Historical objects should be brought back to their country of origin. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
There is a debate today about whether historical artefacts should be returned to the countries in which they originated. In my opinion, this should in fact be the case, as returning ancient items would reflect the atonement for the mistakes that the forefathers of a country has made.
Some may argue that historical artefactsantiques should not be returned since it is unnecessary to do so, and transporting them may impose unnecessary risks on the objects. Ancient items may be so far removed from their contemporary civilization that returning themit to the modern-day country might well be as foreign as staying in theirits current country. For instance, many items from Ancient Greece reflect a completelywhole different society than Greece today, and so it makes little sense to return themit is incomprehensible to return them to a people that is so far removed from the original society that they cannot claim ownership of themownership to it.
On the other hand, it could be said that many historical objects today thatwhich belong in another country were transported there as a resulthave been transported there as a result of conquest and imperialism. In the past, artefacts from other cultures were often stolen from people in colonised countriesnatives from the third world in order to be displayed in Western countriesdisplayed by the West - this makes it painful for descendants of plundered people today not to have itemsto not have items belonging to their forefathers. For example, most items in the British Museummuseum were collected from Britain's colonieshave been collected from its colonies through violent conflictthrough bloody struggle, and thus, it could be said that in a time of peace, returning the items to their placesthe items to its place of origin is an act of making up for the past.
Therefore, I argue that since most historical objects today have been violently seized from other areas of the world, in a time of unprecedented peace, suchany artefacts should be returned to their place of originmaking.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response’s strongest feature is its clear position, supported by a relevant counterargument and a logically developed case about colonial acquisition. Its main limitation is imprecision in some claims and examples, alongside recurring agreement and pronoun errors. The highest-priority improvement is to qualify broad assertions with more carefully explained evidence while editing complex sentences for consistent number agreement and reference.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response maintains a clear agreement position and develops relevant reasons on both the practical objection and the case for restitution.
Qualify sweeping claims about how artefacts were acquired and explain the supporting examples with greater precision.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through a clear introduction, opposing view, supporting view, and conclusion, with generally effective linking.
Make reference chains more precise so plural artefacts, countries, and peoples are consistently and unambiguously connected.
Lexical Resource
A wide vocabulary, including terms such as imperialism, conquest, and descendants, conveys the argument with flexibility despite some awkward collocations.
Replace imprecise combinations such as reflect the atonement and place of making with natural, exact academic phrasing.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures successfully, although agreement and singular-plural reference errors recur.
Proofread complex sentences for subject-verb agreement and consistent pronouns, especially where plural objects are discussed.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Historical objects should be brought back to their country of origin. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.