Students from rural areas often find it difficult to access university education. Some people think that universities should make it easier for them to access higher education.
Sample Response
As the enrollments of different higher institutions are increasing each year, more students coming from countrysides or rural areas are attending universities. However, some of them feel the education in the university is hard for them to comprehend regardless of the contents of courses or the assignments placed by instructors. Regarding this situation, people think higher education institutions should lower the standard or level of study so that rural students can access them easily.
Admittedly, the education in higher institution sometimes really poses a tough situation on rural students. What they have learned or how they have processed the contents from school have to be changed once they get into universities. As a result of this, some of them are unable to adapt to the methods required to be used here. More frustratingly they might concern about dropping out if they could not continue their study. From this perspective, a higher institution should consider lowering the standard for rural students to keep the original pace of study.
In addition, although universities are not the place where everyone can get involved in, in another word, once any pupils have been accepted by them, they are supposed to realise how tough the study would be, this really depends on the backgrounds of different pupils. Therefore, developing bridge programmes seems an efficient method for both rural students and schools themselves. Not only can pupils enhance their capacities for acquiring higher education, teachers can also fully learn about each individual student. This contributes to ease the burden on difficulties on students.
However, to tackle this awkward circumstance means that schools are supposed to sacrifice to some extent. For instance, lowering standards for students from rural areas presents that the reputation that schools have obtained may be affected. More seriously, if this happened, the immediate impact on universities would be the loss of experienced teachers and funds raised by the local government.
In conclusion, to alter the strategies for assisting rural students to access higher education is one of the most important implementations that universities should consider. However, schools have to address this issue discreetly or it would pose a threat to school’s reputation and their employment of staff. Establishing bridge programmes seems to be one of the feasible approaches for achieving the balance in the number of rural students in universities.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use consistent spelling Original: enrollments Suggested revision: enrolments Why it matters: British English uses the single-l spelling adopted elsewhere in the essay.
- 2. Name institutions precisely Original: different higher institutions Suggested revision: higher education institutions Why it matters: This is the standard term for universities and similar institutions.
- 3. Remove incorrect plural Original: countrysides or rural areas Suggested revision: the countryside or other rural areas Why it matters: ‘Countryside’ is uncountable in this general sense.
- 4. Use uncountable content Original: the contents of courses Suggested revision: course content Why it matters: ‘Content’ is normally uncountable in this educational sense.
- 5. Fix assignment collocation Original: assignments placed by instructors Suggested revision: assignments set by instructors Why it matters: Teachers ‘set’ assignments rather than place them.
- 6. Fix pronoun reference Original: access them easily Suggested revision: access it easily Why it matters: The antecedent ‘higher education’ is singular and uncountable.
- 7. Fix article and number Original: the education in higher institution Suggested revision: education in higher institutions Why it matters: The general reference requires a plural count noun without ‘the’.
- 8. Fix difficulty collocation Original: poses a tough situation on rural students Suggested revision: creates difficulties for rural students Why it matters: A situation creates difficulties ‘for’ someone rather than posing one ‘on’ them.
- 9. Clarify prior learning Original: processed the contents from school Suggested revision: processed the material at school Why it matters: The revision uses natural terms for understanding school material.
- 10. Use concise reference Original: methods required to be used here Suggested revision: methods used there Why it matters: The shorter phrase avoids a wordy passive and uses a consistent location reference.
- 11. Fix concern verb Original: might concern about dropping out Suggested revision: might consider dropping out Why it matters: ‘Concern’ cannot be used reflexively or intransitively in this structure.
- 12. Fix tense and number Original: could not continue their study Suggested revision: cannot continue their studies Why it matters: The real present possibility needs ‘cannot’, and ‘studies’ is the natural plural noun.
Suggested Rewrites
- enrollments enrolments
- different higher institutions higher education institutions
- countrysides or rural areas the countryside or other rural areas
- the contents of courses course content
- assignments placed by instructors assignments set by instructors
- access them easily access it easily
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response’s strongest feature is its practical proposal for bridge programmes, which could prepare rural students without simply reducing academic expectations. Its main limitation is a partial misunderstanding of access: much of the discussion concerns coping after enrolment rather than barriers to entering university, and the position on lowering standards shifts. The highest priority is to define the access problem clearly and develop targeted measures such as preparation, admissions support, or financial assistance.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
The response offers a relevant bridge-programme solution and considers institutional risks, but it partly confuses university access with academic difficulty after admission.
Focus the argument on concrete entry barriers faced by rural students and explain how universities can reduce them without lowering academic standards.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphs follow a broadly logical problem–solution–risk sequence, but the position develops unevenly and some long sentences disrupt progression.
State one consistent position in the introduction and use separate paragraphs for barriers, the proposed solution, and safeguards for standards.
Lexical Resource
There is an adequate range of education-related vocabulary, but frequent inaccurate collocations and word forms make several ideas imprecise.
Replace phrases such as ‘assignments placed’, ‘poses a tough situation on’, ‘concern about dropping out’, and ‘important implementations’ with standard academic wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Both simple and complex structures are attempted, but recurring errors in clauses, articles, verb forms, and prepositions sometimes impede clarity.
Rewrite run-on sentences as shorter complete clauses and check verb patterns, particularly ‘be concerned about’ and ‘contribute to easing’.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Students from rural areas often find it difficult to access university education. Some people think that universities should make it easier for them to access higher education.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.