Today, TV channels broadcast men’s sports shows more than women’s sport shows. Why is this the case? Should TV channels give equal showtime for each?
Sample Response
It is common practice for most TV networks to focus on men’s athletics more than women’sfocus more on men’s athletics rather than women’s. In my opinion, this is a natural byproduct of the history of sports and there should be equal emphasismore equal emphasis depending on the sport in question.
Men’s sports are more popular because they have developed further. In the past, athletics was always the primary domain of men and women were relegated to more domestic roles. Modern society understands this was discriminatory but the result, higher quality of play among male sports, cannot be argued. A good example of this would be professional basketball where the male leagues, such as the NBA, feature some of the greatest athletes in the world, executing complex coaching schemes, and consistently showcasing high skill levels. Women’s basketball, while it has developed considerably in the last two decades, does not offer the same level of entertainmentis not the same level of entertainment though this may change in the coming years.
As this situation may require time to remedy, only the ratings can justify equal programming time. There are sports where this is essentially already the casewhere this is already the case essentially, such as tennis, where women receive equal prize money and the ratings are comparable. In the United States, this also applies tofor international football tournaments, where the female team regularly advances much further than its male counterpartadvances far beyond their male counterparts. In these examples, it is warranted to give women’s sportsfemale athletics at least as much broadcast time, if not moreat least, if not more, broadcast time. However, mandating this policy for all sports before they are ready and the audience exists is likely to produce a strong backlash and in fact hinder the progress of women’s sports.
In conclusion, there are institutional reasons for the disparity in the time television channels dedicate to men’s and women’s sports and this should be corrected on a case by case basis. Viewers will decide for themselvesdecide themselves which sports deserve the most attention, regardless of gender.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response's strongest feature is its nuanced, clearly sustained position that broadcast equality should depend on audience demand, supported by relevant comparisons across several sports. Its main limitation is a small but noticeable set of awkward or inaccurate constructions that reduce precision despite consistently clear meaning. The highest-priority improvement is to edit collocations and clause structures carefully, especially where comparisons, applicability, and audience readiness are expressed.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The essay addresses both questions directly, offers a clear qualified position, and develops its reasoning with relevant sporting examples.
Clarify how the historical explanation connects to present viewing demand so the causal argument becomes more fully convincing.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response progresses logically from historical causes to a conditional policy position, with well-focused paragraphs and clear referencing.
Tighten the link between ratings and the proposed case-by-case policy so the second body paragraph's logic is even more explicit.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is broad and topic-appropriate, though several collocations such as male sports and applies for are not fully natural.
Use more idiomatic comparative and broadcasting collocations, such as men's competitions, applies to, and the same level of entertainment.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is generally controlled, but occasional errors and awkward clauses remain noticeable.
Edit comparative structures and pronoun reference, particularly in phrases such as is not the same level and before they are ready.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Today, TV channels broadcast men’s sports shows more than women’s sport shows. Why is this the case? Should TV channels give equal showtime for each?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.