A Time When You Encouraged Someone to Do Something They Didn't Want to Do

Part 3 follow-up questions

These are the discussion questions examiners asked after this cue card. Sample answers are shown where available.

1. 1. In what situations do parents need to encourage their children to do something?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Opens with a plain "I think it's mostly when" and lists examples in short, separate sentences joined by simple commas.

   I think it's mostly when something is new or a bit scary for the child. My nephew refused to join a swimming class for weeks, until my sister got into the pool herself, fully dressed, and then he followed her in. Children need encouragement for things like reading, joining a team, or trying new food, because these things don't feel rewarding at first. Parents also need to push a little when a child wants to quit music or sport too quickly. The hard part is knowing if the child is scared of something good, or just doesn't like something, because those need different reactions.

   Why this band

   • FC“I think it's mostly when something is new or a bit scary for the child.” — A full framing sentence with subject and verb spelled out, clear but effortful. The 7.5 band drops the framing sentence entirely and opens with a bare fragment, "Mostly at the edge of what's comfortable", trusting the listener to follow.
   • LR“because these things don't feel rewarding at first” — Plain, functional vocabulary. The 7.5 band replaces this kind of explanation with the more vivid "look pointless from inside a five-year-old's head", a genuinely original image the lower band doesn't attempt.
   • GRA“The hard part is knowing if the child is scared of something good, or just doesn't like something, because those need different reactions.” — A single sentence with an embedded "or" and a trailing "because" clause, correct but a bit loosely strung together. The 7.5 band expresses the same closing idea with a semicolon splitting two balanced clauses, a tighter structure.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "Honestly, I'd say" softens the opening claim, and the reasoning is joined with "because" for a bit more depth than 6.5.

   Honestly, I'd say it's mostly at the edge of what feels comfortable. My nephew refused a swimming class for weeks, until my sister actually got into the pool herself, fully clothed, and only then did he follow her in. Children generally need encouragement when something is new, slightly frightening, or takes effort before any reward shows up, things like reading, joining a team, or speaking to strangers. Parents also need to encourage persistence when a child wants to quit at the first sign of difficulty. I think the real skill is telling the difference between fear of something good and genuine dislike of something wrong, because the first deserves a push and the second deserves listening.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, I'd say it's mostly at the edge of what feels comfortable.” — The double hedge "Honestly, I'd say" makes the claim sound considered rather than declared, more natural than the flat 6.5 opener. The 7.5 band removes the hedge but keeps the same compact phrase, "at the edge of what's comfortable", showing hedging isn't the only route to a considered tone.
   • LR“things like reading, joining a team, or speaking to strangers” — A functional list of examples, clear but plain. The 7.5 band tightens the same list and follows it with the vivid image of looking "pointless from inside a five-year-old's head", adding a layer of insight this version doesn't reach for.
   • GRA“Children generally need encouragement when something is new, slightly frightening, or takes effort before any reward shows up, things like reading, joining a team, or speaking to strangers.” — A long sentence stacks a three-part list after "when" and then appends a further example list with a comma, slightly overloaded. The 7.5 band splits the same content into two sentences with a colon, a cleaner division of the same information.

   Band 7.5

   The colon before the list of examples, and the semicolon in the closing sentence, let ideas connect without repeating linking words.

   Mostly at the edge of what's comfortable. My nephew refused a swimming class for weeks until my sister got into the pool herself, fully clothed, and then he followed — children need encouragement when a thing is new, slightly frightening, or requires effort before any reward appears. Learning to read, joining a team, speaking to strangers, trying a food: all of these look pointless from inside a five-year-old's head. Parents also need to encourage persistence when a child wants to quit at the first difficulty. The skill is telling the difference between fear of something good and dislike of something wrong; the first deserves a push, and the second deserves listening.

   Why this band

   • FC“Mostly at the edge of what's comfortable.” — A verbless fragment opens the whole answer, more confident and economical than the full sentences used at 6.5 and 7.0. This kind of compact opening is characteristic of higher-band fluency.
   • LR“all of these look pointless from inside a five-year-old's head” — A vivid, original image that goes well beyond the plain "don't feel rewarding at first" at 6.5 or the functional list at 7.0. It shows genuine control over figurative language.
   • GRA“the first deserves a push, and the second deserves listening” — A balanced closing pair split by a semicolon earlier in the sentence, more compact than the 6.5 version's single sprawling sentence with "or" and "because". The parallel structure here ("deserves a push" / "deserves listening") is a deliberate rhetorical device the lower bands don't use.

2. 2. What ways can parents use to encourage children to do things they don't want to do?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Opens plainly with "I think the best way is", then lists separate tips one after another in short sentences.

   I think the best way is to turn the task into a game. My mother made homework into a race against the rice cooker, finish before it clicks, and I did years of maths without noticing I was being tricked. Doing the task together with the child works better than just telling them to do it. Small rewards work for young children, and explanations work better as they get older. Giving some choice also helps, like which room to tidy first. Praise for effort is good, but threats and comparing children to their siblings usually just make things worse.

