Concede a point and then pivot, producing the two-part structure every discuss-both-views essay needs.
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Five sentences out of order. The concession has to land before the pivot.
Put these five sentences into concede-then-pivot order. The signal words tell you which is which.
Admitting the other side's best point makes your own position stronger, not weaker — if you turn afterwards.
A Band 6 discuss-both-views response argues one side hard and pretends the other does not exist. The examiner notices, and it caps Task Response — not just your vocabulary score.
The fix is a two-move structure:
Move 1 — concede. Name the strongest opposing point honestly.
Move 2 — pivot. Explain why your position still holds anyway.
Admittedly, congestion charges place a heavier burden on low-income drivers. Nevertheless, the revenue they raise can fund exactly the public transport those drivers depend on.
That is worth more than two paragraphs of one-sided argument, and it takes one sentence.
Conceding words open the admission: admittedly, granted, while it is true that, concede.
Pivoting words turn back: nevertheless, nonetheless.
You need one of each. A concession with no pivot has simply argued the other side for them.
A path that bends around the obstacle instead of pretending it is not there.
The obstacle is real either way. Only one of these routes gets past it.
Three decisions settled entirely by what comes after the gap.
One
The words that follow: its high cost. That is a noun phrase.
Candidates: albeit / notwithstanding
The expert chooses:
Because:
Two
The words that follow: expensive. That is a single adjective.
Candidates: albeit / nevertheless
The expert chooses:
Because:
Three
The writer has just conceded a point and now needs to turn back to their own position, with a full clause following.
Candidates: notwithstanding / nonetheless
The expert chooses:
Because:
Six gaps across a discuss-both-views paragraph. Two of them test what may follow.
Should university tuition be free?
Free tuition is often presented as an unambiguous good, but the case is more finely balanced than its supporters allow.
, removing fees does widen access for students from low-income families, and the evidence on this point is strong.
, the countries that have abolished fees have not always seen participation rise among the poorest groups, which suggests cost was not the only barrier.
Even supporters that the policy is expensive, and that the money must come from somewhere.
its cost, however, the scheme has broad public support in every country that has tried it.
The policy is therefore defensible, costly, provided the funding is genuinely additional rather than taken from schools.
the arguments on both sides have merit, the deciding question is not affordability but what the money would otherwise buy.
Write the two-move structure and find out whether your concession was genuine or a straw man.
Task 2 prompt: Some people think that social media companies should be responsible for the content posted on their platforms.
The hard part is sentence 1. Conceding an easy objection is a straw man, and it is visible.
Concede, pivot, support. One concession word and one pivot word.
If this differs from what you actually conceded, that gap is the lesson.