i do modern history and my prelims had a section where there was a 5 marker, 8 marker and 12 marker question respectively so i think...
5 markers is one chonky paragraph where it's most likely an outline/describe question - and it's structured with an overall topic sentence start to your paragraph - then two sub-ideas (kind of), which you state in your 'explain' part of your paragraph, followed by historical evidence and a bit of elaboration on how this supports/links to your point, then do it again, followed by a final linking sentence. it also depends on your writing size but for a 5 marker i wouldn't go over 1 page
an 8 marker needs an intro. i would do two body paragraphs, each with separate intros/topic sentences (most likely an explain/account question - eg. explain the causes, account for challenges, explain the impact). for one paragraph, focus on one thing with peel, then focus on another also with peel. make sure it's 'different' in the sense that for example one is social, the other is economic, etc.
12 marker is what i call a baby essay - and is probably most likely an assess question (or an explain/account still, if you're lucky). you start off with a short intro (thesis + introduce points briefly), two body paragraphs that follow peel, then a one-sentence conclusion.