   Why this band

   • FC“I think the best way is to turn the task into a game.” — A plain topic sentence stating the main idea directly. The 7.5 band opens with the same idea compressed into a shorter, verb-fronted line, "The best ones turn the task into something else", a tighter and slightly more confident move.
   • LR“Small rewards work for young children” — Simple, functional vocabulary. The 7.5 band sharpens this to "small, immediate rewards", adding a precise second adjective that captures why timing matters, a small but deliberate lexical upgrade.
   • GRA“Doing the task together with the child works better than just telling them to do it.” — A single comparative sentence, correct and clear but plain. The 7.5 band achieves the same comparison in fewer words, "Doing the thing alongside the child works better than instructing from a chair", trading "telling them to do it" for the more compact and specific "instructing from a chair".

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "Honestly" opens the answer, and the reasoning about explanations is linked with "since" for a slightly more developed sentence.

   Honestly, the best methods tend to turn the task into something else entirely. My mother made homework into a race against the rice cooker, finish before it clicks, and I did a decade of maths without ever noticing I'd been tricked. Doing the task alongside the child generally works better than just instructing from a chair, and small rewards help younger children while explanations work better as they grow, since a child who knows why is more willing than one who's simply told. Giving choice within limits helps too, like letting them pick which room to tidy first. What seems to work worst is threats and comparing siblings, which usually produce resentment along with compliance.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, the best methods tend to turn the task into something else entirely.” — The hedge "Honestly" plus "tend to" softens the generalisation, more natural than the flat 6.5 claim. The 7.5 band removes both hedges and states the idea as a bare fact, a more assertive register.
   • GRA“small rewards help younger children while explanations work better as they grow, since a child who knows why is more willing than one who's simply told” — A long sentence links contrast ("while") and reason ("since") in one breath, more ambitious than the short separate sentences at 6.5. The 7.5 band expresses a similar contrast using a semicolon instead of "while", a subtler way of signalling the same relationship.
   • LR“which usually produce resentment along with compliance” — A reasonably natural closing phrase. The 7.5 band reorders the same idea into "produce compliance and resentment in equal measure", a more balanced and slightly more polished way of stating the same trade-off.

   Band 7.5

   The dash around "finish before it clicks" and the colon before the tidying example pack detail into the sentence without extra linking words.

   The best ones turn the task into something else. My mother made homework a race against the rice cooker — finish before it clicks — and I did a decade of maths without noticing I'd been tricked. Doing the thing alongside the child works better than instructing from a chair. Small, immediate rewards work for small children; explanations work better as they grow, because a child who knows why is more willing than one who's just told. Choice within limits helps: not whether to tidy, but which room first. What works worst is threats and comparison with a sibling, both of which produce compliance and resentment in equal measure.

   Why this band

   • FC“The best ones turn the task into something else.” — A short, verb-fronted opening sentence that states the thesis immediately, more compact than the fuller 6.5 and 7.0 openers. It lets the rest of the answer unfold as illustration rather than restating the claim.
   • LR“both of which produce compliance and resentment in equal measure” — A precise, balanced closing phrase pairing two contrasting outcomes. Neither lower band reaches for this kind of crafted parallelism; both settle for a simpler statement that the methods "make things worse" or "produce resentment".
   • GRA“Small, immediate rewards work for small children; explanations work better as they grow, because a child who knows why is more willing than one who's just told.” — A semicolon links two balanced clauses with no conjunction, more flexible than the "while... since" chain at 7.0 or the separate sentences at 6.5. The colon later in the same answer performs a similar compressing function.

3. 3. Why do children often not want to do what their parents ask?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   States the reasoning first with "I think", then adds each further point with a plain "also" or "too".

   I think being told to do something takes away the fun of choosing it yourself. My niece once said she would have done the dishes if nobody had asked her to, which explains a lot. Children are also trying to build their own identity, and refusing is one way to test it. They live in the present too, so 'this will help you later' doesn't mean much compared to 'this is boring now'. Sometimes the request just doesn't make sense to them, or they're tired, or the parents don't do it either.

   Why this band

   • FC“I think being told to do something takes away the fun of choosing it yourself.” — A direct claim stated up front before the supporting story. The 7.5 band reverses this order, opening with the story itself and only revealing the claim afterwards via a dash, a more developed narrative structure.
   • LR“which explains a lot” — A vague, casual closing tag. The 7.5 band replaces this with the more precise "and that's most of it", directly followed by a colon that spells out exactly what "it" refers to, a tighter piece of lexis.
   • GRA“They live in the present too, so 'this will help you later' doesn't mean much compared to 'this is boring now'.” — A cause-effect sentence with "so", clear and correct. The 7.5 band achieves the same content with a nearly identical structure, showing this pattern already works well at 6.5, though the surrounding sentences around it are more tightly built at the higher band.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "Honestly, I think" opens the answer, and the story is set up with the more developed "with total sincerity".

