Many people have complained about the large salaries paid to top executives of major companies. Why do you think top executives are so well paid? Do you think their large salaries are justified?
Sample Response
When it is about the recruitment of any top-level executive at a company, their salaries become higher than the average. Besides, a company usually pay a large percentage of their salary only to a handful of top level employees. It happens as individuals holding those posts have to take great responsibilities, make big decisions, possess their unique ways to generate incredible profit for the company they are working for and so on. I think that they deserve a high payment for their unparalleled contributions to the company. It may sound weird that a top official should get a large payment than the ordinary employees but the answer is critical. Generally, the ordinary employees work hard for hours and invest their manual labour to increase the production level. Certainly, their labour counts for the company's growth but at the end of the day, the decision made by the higher executives determines the fate of the company. On the other side, the job of a top official is mostly invisible to the ordinary workers. The job responsibilities of a top executive may range from controlling the quality of production to dealing with the prestigious clients, setting up the marketing strategy for survival in competition, planning for future product development, analysing the consumers’ needs, inventing newer products, making future plans, hiring and firing employees, tackling the market inflation and more. Actually, bearing such responsibilities is not an easy task indeed. When an ordinary employee's responsibility ends when the clock ticks to 5, there is no schedule for a top level employee. Moreover, if any of the steps turn into a failure, the top executive is to be liable, and so, he has to set some other strategies to overcome such unwanted situations. But expecting such fine-tuned results from the ordinary employees is impossible. They are only trained to complete the production in time. If they are assigned with strategic roles, the entire company will collapse within a short span of time. They lack the experience, skills and foreseeing capacities like the top executives. All things considered, I think hiring top executives with a larger salary is truly justified. They invest their labour, time and skills to improve the company's condition and remain behind the screen. In fact, without top level employee's strategy or effective planning, it is not possible for any company to sustain in the competitive market.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use direct clause Original: When it is about the recruitment of any top-level executive at a company Suggested revision: When a company recruits a top-level executive Why it matters: The direct subject-verb clause replaces the faulty introductory structure.
- 2. Fix singular reference Original: their salaries become higher than the average Suggested revision: that executive's salary is usually above average Why it matters: The singular possessive matches the executive introduced earlier.
- 3. Use responsibility collocation Original: take great responsibilities Suggested revision: shoulder significant responsibilities Why it matters: Shoulder responsibilities is the natural collocation.
- 4. Clarify profit contribution Original: possess their unique ways to generate incredible profit Suggested revision: use their expertise to generate substantial profits Why it matters: The revision replaces unnatural collocations with precise business language.
- 5. Use salary term Original: a high payment Suggested revision: high salaries Why it matters: Salaries is the appropriate term for regular executive compensation.
- 6. Fix comparative form Original: a large payment than Suggested revision: a larger salary than Why it matters: The comparison requires the comparative adjective larger.
- 7. Clarify intended meaning Original: the answer is critical Suggested revision: the issue is complex Why it matters: Issue and complex express the intended difficulty more accurately.
- 8. Use labour collocation Original: invest Suggested revision: contribute Why it matters: Contribute is the natural verb for labour supplied to production.
- 9. Fix number agreement Original: the decision made by the higher executives determines Suggested revision: the decisions made by senior executives determine Why it matters: The plural nouns and verb suit the general claim about executives.
- 10. Use contrast linker Original: side Suggested revision: hand Why it matters: On the other hand is the standard contrast expression.
- 11. Remove redundant emphasis Original: not an easy task indeed Suggested revision: no easy task Why it matters: The concise phrase avoids duplicating emphasis with indeed.
- 12. Fix agreement and collocation Original: if any of the steps turn into a failure Suggested revision: if any of these steps results in failure Why it matters: Any takes a singular verb here, and result in is the natural collocation.
Suggested Rewrites
- When it is about the recruitment of any top-level executive at a company When a company recruits a top-level executive
- their salaries become higher than the average that executive's salary is usually above average
- take great responsibilities shoulder significant responsibilities
- possess their unique ways to generate incredible profit use their expertise to generate substantial profits
- a high payment high salaries
- a large payment than a larger salary than
Why this response received Band 6.5
The essay gives a clear affirmative answer and develops a substantial explanation based on executive responsibility, decision-making, expertise, accountability, and working hours. Its main weakness is that the justification relies on sweeping claims about ordinary employees and repeats similar points, while awkward collocations and grammar reduce precision. Prioritise a more balanced comparison tied to measurable responsibility and performance, then divide the argument into focused paragraphs and edit agreement and comparative forms.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are directly answered with a consistent position and several relevant reasons, though the case is repetitive and some claims about ordinary workers are overgeneralised.
Explain salary justification through accountability, scarce expertise, and measurable company performance rather than assuming ordinary employees lack strategic ability.
Coherence and Cohesion
The argument has a recognisable progression from reasons to justification and conclusion, but the long unbroken body and repeated comparisons weaken organisation.
Create separate paragraphs for why executives command high pay and whether that pay is justified, each with one clearly developed main idea.
Lexical Resource
The response has adequate range for corporate roles and responsibility, but frequent awkward combinations such as "take great responsibilities," "large payment," and "foreseeing capacities" reduce accuracy.
Use precise phrases such as "bear major responsibility," "higher salary," "strategic foresight," and "remain competitive."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys the argument, but agreement, article, comparative, possessive, and preposition errors recur.
Correct forms such as "a company pays," "a higher salary than," "decisions determine," and "assigned strategic roles."
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many people have complained about the large salaries paid to top executives of major companies. Why do you think top executives are so well paid? Do you think their large salaries are justified?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.