In many countries, a small number of people earn extremely high salaries. Some people believe that this is good for the country, but others think that governments should not allow salaries above a certain level. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
Pay levelsWork pay has been the subject of intense debate, with one side believing that higher salaries benefit the national economyemployees’ country, while others are partial toand others partial to a state-enforced ceiling on such earnings. In this discussion, I am inclined to agree with the former view, despite the latter being somewhat justifiable.
On the one hand, supporters of salary caps may argue that this policy addresses several social problemsaddresses some of society’s problems. One of the issues that it is hoped to redress is wealth inequality, to which income disparity is often cited as a contributor. By implementing a wage cap, the government can redirect excessive income to fund social programs that eliminate poverty. Another problem that can be resolved is exploitation of lower-level employees, where executives at a company receive disproportionate wages compared to the rank-and-file. To deal with this deficiency, a state-mandated limit on managers’ salariesmanager salary helps distribute the organization’s profits to provide greater benefits to ordinary workersbenefit ordinary workers more. Setting a wage ceiling, therefore, would ensure that wealth is spread more evenly throughout society.
However, there are reasons to maintain that people are entitled to earn as much as possible. More often than not, high salaries are linked to positions critical to the country, so their compensation must be capable of retaining their services and enabling their talent to flourish. Nuclear scientists or aerospace engineers, for example, deserve a higherdisproportionate income compared to the rest of society for their vital role in national security. Having no cap on salaries results in increased spending power as well, since high earners usually demand more goods and servicesdemand more highly of goods and services. The more income they possess, the more money potentially goes into circulation, consequently stimulating economic growth. As a result, having a select few in society who earn lucrative salaries is actually beneficial to the country rather than the other way around.
In conclusion, while implementing wage caps may redress inequality, high salaries help retain important personnelhigh salaries retain employment of important personnel and stimulate economic growth. It is, therefore, prudent for authorities to allow the market to reward workers freelyleave the market to freely reward workers with as much as they deserve.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response presents a clear position, discusses both perspectives in balanced, logically developed paragraphs, and supports the case for uncapped salaries with relevant examples. Its main limitation is that several causal claims—particularly that a wage ceiling would redirect income to social programmes or automatically redistribute company profits—are asserted too confidently. Prioritise explaining the policy mechanisms and qualifications behind these claims more precisely.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views and the writer's preference are clearly addressed with relevant, generally well-developed support.
Qualify and explain how wage caps would fund public programmes or redistribute company profits instead of assuming these outcomes.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically through a clear introduction, two focused discussion paragraphs, and a concise conclusion.
Strengthen the links between each policy claim and its consequence so the reasoning within paragraphs is even tighter.
Lexical Resource
A wide vocabulary conveys the argument precisely, although a few collocations such as “demand more highly of goods” are unnatural.
Use more idiomatic economic phrasing, such as “create greater demand for goods and services,” when expressing complex claims.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentence structures are used flexibly and accurately, with only rare local lapses that do not impede meaning.
Refine awkward noun phrases such as “a limit on manager salary” to maintain consistently natural grammatical control.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In many countries, a small number of people earn extremely high salaries. Some people believe that this is good for the country, but others think that governments should not allow salaries above a certain level. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.