   Honestly, I think being told to do something takes away most of the pleasure of choosing it yourself. My niece once said, with total sincerity, that she'd have done the dishes if nobody had asked her to, and that's most of it right there. Children are also busy building an independent self, so refusing is partly how they test whether that self actually exists. They live very much in the present too, which means 'this will help you later' has almost no weight against 'this is boring now'. Sometimes the request genuinely makes no sense from their side, or they're just tired, or they've noticed the parents don't do it either.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, I think being told to do something takes away most of the pleasure of choosing it yourself.” — The hedge "Honestly" softens the claim slightly. The 7.5 band removes the claim sentence altogether and opens directly on the anecdote, letting the story itself imply the point, a more confident structural choice.
   • LR“and that's most of it right there” — A casual, spoken closing tag. The 7.5 band tightens this to "and that's most of it", followed immediately by a colon that names the mechanism, a more economical piece of phrasing.
   • GRA“Children are also busy building an independent self, so refusing is partly how they test whether that self actually exists.” — A cause-result sentence with "so", reasonably fluent. The 7.5 band expresses the same idea slightly more compactly, dropping "busy" and "partly", a small but real tightening of the same grammar.

   Band 7.5

   The dash and colon after the anecdote let the conclusion follow directly, replacing the separate summarising sentence used in the other two bands.

   My niece once said, with total sincerity, that she would have done the dishes if nobody had asked her to — and that's most of it: being told to do something takes away the pleasure of choosing it. Children are building an independent self, and refusing is how they test whether it exists. They also live in the present, so 'this will help you later' has no weight against 'this is boring now'. Sometimes the request genuinely makes no sense from their side, and nobody has explained it. Sometimes they're tired, or hungry, or they've simply noticed that the parents don't do it either.

   Why this band

   • FC“and that's most of it: being told to do something takes away the pleasure of choosing it” — A colon lets the explanation follow the claim directly with no linking word, a more compact and confident structure than the full separate sentence used at 6.5 and 7.0 to state the same idea.
   • LR“Sometimes they're tired, or hungry” — A short, precise list that adds "hungry" as a second, more specific physical cause alongside tiredness. Neither lower band includes this second item, settling for the single word "tired" alone.
   • GRA“My niece once said, with total sincerity, that she would have done the dishes if nobody had asked her to — and that's most of it” — A dash lets the concluding claim follow the anecdote in the same sentence, avoiding a separate summarising sentence. Both lower bands instead close the anecdote with a full stop before stating the point, a more segmented structure.

4. 4. How can employees be encouraged to work hard?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Opens with a full sentence, "I think the best way is to give", spelling out the main idea before the example.

   I think the best way is to give them something that feels like their own. Linh worked much harder on a talk once it had her name on it and her mother's story inside it, more than any bonus scheme our studio has tried. People also work harder when they can see the result of their effort and when someone notices it. Fair pay matters, but paying more than fair doesn't make people try harder. Trust matters too, since staff who are watched the least often work the hardest. Fear and constant checking usually just create busy work, not real effort.

   Why this band

   • FC“I think the best way is to give them something that feels like their own.” — A full sentence with "I think" framing the opinion explicitly. The 7.5 band drops the framing entirely and opens with a two-word imperative, "Give them something that's theirs", a bold, compact move that states the advice directly.
   • LR“Fear and constant checking usually just create busy work, not real effort.” — Clear but ordinary vocabulary ("busy work"). The 7.5 band reframes this with the more precise contrast "produce activity rather than effort", a subtly more analytical distinction between two related ideas.
   • GRA“Trust matters too, since staff who are watched the least often work the hardest.” — A cause-effect sentence with "since", clear and functional. The 7.5 band compresses the same idea using a colon instead of "since" — "Trust matters: the staff who are watched least often work most" — a tighter construction with no conjunction at all.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "Honestly, I'd say" softens the opening claim, and "since" links the pay reasoning into one longer sentence.

   Honestly, I'd say the key is giving people something that's genuinely theirs. Linh worked harder on that talk than on anything I'd seen before, simply because it had her name on it and her mother's story inside it, and ownership beat every bonus scheme the studio has tried. Beyond that, people work hard when they can see the result of their effort, when someone actually notices it, and when the goal is clear but slightly beyond them. Fair pay is more of a floor than a motivator, since underpaid people stop caring, but overpaying rarely makes anyone care more. I'd say trust matters too, because the staff who are watched least often work hardest of all.

   Why this band

   • FC“Honestly, I'd say the key is giving people something that's genuinely theirs.” — The hedge "Honestly, I'd say" softens the claim into a personal judgement rather than a flat statement. The 7.5 band removes the hedge and states the same advice as a direct imperative, a more assertive register.
   • LR“ownership beat every bonus scheme the studio has tried” — A precise, slightly punchy claim. The 7.5 band uses nearly the same phrase, showing this piece of lexis already sits close to the ceiling of the range at 7.0.
   • GRA“Fair pay is more of a floor than a motivator, since underpaid people stop caring, but overpaying rarely makes anyone care more.” — A long sentence combines a metaphor ("floor") with a "since... but" chain, ambitious for 7.0. The 7.5 band expresses the same metaphor more starkly with a dash instead of "since", "Fair pay is the floor, not the motivator — underpaid people stop caring", a tighter version of the same idea.

