In many countries, a small number of people earn extremely high salaries. Some people believe that this is good for the country, but others think that governments should not allow salaries above a certain level. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
Work pay has been the subject of intense debate, with one side believing that higher salaries benefit the employees’ country, and others partial to a state-enforced ceiling on such earnings. In this discussion, I am inclined to agree with the former view, despite the latter being somewhat justifiable.
On the one hand, supporters of salary caps may argue that this policy addresses some of society’s problems. One of the issues that it is hoped to redress is wealth inequality, to which income disparity is often cited as a contributor. By implementing a wage cap, the government can redirect excessive income to fund social programs that eliminate poverty. Another problem that can be resolved is exploitation of lower-level employees, where executives at a company receive disproportionate wages compared to the rank-and-file. To deal with this deficiency, a state-mandated limit on manager salary helps distribute the organization’s profits to benefit ordinary workers more. Setting a wage ceiling, therefore, would ensure that wealth is spread more evenly throughout society.
However, there are reasons to maintain that people are entitled to earn as much as possible. More often than not, high salaries are linked to positions critical to the country, so their compensation must be capable of retaining their services and enabling their talent to flourish. Nuclear scientists or aerospace engineers, for example, deserve a disproportionate income compared to the rest of society for their vital role in national security. Having no cap on salaries results in increased spending power as well, since high earners usually demand more highly of goods and services. The more income they possess, the more money potentially goes into circulation, consequently stimulating economic growth. As a result, having a select few in society who earn lucrative salaries is actually beneficial to the country rather than the other way around.
In conclusion, while implementing wage caps may redress inequality, high salaries retain employment of important personnel and stimulate economic growth. It is, therefore, prudent for authorities to leave the market to freely reward workers with as much as they deserve.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural term Original: Work pay Suggested revision: Pay levels Why it matters: ‘Pay levels’ is a more natural term for the range of salaries under discussion.
- 2. Clarify the beneficiary Original: employees’ country Suggested revision: national economy Why it matters: The original phrase incorrectly implies that the country belongs specifically to the employees.
- 3. Complete the contrast Original: and others partial to Suggested revision: while others are partial to Why it matters: The contrasting clause needs a finite verb and a clearer connector.
- 4. Tighten vague wording Original: addresses some of society’s problems Suggested revision: addresses several social problems Why it matters: This wording is more concise and avoids the cumbersome possessive construction.
- 5. Use plural possessive Original: manager salary Suggested revision: managers’ salaries Why it matters: The general reference requires a plural possessive noun and a plural head noun.
- 6. Improve the collocation Original: benefit ordinary workers more Suggested revision: provide greater benefits to ordinary workers Why it matters: ‘Provide benefits to’ expresses the intended comparison more naturally.
- 7. Avoid unintended meaning Original: disproportionate Suggested revision: higher Why it matters: ‘Disproportionate’ suggests an unjustified imbalance, which conflicts with the claim that the pay is deserved.
- 8. Fix verb pattern Original: demand more highly of goods and services Suggested revision: demand more goods and services Why it matters: ‘Demand’ takes the goods and services directly and cannot be modified by ‘highly’ in this structure.
- 9. Correct the collocation Original: high salaries retain employment of important personnel Suggested revision: high salaries help retain important personnel Why it matters: Salaries retain personnel rather than retaining their employment.
- 10. Use clearer structure Original: leave the market to freely reward workers Suggested revision: allow the market to reward workers freely Why it matters: The revised causative structure expresses the intended policy choice more naturally.
- 11. Sentence rewrite Original: More often than not, high salaries are linked to positions critical to the country, so their compensation must be capable of retaining their services and enabling their talent to flourish. Suggested revision: Often, high salaries are attached to roles that are critical to the country, so the pay must be sufficient to retain these professionals and allow their talents to flourish. Why it matters: The rewrite fixes unclear pronoun reference and the unnatural claim that compensation itself is ‘capable’ of an action.
Suggested Rewrites
- Work pay Pay levels
- employees’ country national economy
- and others partial to while others are partial to
- addresses some of society’s problems addresses several social problems
- manager salary managers’ salaries
- benefit ordinary workers more provide greater benefits to ordinary workers
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear position, discusses both perspectives in balanced, logically developed paragraphs, and supports the case for uncapped salaries with relevant examples. Its main limitation is that several causal claims—particularly that a wage ceiling would redirect income to social programmes or automatically redistribute company profits—are asserted too confidently. Prioritise explaining the policy mechanisms and qualifications behind these claims more precisely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views and the writer's preference are clearly addressed with relevant, generally well-developed support.
Qualify and explain how wage caps would fund public programmes or redistribute company profits instead of assuming these outcomes.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically through a clear introduction, two focused discussion paragraphs, and a concise conclusion.
Strengthen the links between each policy claim and its consequence so the reasoning within paragraphs is even tighter.
Lexical Resource
A wide vocabulary conveys the argument precisely, although a few collocations such as “demand more highly of goods” are unnatural.
Use more idiomatic economic phrasing, such as “create greater demand for goods and services,” when expressing complex claims.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentence structures are used flexibly and accurately, with only rare local lapses that do not impede meaning.
Refine awkward noun phrases such as “a limit on manager salary” to maintain consistently natural grammatical control.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In many countries, a small number of people earn extremely high salaries. Some people believe that this is good for the country, but others think that governments should not allow salaries above a certain level. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.