Same Act, Two Labels
Six ordinary scenes, each with two names. The picture does not change between them.
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One picture, two possible names for it. Nothing in the scene tells you which is fair.
Six pairs of words that describe the same behaviour but pass opposite judgements, and how to choose on purpose.
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Two sentences reporting identical conduct. Only one of them accuses anybody of anything.
A head teacher has refused, four times, to drop a homework policy that parents have complained about.
She was determined to keep the policy.
She was stubborn about keeping the policy.
Before you read on: what changed between those two sentences?
Not the facts. Not the number of refusals. Not the grammar, not the register, not the difficulty of the vocabulary. Both sentences are correct English and both would be marked accurate.
Why a loaded word in the wrong place costs you marks in two criteria at once — and the rule that prevents it.
Here are two Task 2 paragraphs. The vocabulary is identical.
A. Many governments are stubborn about immigration policy. They refuse to revise targets even when the labour market data changes, and public consultations have repeatedly recommended adjustment.
B. Many governments refuse to revise immigration targets even when labour market data changes, and public consultations have repeatedly recommended adjustment. At that point the position is no longer principled — it is stubborn.
In A, the verdict arrives first and the evidence is offered afterwards, as if in its defence. In B, the evidence arrives first and the verdict is the conclusion of it.
B is the Band 8 move. A is what a strong Band 7 candidate writes when they have learned six new adjectives.
Six ordinary scenes, each with two names. The picture does not change between them.
One picture, two possible names for it. Nothing in the scene tells you which is fair.
Six paragraphs, each stopping one word short. Three of them have earned a verdict. Three have not.
Each item gives you what the paragraph has already established, then asks for the next sentence. Read what has been argued, not what you happen to believe about the topic. In three of the six, the plain word is the correct answer — that ratio is deliberate.
The paragraph has established: the regulator was warned in 2016, again in 2018, and by its own internal review in 2019, and each time it restated the existing rules without amendment. Which sentence follows?
Three expert decisions, worked in the order an examiner would work them: what has been argued first, which word second.
Chain 1
The paragraph so far: Rail unions rejected the pay offer in March, rejected the revised offer in June, and have refused to attend the September talks. Nothing has been said about whether the offers were reasonable.
Candidates: determined / stubborn
Step 1 — What has the paragraph established about whether the position should have moved?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The unions remain in their refusal.
Chain 2
The paragraph so far: The ministry commissioned an independent review, received it, published a summary that omitted its three central recommendations, and told the press the review had endorsed existing policy.
Candidates: confident / arrogant
Step 1 — What has the paragraph established about the ministry's regard for the people it was answering to?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The handling of the review was .
Chain 3
The paragraph so far: A charity spends 4% of its income on administration, well below the sector average of 12%. You are writing a balanced paragraph and have not argued that the figure is too low.
Candidates: frugal / stingy
Step 1 — What would you have to have argued before the critical word becomes available?
Step 2 — Therefore the expert writes: The charity's administrative spending is notably .