   Band 7.5

   The imperative opener "Give them something that's theirs" states the answer as an instruction rather than an opinion, and the colon before "the staff who are watched least" tightens the point.

   Give them something that's theirs. Linh worked harder on that talk than on anything I'd seen because it had her name on it and her mother's story in it; ownership beat every bonus scheme the studio has tried. Beyond that, people work hard when they can see the result of their effort, when someone notices it, and when the goal is clear and slightly beyond them. Fair pay is the floor, not the motivator — underpaid people stop caring, but overpaying doesn't make anyone care more. Trust matters: the staff who are watched least often work most. The worst methods are fear and constant measurement, which produce activity rather than effort.

   Why this band

   • FC“Give them something that's theirs.” — A bare, three-word imperative opens the whole answer, more direct and confident than the hedged or framed openings at 6.5 and 7.0. This kind of compact instruction-as-thesis is a recognisable higher-band move.
   • LR“which produce activity rather than effort” — A precise, analytical closing distinction between two related but different ideas. Neither lower band draws this same sharp line; both settle for vaguer phrasing about "busy work" or people trying harder.
   • GRA“Fair pay is the floor, not the motivator — underpaid people stop caring, but overpaying doesn't make anyone care more.” — A dash links the metaphor to its explanation with no conjunction, a more compact structure than the "since... but" chain used at 7.0. The colon used later in the same answer, before the trust point, performs a similar compressing function.

5. 5. Do you agree or disagree that the most important role of a boss is to encourage employees?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Uses "gently" as a simple softener after the disagreement, then supports it with short, separate reasons.

   I'd disagree, gently. Our studio's founder is a great encourager but a slow decider, and after a while the encouragement wears thin, because what people really need is a decision and a clear priority. I think the most important role of a boss is to make the work possible, with clear goals, honest feedback, and fair treatment. Encouragement matters within that, since a team that's never told it's doing well loses heart, but encouragement without direction is just cheerfulness. The best boss I've had said very little that was warm but was completely reliable about clearing the path.

   Why this band

   • FC“I'd disagree, gently.” — A short, two-word softener after the disagreement, functional and plain. All three bands actually share this exact opener, showing it already works well even at 6.5, with the real differences emerging later in how the argument is built.
   • LR“I think the most important role of a boss is to make the work possible, with clear goals, honest feedback, and fair treatment.” — A three-item list joined by commas and "and", clear but plain. The 7.5 band uses a colon instead of "with" to introduce a four-item list, a more natural way of presenting an enumeration in speech.
   • GRA“Encouragement matters within that, since a team that's never told it's doing well loses heart, but encouragement without direction is just cheerfulness.” — A long sentence links "since" and "but" together, reasonably ambitious for 6.5. The 7.5 band achieves a similar length by using dashes around the middle clause instead of "since", a punctuation-based link rather than a conjunction.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "Honestly" opens the closing sentence, and the final line adds a small evaluative touch not present at 6.5.

   I'd disagree, gently. Our studio's founder is a wonderful encourager and a slow decider, and after a while the encouragement wears thin, because what people actually need is a decision, a priority, and the removal of whatever's blocking them. I'd say the most important role of a boss is to make the work possible, clear goals, honest feedback, protection from chaos, and fair treatment. Encouragement matters within that, a team that's never told it's doing well loses heart, but encouragement without direction is really just cheerfulness. Honestly, the best boss I've had said very little that was warm and was completely reliable about clearing the path, and I'd take that over applause any day.

   Why this band

   • LR“what people actually need is a decision, a priority, and the removal of whatever's blocking them” — A precise three-item list building on the plain "a decision and a clear priority" used at 6.5. The 7.5 band uses an almost identical list, showing this phrasing already sits near the top of the range at 7.0.
   • FC“I'd take that over applause any day” — An idiomatic closing line that adds a personal, evaluative flourish beyond simply restating the preference. The 6.5 band ends on the plainer "completely reliable about clearing the path" with no further comment, a flatter finish.
   • GRA“Encouragement matters within that, a team that's never told it's doing well loses heart, but encouragement without direction is really just cheerfulness.” — Two clauses are joined with a comma rather than a clear conjunction before "but", which is a little loose for 7.0. The 7.5 band fixes this exact structure by adding dashes around the middle clause, showing tighter punctuation control over the same content.

   Band 7.5

   The colon before the list of a boss's real duties, and the dashes around the encouragement point, let the answer build its argument without extra connecting words.

