W r I t I n g this post will clarify what I mean when I advise band 5 candidates to ‘discuss both sides’, and help you to understand when and where to write a counter- argument. I often find my advice about ‘discussing both sides’ being misunderstood or

This helps band 6 candidates
to avoid writing in a repetitive way.
What these ‘2 sides’ are will depend on your views and the issue you are given. Often, there are
two clear ‘sides’ within the question. Look at the following example:
“
In many places, new homes are needed, but the only space available for building them is in the countryside. Some people believe it is more
important to protect the countryside and not build new homes there. To what extent do you agree or disagree
?”
There are 2 clear sides to this issue: Side 
A = 
building houses in the countryside Side 
B
= protecting the countryside and 
not 
building
there. In organising your answer this way you will ‘discuss both sides’ of the issue while also (hopefully) making your complete
agreement or disagreement clear. You can also apply the same balanced discussion of the two ‘sides’ if you neither completely agree nor
completely disagree.
The ‘two sides’ are less clear in a question like this:
‘
Some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes. Do you agree or
disagree?”
For a question like this, a band 8 or 9 candidate can easily argue that they completely agree (
or
completely disagree) and explain
exactly why. For a band 6.5 candidate trying to reach band 7, this is not so easy; often they will simply repeat the same ideas in both
body paragraphs and so remain stuck at band 6.5.
An easy way to see the ‘other side’ of an issue is to think of 
the opposite
. In this case: Side A = You 
can
tell a lot about a person
from their clothes and Side B = You 
cannot
tell a lot about a person from their clothes. This immediately gives you two clear main ideas
for each body paragraph and helps to make your essay less repetitive.
In my experience, when band 6.5 candidates follow the advice to ‘
always give a counter-argument,
‘ they tend to interpret this in a very
narrow way as Side A = I completely agree Side B = I completely disagree. This creates problems that keep them stuck at band 6.5.
Instead, look for ‘
the other side
‘ of the issue or argument by considering the ‘opposite’ – this can help you to write in a way that is
balanced but not repetitive and yet still make your position very clear throughout.