studies Paper 1 Marking Instructions
• Higher Modern Studies Question Paper 2  
• Higher Modern Studies Paper 2 Marking Instructions

This section provides information on marking instructions and/or the coursework assessment task(s). It includes information that centres need to administer coursework and must be read in conjunction with the course specification.

• Coursework assessment task for Higher Modern Studies August 2019
• Research Evidence for Higher Modern Studies   July 2018
• Research Evidence for Higher Modern Studies  July 2018
• Guidance on conditions of assessment

Information on the production and submission of SQA-assessed coursework for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

• Coursework for External Assessment (261 KB)

Understanding Standards ( 27/11/2023 )

• Examples of candidate evidence with commentaries

Audio Presentation

Overview of course assessment 2020-2021- presentation with audio  (35.48 MB)

Overview of course assessment 2018-2019 - presentation with audio (29 minutes) (30.09 MB)

Changes to understanding standards materials

• Changes to published Understanding Standards materials for all subjects

Please note: Understanding Standards materials are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain up to date.

Additional Resources session 2020-22

Please note: Additional resources published during sessions 2020-2022 are currently under review. Further information can be found on the Understanding Standards Website .

Course reports ( 14/09/2023 )

Provides information on the performance of candidates - which is useful to teachers, lecturers and assessors in their preparation of candidates for future assessment.

Course Reports

• 2023 Higher Modern Studies Course Report  September 2023
• 2022 Higher Modern Studies Course Report  September 2022
• 2019 Higher Modern Studies Course Report  September 2019
• 2018 Higher Modern Studies Course Report  August 2018
• 2017 Higher Modern Studies Course Report  October 2017

Verification Reports

• Modern Studies Verification Key Messages Round 1 March 2017
• Modern Studies: Quality Assurance - external verification

Ushare open learning resources

Where can you take this course?

Centre Finder

Helper-buttons.

29/12/23 UPDATE: Terrorism added in National 5 section; Advanced Higher content updated; revision strategy suggestions published.

Please note: Since August 2019, we have taught 'Crime and the Law in the UK' at Higher. Therefore, this page will no longer be updated.

Social Inequality in the UK

Social Inequality in the UK is 'Part A' of Section 2 in the exam paper. You use your knowledge & understanding of socio-economic issues in the UK to answer one question. The topics studied are detailed in the Course Assessment Specification (CAS), which is outlined below. Use the contents table below to click to relevant headings.

Course Assessment Specification (CAS)

In the social inequality context, candidates focus on the impact of social inequality on any relevant group.

reasons why income and wealth inequality exists

reasons why health inequalities exist

effect of inequality on a group or groups in society

individualist and collectivist debate

effectiveness of measures taken to tackle inequalities, including government measures

PowerPoint presentation

Class resources and materials

The documents in the section below were given out in class and are intended to support your revision.

Find the Answer

Universal credit, causes of poverty, essay questions.

The questions below are common essay questions, drawn from either past papers or made up to provide examples, based on the CAS at the top of this page. The essay answers below may be completed or provide you with the skeleton necessary to create a comprehensive response in the exam. 

Collectivism-Individualism

Kindly shared by Mr Beattie at Vale of Leven Academy.

Lifestyle choices

General essay revision, government responses to health inequalities.

This part essay template looks at the success and failure of the sugar tax and minimum unit pricing to address health inequalities. The essay responds to the following question: 'Government policies have failed to reduce health inequalities. Discuss. (20 marks).'

Effectiveness of tackling social inequalities

This part essay template looks at the success and failure of the NHS and wider health services in addressing social inequalities in the UK. The essay responds to the following question: 'Evaluate the effectiveness of the health services in tackling social inequality. (12 marks).'

Theories of the welfare state

This part essay, part plan looks at the different theoretical perspectives of the welfare state. It addresses the following question: 'Health and welfare provision should be the responsibility of the government. Discuss. (20 marks).'