   I'd disagree, gently. Our studio's founder is a wonderful encourager and a slow decider, and after a while the encouragement wears thin because what people actually need is a decision, a priority, and the removal of the thing blocking them. The most important role of a boss is to make the work possible: clear goals, honest feedback, protection from chaos, and fair treatment. Encouragement matters within that — a team that's never told it's doing well loses heart — but encouragement without direction is just cheerfulness. The best boss I've had said very little that was warm and was completely reliable about clearing the path. I'd take that over applause any day.

   Why this band

   • GRA“Encouragement matters within that — a team that's never told it's doing well loses heart — but encouragement without direction is just cheerfulness.” — Dashes frame the middle clause as a clean aside, avoiding the slightly loose comma splice found in the 7.0 version of the same sentence. This is a more controlled way of inserting a supporting example into a longer argument.
   • LR“I'd take that over applause any day” — An idiomatic, slightly wry closing phrase that both lower bands avoid; 6.5 doesn't attempt a closing flourish at all, and while 7.0 reaches the same phrase, it arrives at it through a slightly more roundabout "Honestly" lead-in.
   • FC“The most important role of a boss is to make the work possible: clear goals, honest feedback, protection from chaos, and fair treatment.” — A colon introduces a clean four-item list right after the main claim, a compact, confident structure. The 6.5 band achieves a similar list but needs "with" to attach it, a small but telling difference in economy.

6. 6. Are people at work more motivated by praise or money?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   States the position with a plain "I think it's", then walks through the two examples using "and so" style connectors.

   I think it's money up to a point, and praise after that. Our studio froze pay for a year during a hard time, and morale stayed fine because people understood and felt seen. A year later, a new manager stopped giving any feedback at all, and three people left within six months on the same salary, so being ignored hurt more than being underpaid. Money matters a lot when it's not enough, but once it's enough, it stops motivating people much. Honest praise keeps working, though, while empty praise is worse than saying nothing at all.

   Why this band

   • FC“I think it's money up to a point, and praise after that.” — A plain, hedge-free opening statement. The 7.5 band drops "I think it's" entirely and states the position as a bare fragment, "Money up to a point, and praise beyond it", a more confident and economical opening.
   • LR“so being ignored hurt more than being underpaid” — "Ignored" is a reasonable but slightly plain word choice. The 7.5 band uses "invisible" instead, a more precise and evocative adjective for describing the feeling of receiving no feedback at all.
   • GRA“A year later, a new manager stopped giving any feedback at all, and three people left within six months on the same salary, so being ignored hurt more than being underpaid.” — A long sentence chains three ideas with "and" and "so", correct but a little repetitive in its connectors. The 7.5 band restructures this with a semicolon and a dash instead, avoiding the repeated conjunctions.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "Honestly, I'd say" opens the answer, and "clearly" adds a small evaluative touch to the second example.

   Honestly, I'd say it's money up to a point, and praise beyond it. Our studio froze pay for a year during a rough patch, and morale actually held, because people understood what was happening and felt seen. A year later, when a new manager stopped giving any feedback at all, three people left within six months on unchanged salaries, so being invisible clearly hurt more than being underpaid. Money matters enormously when it's insufficient, but once it's adequate, its power to motivate fades pretty quickly, and a raise is often forgotten within a month. Praise, if it's specific and honest, keeps working in a way money doesn't, though empty praise is arguably worse than silence.

   Why this band

   • LR“so being invisible clearly hurt more than being underpaid” — "Invisible" is a precise, evocative word choice, a clear step up from a plainer word like "ignored". The 7.5 band uses the same word, showing this piece of vocabulary already performs well at 7.0.
   • GRA“Praise, if it's specific and honest, keeps working in a way money doesn't, though empty praise is arguably worse than silence.” — A long sentence with an embedded conditional and a trailing "though" clause, ambitious for 7.0. The 7.5 band splits the same content into two short, punchy sentences instead, a different but equally effective way of achieving emphasis.
   • FC“Money matters enormously when it's insufficient, but once it's adequate, its power to motivate fades pretty quickly” — A clear contrast built with "but... once", functional and easy to follow. The 7.5 band expresses a very similar contrast using a semicolon in place of "but", a subtly more fluent way of linking two closely related claims.

   Band 7.5

   The semicolons linking "held, because...felt seen" and "insufficient or unfair...fades quickly" let two related ideas sit in one sentence without a conjunction.

   Money up to a point, and praise beyond it. Our studio froze pay for a year during a bad patch and morale held, because people understood and felt seen; a year later, when a new manager stopped giving any feedback at all, three people left within six months on unchanged salaries — being invisible hurt more than being underpaid. Money matters enormously when it's insufficient or unfair; once it's adequate, its power to motivate fades quickly, and a raise is forgotten in a month. Praise, if it's specific and honest, keeps working. Empty praise is worse than silence, though. What people actually want is fair money and genuine recognition, and most workplaces are stingy with the second.

