Government investment in the arts, such as music and theatre, is a waste of money. The government must invest this money in public services instead. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Sample Response
Government spending on the artsThe government spending on arts has long been a contentious issue. Many opposecounter the idea of the government spending moneygovernment incurring expenses to promote the artspromote arts. However, I feel governments should continue to spend money on the artsmoney on arts. This will be argued by analysing how the arts can contributehow arts can contribute to a country’s economy as well as provide a means of achieving personal goalsserve as a platform to achieve one’s goals.
To begin, the arts, such as music and theatre,arts such as music and theatre are reliable sources of national incomesteady sources of income for a country. A case in point would be New Zealand, where the government supports new artists by lending them money to kick-start their careers, which in turn enables the state to collect taxes on the revenue earned by these artists. This stream of income would be lost if the government did not spend moneyif there’s no spending to supportfoster local artists. Hence, it is clearHence it is clear that the arts are vitalarts are vital for a country’s economic health rather than being a liability to it.
In addition, providing adequate infrastructurehaving a decent infrastructure for creative industries would enable millions to realise their dreamswould mean realisation of dreams of millions who wish to be artists. For instance, in the UK, a person could choose to pursue a career in the artsadopt arts as a career path, enabling him or her to earn a decent livingearn a fair livelihood, rather than having to reluctantly pick a profession that he or she does not feel passionate about. A state where the government doesn’t invest in arts would most likely prevent people from pursuingprevent people to go after what they long for, resulting in frustration on the part of people. Therefore, the arts playTherefore arts play an important part in contentedness of the individuals of a nation.
In summary, the government should continue to devote resources to arts since its significance in a country’s tax system and bringing happiness to people should not be underestimated. Henceforth, government’s funding of arts is not a waste of a country’s resources.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is well organised and maintains a clear case for arts funding, developing relevant economic and personal-fulfilment benefits through specific examples. Its main limitation is that it does not directly weigh these benefits against the competing need for public-service expenditure, and a few awkward lexical choices reduce precision. The priority is to acknowledge the opportunity cost and explain why a balanced allocation to the arts remains justified alongside essential services.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The essay clearly rejects the claim that arts funding is wasteful and develops two relevant benefits, but it gives little direct consideration to the proposed alternative of spending the money on public services.
Evaluate the strongest case for prioritising essential services and then explain why continued, proportionate arts investment is still warranted.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses clearly from its position through two distinct supporting arguments to a concise conclusion, with effective paragraphing and well-managed cohesive links.
Make the comparison with public services a visible stage in the progression, ideally through a brief concession before the final judgement.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and generally precise across economic and creative-industry themes, though phrases such as "adopt arts," "contentedness," and "prevent people to go after" are unnatural.
Use more idiomatic expressions such as "pursue the arts," "well-being," and "prevent people from pursuing their ambitions" while retaining the strong topic-specific range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of complex sentences is used with good control, and the few errors in articles, possessives, and verb patterns do not impede communication.
Refine the remaining local errors, particularly "government spending," "prevent people from," and the possessive form in "government funding of the arts."
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Government investment in the arts, such as music and theatre, is a waste of money. The government must invest this money in public services instead. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.