Some people say that the government should pay the costs of running universities so that a university education will be free for anyone who wants it. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Sample Response
Education is the backbone of a nation, and the development of a country largely depends on its educational policy. The high cost of university education is still a reason many talented individuals cannot afford a university degree, and I strongly believe that it should be the government’s responsibility to make university education free for all.
First, the government has a substantialhuge budget to develop the education sectorfor the development of the education sector, and the money could be better used to fund university educationbetter utilised by ensuring university education for talented individuals. The rigorous university admission processThe difficult admission process at the university level selects only talented students to pursue university educationtake part in university education, and they should be supported by government fundingbacked up by government funds so that they can concentrateto let them concentrate on their studies. In order to encourage graduate students and professionals to further their education, the government should pay for their courses as it would bring more benefits in the future for the country. Many European countries have already adopted this policyimplemented this method, and they have a largehuge number of skilled professionals who not only serve the country but also the widerwhole world.
More importantly, when citizens are assured that the government will bear the cost of their children’s university education, they are generally more interested in preparing their children for universitypreparing their children for the university degree rather than sending them to work and earn moneysending them to work and earn. This would have a significant positive effect on the country's overall level of educationthe education level of the whole country. By funding university tuition feessupporting university course fees, the government would create more skilled professionals, and without them, national development would be almost impossiblethe development of the nation is quite impossible in this ever-accelerating era of science and technology.
In conclusion, paying for the university course fees by the government is indeed an effective measure for ensuring quality education for talented individuals and for a nation's overall progressan overall progress of a nation. So I reaffirm that university education costs should be paid by the government.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response presents a clear, consistent position and develops a logical case around access, parental incentives, and national development, with generally strong control of complex sentences. Its main limitation is that repeated emphasis on talented students narrows the task's proposal of free education for anyone and leaves parts of the justification somewhat general. The highest priority is to reconcile that scope and support each claim with more precise reasoning or evidence.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear throughout and supported by relevant arguments, but the focus on talented students only partially aligns with the proposal of free access for anyone.
Clarify whether funding should be universal or merit-based and develop the chosen position with more specific evidence.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay progresses logically from funding to individual and national benefits, with clear paragraphing and generally well-managed cohesion.
Reduce repeated references to government and education by using tighter referencing and more varied sentence openings.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is broad and appropriate for the topic, although repetition and a few awkward collocations limit precision.
Replace repeated general terms with precise expressions for access, public funding, educational attainment, and workforce development.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used flexibly and accurately, with only occasional minor article and phrasing errors.
Refine article use with abstract and countable nouns while preserving the strong variety of sentence structures.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people say that the government should pay the costs of running universities so that a university education will be free for anyone who wants it. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.