   Why this band

   • FC“Money up to a point, and praise beyond it.” — A verbless fragment opens the answer directly, more compact than the full sentences used at 6.5 and 7.0 to state the same position. This kind of confident brevity signals higher fluency from the very first words.
   • LR“What people actually want is fair money and genuine recognition, and most workplaces are stingy with the second” — A precise, slightly idiomatic closing line ("stingy with the second") that neither lower band attempts; both simply restate that praise or money matters without this kind of pointed final observation.
   • GRA“morale held, because people understood and felt seen; a year later, when a new manager stopped giving any feedback at all, three people left within six months on unchanged salaries — being invisible hurt more than being underpaid” — A single long sentence uses a semicolon and a dash together to link three related events without repeating conjunctions, more architecturally ambitious than the "and... so" chains used at 6.5 and 7.0 for the same content.

7. 7. How possible is it to learn the skill of persuasion?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   States the position plainly with "I think it's very possible", then supports it with one long example told mostly with "and".

   I think it's very possible, and Linh is a good example. Eleven rehearsals turned someone who couldn't hold a room into someone who could, and what she learned wasn't charisma but structure, like starting with a story and stopping before people get tired. Persuasion is mostly a craft, listening to what the other person cares about and then explaining your idea in those terms, and that can be taught. What's harder to learn is credibility, which comes from being right often and honest always, and that takes years. Most persuasive people I know weren't born that way, they were nervous people who prepared.

   Why this band

   • FC“I think it's very possible, and Linh is a good example.” — A plain claim followed by a plain transition to the example. The 7.5 band tightens this into a single line using a colon, "Very possible, and Linh is my evidence:", a more compact way of moving straight into the supporting story.
   • GRA“Persuasion is mostly a craft, listening to what the other person cares about and then explaining your idea in those terms, and that can be taught.” — A long sentence strings several ideas together with commas and "and", a slightly loose structure. The 7.5 band splits this into two cleaner sentences using a colon, separating the claim from its explanation more clearly.
   • LR“Most persuasive people I know weren't born that way, they were nervous people who prepared.” — A comma splice joins two independent clauses, functional but grammatically loose. The 7.5 band fixes this exact issue with a semicolon in the equivalent sentence, showing tighter sentence-level control.

   Band 7.0

   The hedge "I'd say" softens the opening claim, and "honestly" is dropped into the middle sentence as a spoken filler.

   Very possible, I'd say, and Linh is my evidence for it. Eleven rehearsals turned someone who couldn't hold a room into someone who could, and what she actually learned wasn't charisma but structure, start with a story, make one point at a time, stop before people tire. Persuasion is mostly craft, honestly, listening for what the other person actually cares about, then framing your idea in those terms, and that can be taught and practised like almost any other skill. What's harder to learn is credibility, which comes from being right often and honest always, and takes years to build. Most persuasive people I know, in fact, weren't born that way, they were nervous people who simply prepared.

   Why this band

   • FC“Very possible, I'd say, and Linh is my evidence for it.” — The hedge "I'd say" is inserted mid-sentence, giving a conversational rhythm. The 7.5 band removes the hedge and the trailing "for it", arriving at the same claim more directly with a colon leading straight into the evidence.
   • GRA“Persuasion is mostly craft, honestly, listening for what the other person actually cares about, then framing your idea in those terms, and that can be taught and practised like almost any other skill.” — A very long sentence packs a hedge, a definition and a result together with commas, ambitious but slightly overloaded. The 7.5 band divides the same content into two separate sentences using a colon and a full stop, a cleaner distribution of the same ideas.
   • LR“Most persuasive people I know, in fact, weren't born that way, they were nervous people who simply prepared.” — "In fact" is inserted as a mid-sentence emphasiser, a reasonable spoken device. The 7.5 band instead opens the equivalent sentence with "But", a cleaner way of signalling the same contrastive emphasis without interrupting the clause.

   Band 7.5

   The colon before "eleven rehearsals" and before "listening for what" lets each claim open straight into its evidence with no extra linking phrase.

   Very possible, and Linh is my evidence: eleven rehearsals turned a person who couldn't hold a room into one who could, and what she learned wasn't charisma but structure — start with a story, make one point at a time, stop before people tire. Persuasion is mostly craft: listening for what the other person actually cares about, then framing your idea in those terms. That can be taught and practised like any skill. What's harder to learn is credibility, which comes from being right often and honest always, and takes years. But most persuasive people I know were not born that way; they were nervous people who prepared.

   Why this band

   • FC“Very possible, and Linh is my evidence:” — A short opening line ending in a colon moves straight from claim to evidence with no wasted words, more economical than the fuller openers at 6.5 and 7.0. This kind of colon-led transition is a recognisable higher-band structural habit.
   • LR“they were nervous people who prepared” — A precise, slightly understated closing description. All three bands actually use a close variant of this same phrase, showing that this particular piece of lexis already reads naturally even at the lower bands, with the real differences lying elsewhere in the sentence structure.
   • GRA“But most persuasive people I know were not born that way; they were nervous people who prepared.” — A semicolon joins two balanced clauses with no conjunction, tighter than the comma splice at 6.5 ("weren't born that way, they were") and the "in fact" insertion at 7.0. This is a small but telling grammatical refinement of the same underlying sentence.

