A small number of people earn extremely high salaries. Some people believe this is good for the country, but others think governments should not allow wages above a certain level. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
There are few professions in which people are highly paid. These professions include engineers, scientists, doctors, lawyers and many more. However, they receive this payment after working hard for it; moreover, their work includes daily challenges. To cite an example, to become a doctor, one has to sacrifice many important years of his/her life, and even after becoming a doctor, their life is not easy as they have night duties. So, sometimes they are sleep deprived and overburdened; furthermore, the medical field advances every day, so they have to keep learning for the rest of their lives. After doing this much hard work, they deserve a good amount of money. In addition, this will also benefit the country as high-earning individuals also pay high taxes and help boost the economy. If the government tries to limit salary, many people will not prefer to stay in the nation and try to settle overseas for a better life. Hence, limiting salary is not a good option.
On the other hand, People who believe that the government should set a limit for it thinks that if some will receive a higher salary and others will receive a nominal or basic salary, it will create a discrepancy in society, and the difference between rich and poor will be increased, and this might affect the unity of the nation. Moreover, there will be a burden on the government to do something for the betterment of the poor. For instance, the government has to allot some jobs and college quotas to economically backwards classes. Because of this quota, many deserving individuals do not receive jobs or seats in college, which is quite unfair. Therefore, some people propose not to provide a salary above a certain limit to maintain a level in society.
In my opinion, there should not be any limit decided by the government because if citizens do not receive enough money for their hard work, many will not choose difficult professions or even if they choose the work, quality will be affected because a high salary is also a form of motivation and people feel responsible for their work. To illustrate, if any employee is working on an important project, but at the last moment something happens, he/she would be ready to do overtime and give his/her complete efforts if he/she is paid sufficiently. Moreover, High earning people can also offer help during difficult situations such as in covid 19 pandemic. Many individuals donated money to the needy. So, not limiting salary has much more merits than limiting.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the quantifier Original: There are few professions Suggested revision: There are a few professions Why it matters: A few conveys that some such professions exist, while few implies almost none.
- 2. Use a precise noun Original: this payment Suggested revision: these salaries Why it matters: Salaries refers directly to the high earnings under discussion.
- 3. Improve the collocation Original: includes Suggested revision: involves Why it matters: Work involves challenges is a more natural collocation than work includes challenges.
- 4. Keep pronouns consistent Original: many important years of his/her life Suggested revision: many important years of their life Why it matters: Singular they maintains consistent reference to the earlier gender-neutral pronoun one.
- 5. Use natural terminology Original: duties Suggested revision: shifts Why it matters: Night shifts is the standard term for periods of work scheduled at night.
- 6. Clarify the result Original: So, sometimes they are Suggested revision: As a result, they are sometimes Why it matters: This transition states the cause-and-effect relationship more clearly and places the adverb naturally.
- 7. Correct degree expression Original: After doing this much hard work Suggested revision: After working this hard Why it matters: This hard is the natural degree expression modifying the verb working.
- 8. Use precise wording Original: a good amount of money Suggested revision: high salaries Why it matters: High salaries directly names the form of compensation being discussed.
- 9. Clarify the reference Original: this will also benefit Suggested revision: high salaries will also benefit Why it matters: Naming high salaries removes the unclear reference of this.
- 10. Use plural count noun Original: salary Suggested revision: salaries Why it matters: Salary needs a plural form when referring generally to different people's earnings.
- 11. Express preference naturally Original: will not prefer to stay Suggested revision: may prefer not to stay Why it matters: Prefer not to is the natural structure, and may appropriately marks the predicted result.
- 12. Use plural noun Original: salary Suggested revision: salaries Why it matters: The general reference to workers' salaries requires the plural noun.
Suggested Rewrites
- There are few professions There are a few professions
- this payment these salaries
- includes involves
- many important years of his/her life many important years of their life
- duties shifts
- So, sometimes they are As a result, they are sometimes
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response clearly discusses both positions, states a consistent opinion, and offers several relevant reasons and examples. Its main weakness is uneven precision: the quota example is only indirectly connected to salary caps, and long sentences accumulate grammatical and collocational errors. The highest-priority improvement is to select tighter evidence for each view and express it through shorter, more accurately controlled sentences.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views and a clear personal opinion are addressed with relevant development, though some supporting material is indirect or insufficiently convincing.
Use examples that demonstrate the direct effects of unrestricted or capped salaries and explain precisely how each one supports the relevant view.
Coherence and Cohesion
The three-part argument progresses logically, but very long paragraphs and heavily linked sentences occasionally make the reasoning feel crowded.
Break dense chains of ideas into shorter units and use referencing or transitions only where the logical relationship needs to be signalled.
Lexical Resource
The essay shows a sufficient range of topic vocabulary, but recurring awkward collocations and imprecise expressions limit flexibility and accuracy.
Revise combinations such as salary limits, income inequality, and make an effort using standard academic collocations rather than literal phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Simple and complex forms are mixed successfully enough for clear communication, although agreement, conditional, article, capitalisation, and sentence-control errors recur.
Focus first on subject-verb agreement and conditional structures, then divide overloaded sentences to improve grammatical control.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
A small number of people earn extremely high salaries. Some people believe this is good for the country, but others think governments should not allow wages above a certain level. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.