Some people say that success is ‘10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work’. Is hard work the key to success, or is talent also important?
Sample Response
When it comes to the issue of success, a myriad of perspectives has been put forth. Some stick to the idea that hard work plays a key role in success whereas others take the vieware on the view that talent is an inseparable part of success. I personally believestate that the viewpoint put forward by the formerfirst group is more logical. In the following paragraphs, I will shed light on my reasons for this viewpoint.
The price of success is hard work. Perseverance gives rise to success. Individuals, who always succeed, keep tryingtry all times and never give up. It does not matter how many times they fail, they do not give up and stop tryingstop their attempt till they reach their goal. They never call themselves failuresfailure! They really subscribe to the idea that the greatest accomplishment is not in falling down but in rising again and again after falling hard which sets the stage for success. With regard to the issue of gaining success, they really believe that winners never quit and quitters never win.
On the other hand, hard work alonejust hard work without self-belief and talentbelieving in ourselves and certain talents is not enough to achieve successdoes not serve to achieve success. What is in our mindsmind and how positivelypositive we think prepares the ground for physical action and eventually motivates hard work and leads to successgives rise to hard work and gaining success. If we believe that we can achieve whatever we wantachieve to whatever we want and we remove negative thoughtsthe negative thoughts which serve as mental barriers, we certainly succeed in achievinggaining our goals. Having a purposeHaving purpose is also important to work hard. If we know what we really want and why we need it clarifies our purpose which has beneficial effects on hard working. So, besides being hard working person it is essential to be careful plannerhard planning person too.
In my view, I really concede that success is 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard workhard work hard. Hard work and self-disciplined perform a pivotal role in gaining success, having a purpose and believe in ourselves are also required along with the hard work.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response presents a clear preference for hard work and recognises that talent, self-belief, and purpose also contribute to success. Its main limitation is that the hard-work argument relies heavily on repeated slogans while talent itself receives little explanation, and frequent language errors reduce precision; the priority is to develop one concrete example for each factor and distinguish talent clearly from motivation and planning.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
A relevant position is maintained and hard work is discussed at length, but talent is only briefly acknowledged and supporting ideas remain general or repetitive.
Explain how a specific talent contributes to success and compare that contribution directly with sustained effort through a concrete example.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response uses clear paragraphing and a recognisable progression, although repeated slogans and a loose second body paragraph weaken development.
Give each paragraph one distinct controlling idea and replace repeated sayings with connected explanation and evidence.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficiently varied for the topic, but frequent repetition and inaccurate collocations reduce precision and naturalness.
Use natural phrases such as hold the view, keep trying, achieve a goal, self-discipline, and careful planning.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys the main meaning, though agreement, clause construction, word forms, and articles are frequently inaccurate.
Check every complex sentence for a complete main clause and make nouns, verbs, and complements agree before adding further detail.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people say that success is ‘10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work’. Is hard work the key to success, or is talent also important?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.