8. 8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being highly skilled at persuasion?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Uses a plain comma splice, "The advantage is clear, you get things done", to open two related ideas without a linking word.

   The advantage is clear, you get things done and win support for good ideas. The disadvantages are quieter, though. A friend of mine in sales can persuade almost anyone of almost anything, and he told me he's stopped trusting his own enthusiasm, because he can't tell if he believes something or has just argued himself into it. Highly persuasive people are also mistrusted once people notice the skill, and colleagues start to discount what they say. There's a risk too, persuading people of bad ideas is just as easy as good ones, and success at it can make a person careless about which is which.

   Why this band

   • GRA“The advantage is clear, you get things done and win support for good ideas.” — A comma splice joins two clauses without a conjunction, functional in speech but grammatically loose. The 7.5 band fixes the equivalent sentence with a colon instead of a comma, a cleaner way of introducing the same list.
   • LR“Highly persuasive people are also mistrusted once people notice the skill, and colleagues start to discount what they say.” — Plain, direct phrasing without much precision about how much trust is lost. The 7.5 band adds the more exact image "discount what they say by a percentage", a subtly more analytical way of describing the same effect.
   • FC“There's a risk too, persuading people of bad ideas is just as easy as good ones” — The plain additive marker "There's a risk too" signals a new point in the discourse without any more sophisticated cohesive device (an alternative like "On the flip side" or "A subtler danger is" is absent). A 7.0/7.5 answer would more likely vary its sequencing language across a multi-point answer instead of repeating this same flat pattern. Here it does the minimum job of showing the listener a third point is starting, keeping the answer's structure easy to follow but simple, matching Band 6.5's straightforward organisation.

   Band 7.0

   Adds "fairly" as a small hedge before "obvious", and extends the advantages list to three items with "and resolve conflicts".

   The advantage is fairly obvious, you get things done, win support for good ideas, and resolve conflicts that would otherwise stall completely. The disadvantages are quieter, though. A friend of mine in sales can persuade almost anyone of almost anything, and he once told me he's stopped trusting his own enthusiasm, because he can no longer tell whether he believes something or has simply argued himself into it. Highly persuasive people also tend to be mistrusted once their skill becomes known, and colleagues start discounting what they say by some invisible percentage. There's a moral hazard too, persuading people of bad ideas is as easy as persuading them of good ones, and success at it can make a person careless about which is which.

   Why this band

   • GRA“The advantage is fairly obvious, you get things done, win support for good ideas, and resolve conflicts that would otherwise stall completely.” — A three-item list follows a comma splice rather than a colon, and "completely" is added at the end for emphasis. The 7.5 band uses a colon in the equivalent sentence and drops "completely", a cleaner and more economical version of the same list.
   • LR“discounting what they say by some invisible percentage” — "Invisible percentage" is a nice, slightly playful image for an unspoken discount in credibility. The 7.5 band simplifies this to "by a percentage" without "invisible", showing that at the very top band, precision can sometimes mean cutting a word rather than adding one.
   • FC“There's a moral hazard too, persuading people of bad ideas is as easy as persuading them of good ones” — The phrase "persuading them of good ones" repeats "persuading" for clarity, which is correct but slightly redundant. The 7.5 band trims this to "as easy as good ones", relying on the reader to supply the repeated verb, a more economical piece of ellipsis.

   Band 7.5

   The colon after "obvious" and the colon-plus-dash pattern before "colleagues discount" let each claim open straight into its explanation.

   The advantage is obvious: you get things done, win support for good ideas, and resolve conflicts that would otherwise stall. The disadvantages are quieter. A friend of mine in sales can persuade almost anyone of almost anything, and he told me he's stopped trusting his own enthusiasm, because he can no longer tell whether he believes something or has simply argued himself into it. Highly persuasive people are also mistrusted once their skill is known — colleagues discount what they say by a percentage. There's a moral hazard, too: persuading people of bad ideas is as easy as good ones, and success at it makes a person careless about which is which.

   Why this band

   • GRA“The advantage is obvious: you get things done, win support for good ideas, and resolve conflicts that would otherwise stall.” — A colon introduces a clean three-item list with no comma splice, more correct than the equivalent 6.5 sentence and more economical than the 7.0 version, which adds "completely" at the end. This kind of tight list construction is a small but consistent marker of the higher band.
   • LR“colleagues discount what they say by a percentage” — A precise, slightly abstract image stated with minimal words. The 7.0 band reaches a similar idea with "some invisible percentage", which is also effective but marginally less economical than this trimmed version.
   • FC“There's a moral hazard, too: persuading people of bad ideas is as easy as good ones, and success at it makes a person careless about which is which.” — The precise term "moral hazard" names the risk directly, and the colon lets the explanation follow without extra words. Neither lower band uses this term; 6.5 calls it simply "a risk" and 7.0 softens it to "a moral hazard too" without the same tight colon structure immediately after.

