An increasing number of professionals, such as doctors, engineers and teachers, are leaving their own poorer countries to work in developed countries. What problems does this cause? What solutions can you suggest to deal with this situation?
Sample Response
In recent years, the migration of skilled professionals from developing nations to wealthier countries has become increasingly common. This global trend, while offering opportunities to individuals, creates serious issues for the home countries they leave behind. This essay aims to deal with the problems which this trend causes and propose two practical solutions to address them.
One major problem is the shortage of essential services in the countries these professionals depart from. When doctors, teachers, and engineers move abroad, their home countries are left struggling to meet the basic needs of the population. In particular, rural and underprivileged areas suffer from a lack of qualified educators and healthcare providers, leading to poor health outcomes and declining education standards. For example, in some African nations, a severe lack of doctors has made it nearly impossible to provide consistent medical care in remote regions.
Another significant issue is the decline in innovation and research capacity. Skilled professionals are often the driving force behind technological advancement and intellectual growth. Their absence can result in stagnation, as fewer people remain to lead scientific, medical, or engineering developments. This not only affects national progress but also reduces competitiveness in the global economy.
To tackle these issues, one effective solution is to improve working conditions and salaries. Governments can offer competitive remuneration packages, modern facilities, and professional development opportunities to retain their workforce. Countries like Malaysia and Brazil have implemented such policies with measurable success. Additionally, encouraging return migration is equally important. Skilled expatriates who return home bring valuable experience and expertise. Incentives such as tax relief, relocation assistance, or leadership roles in national institutions can be powerful motivators.
In conclusion, while the emigration of professionals poses serious threats to developing nations, solutions such as offering better working environments and encouraging return migration can help reduce the negative impact and restore balance.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use the right preposition Original: to Suggested revision: for Why it matters: The noun “opportunities” takes “for” when identifying the people who receive them.
- 2. Use a precise noun Original: issues Suggested revision: problems Why it matters: “Problems” identifies the harmful consequences more directly than the broad noun “issues”.
- 3. Use formal relative structure Original: countries these professionals depart from Suggested revision: countries from which these professionals depart Why it matters: This relative structure is smoother in formal academic prose.
- 4. Avoid repeated wording Original: lack Suggested revision: shortage Why it matters: “Shortage” avoids repeating “lack” from the preceding sentence.
- 5. Match the plural subject Original: force Suggested revision: forces Why it matters: The plural subject “professionals” requires the plural complement “forces”.
- 6. Clarify the categories Original: lead scientific, medical, or engineering developments Suggested revision: lead developments in science, medicine, or engineering Why it matters: The revision presents the three fields in a clear parallel form.
- 7. Use academic exemplification Original: Countries like Suggested revision: Countries such as Why it matters: “Such as” introduces examples more precisely in formal writing.
- 8. Signal another solution Original: encouraging return migration is equally important Suggested revision: encouraging return migration is another important measure Why it matters: This wording links the second measure without an unclear comparison of equal importance.
- 9. Use a concrete outcome Original: restore balance Suggested revision: mitigate these losses Why it matters: This phrase refers more specifically to the shortages and lost expertise described earlier.
- 10. Sentence rewrite Original: This essay aims to deal with the problems which this trend causes and propose two practical solutions to address them. Suggested revision: This essay examines the problems caused by this trend and proposes two practical solutions. Why it matters: The rewrite removes wordy meta-language and the ambiguous pronoun “them”.
- 11. Sentence rewrite Original: This not only affects national progress but also reduces competitiveness in the global economy. Suggested revision: This not only slows national progress but also reduces competitiveness in the global economy. Why it matters: Using two active verbs creates a clear parallel structure after “not only … but also”.
- 12. Separate the solutions Suggested revision: Present improved employment conditions and return migration in separate paragraphs, each with its own supporting details. Why it matters: The two substantial solutions would progress more clearly if each had a distinct organisational focus.
Suggested Rewrites
- to for
- issues problems
- countries these professionals depart from countries from which these professionals depart
- lack shortage
- force forces
- lead scientific, medical, or engineering developments lead developments in science, medicine, or engineering
Why this response received Band 8.5
The essay fully addresses both questions through two clearly explained harms and two practical remedies, with particularly strong organisation and precise academic language. Its main limitation is that the policy examples and claims of measurable success are asserted rather than demonstrated, and the solutions could be linked more explicitly to the service and innovation losses. Prioritise explaining how each incentive would retain or return specific professionals and support the claim with one concrete, credible outcome.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both problems and both solutions are fully relevant, clearly developed and supported with explanations and examples that directly address the task.
Make the Malaysia and Brazil example more concrete and connect each proposed incentive explicitly to either essential-service shortages or reduced innovation.
Coherence and Cohesion
The essay has a highly logical problem-to-solution structure, clear paragraph purposes and cohesive links that rarely attract attention.
For an even tighter progression, divide the solution paragraph so that retention and return migration each receive their own focused development.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, precise and naturally academic, including effective terms such as "research capacity," "competitive remuneration" and "return migration."
Refine a few general phrases such as "restore balance" by naming the exact workforce or institutional outcome intended.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used with strong flexibility and consistently high accuracy.
As a final refinement, vary the repeated "can" constructions in the solution section with participial or conditional structures.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
An increasing number of professionals, such as doctors, engineers and teachers, are leaving their own poorer countries to work in developed countries. What problems does this cause? What solutions can you suggest to deal with this situation?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.