9. 9. Do you agree or disagree that it is possible to persuade people to believe almost anything?

   May–Aug 2026
   Compare Band 6.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 for this question

   Band 6.5

   Opens with "I mostly agree" and a plain "even though" qualifier before moving into the supporting example.

   I mostly agree, even though it's a bit uncomfortable. My uncle was persuaded by a stranger's video that a common vegetable cures most diseases, but he couldn't be persuaded by his own doctor that it doesn't, because the belief that fitted his hopes won over the one that fitted the evidence. People can be led to believe almost anything if it flatters them, frightens them, or comes from a source they trust, and history has plenty of examples of whole populations believing strange things. The limit is that persuasion mostly works with what people already want, so it's hard to persuade someone of something that costs them.

   Why this band

   • FC“I mostly agree, even though it's a bit uncomfortable.” — The qualifier "even though it's a bit uncomfortable" is tucked into the same sentence as the main claim. The 7.5 band instead fronts "Uncomfortably" as its own opening word, letting the tone of the answer be set before the position itself is even stated.
   • LR“The limit is that persuasion mostly works with what people already want, so it's hard to persuade someone of something that costs them.” — Plain, functional phrasing for the key limiting idea. The 7.5 band tightens this to the more idiomatic "works with the grain of what people already want", a natural collocation borrowed from woodworking that a 6.5 answer is unlikely to reach for.
   • GRA“People can be led to believe almost anything if it flatters them, frightens them, or comes from a source they trust, and history has plenty of examples of whole populations believing strange things.” — A long sentence lists three conditions with "or" and then adds a further clause with "and", correct but slightly loosely joined. The 7.5 band achieves a very similar structure with a semicolon later in the answer to separate the limiting claim from its result, a subtly tighter overall shape.

   Band 7.0

   The adverb "Uncomfortably" is fronted before the hedge "I'd say", giving the opening a slightly more spoken shape than 6.5.

   Uncomfortably, I'd say I mostly agree. My uncle was persuaded by a stranger's video that an ordinary vegetable cures most diseases, and yet he couldn't be persuaded by his own doctor that it doesn't, because the belief that fitted his hopes simply won over the one that fitted the evidence. People can be led to believe almost anything if it flatters them, frightens them, or comes from a source they've decided to trust, and history is honestly full of whole populations believing fairly absurd things. The real limit is that persuasion tends to work with the grain of what people already want, so it's very hard to persuade someone of something that actually costs them. So 'almost anything' seems about right, as long as it's something they'd like to be true.

   Why this band

   • FC“Uncomfortably, I'd say I mostly agree.” — Fronting "Uncomfortably" plus the hedge "I'd say" gives a more spoken, considered opening than the 6.5 version's plainer "I mostly agree, even though...". The 7.5 band keeps the fronted adverb but drops the hedge, arriving at an even more direct opening.
   • LR“persuasion tends to work with the grain of what people already want” — "Work with the grain of" is a nicely idiomatic phrase for the limiting principle. The 7.5 band uses the identical phrase, showing this piece of lexis already performs at the top of the range by 7.0.
   • GRA“So 'almost anything' seems about right, as long as it's something they'd like to be true.” — The hedge "seems about right" softens the closing conclusion. The 7.5 band removes the hedge for a flatter, more confident "is right" in the equivalent closing sentence, a small but real shift toward assertiveness.

   Band 7.5

   The fronted single-word opener "Uncomfortably" sets the tone before the position is even stated, and the closing line returns to it with a matching, compact structure.

   Uncomfortably, I mostly agree. My uncle was persuaded by a stranger's video that an ordinary vegetable cures most diseases, and could not be persuaded by his own doctor that it doesn't — the belief that fitted his hopes won over the one that fitted the evidence. People can be led to believe almost anything if it flatters them, frightens them, or comes from a source they've decided to trust, and history is full of whole populations believing absurd things. The limit is that persuasion works with the grain of what people already want; it's very hard to persuade someone of something that costs them. So 'almost anything' is right, as long as the thing is something they'd like to be true.

   Why this band

   • FC“Uncomfortably, I mostly agree.” — A single fronted adverb followed by a short, direct statement of position, more compact than the fuller hedged openings at 6.5 and 7.0. This economy at the very start of the answer sets a confident tone for what follows.
   • LR“persuasion works with the grain of what people already want” — The same idiomatic image used at 7.0, confirming this phrase already reads naturally by that band, with 7.5 distinguishing itself instead through tighter surrounding grammar rather than through this particular piece of vocabulary.
   • GRA“an ordinary vegetable cures most diseases, and could not be persuaded by his own doctor that it doesn't — the belief that fitted his hopes won over the one that fitted the evidence” — A dash lets the concluding explanation follow the anecdote directly with no conjunction, more compact than the "because" clause used for the same content at 6.5 and 7.0. The semicolon later in the same answer performs a similar linking role without repeating a conjunction.