Everyone should stay in school until the age of eighteen. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Education is essential to be able to live meaningfully. That is a general notion. A person who is in school till eighteen would have finished theirhis basic education. It should be compulsory for all youngsters as it is beneficial for them; however, if a student is interested inif there is an interest in non-academic education such as sportssuch as in sports or fine arts, that should be encouraged. Staying in school till eighteen does not necessarily mean they will be successful in their lives. In many countries, it is the norm that young people go to school till eighteen, and dropouts would have problems finding a career. In ancient IndiaIn ancient cultures like in India, getting educated did not always mean attending school; it meant learning essential skills for life and then choosing to specialize in any field.
While most students who study until eighteen are more or less sure of a fair chance of beginning their careersa fair chance at beginning their career, dropouts would often find it difficultthe dropouts would often find it difficult. Getting a school certificate can mean the difference between a manual hard-working type of life or an easier, more comfortable life. In developing countries, it is necessary that all children and young people stay in school till they finish basic school education and arebeing ready for university. Universal education can change a country’s fortuneIt can change a country’s fortune. In the Philippines and IndiaIn the case of the Philippines and India, mass education has a direct benefitthere is a direct benefit of mass education; it lifts the population out of poverty. Not staying in school till eighteen or completing high school could mean disaster for any country. It is clear that to be educated is the most reliable paththe most desirable easy path to a relatively comfortable startfairly comfortable beginning.
On the other hand, itIt is worth notingnoticing that many successful entrepreneurs are school dropouts, and they employ thousands of school graduates. That is the irony; some of the biggest corporations in the world were started by so-called less-educated peopleless educated folk.
To conclude, one must follow one'sone heart when it comes to the direction of their lives, and that includes education; if the choice is to be the proverbial sheep, then staying in school till eighteen is a must but not a guarantee of success.
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response offers relevant reasons for continued schooling and uses examples from developing countries to support its discussion. Its main weakness is an unstable position: the introduction broadly supports compulsory schooling with exceptions, while the conclusion shifts toward personal choice and uses a dismissive metaphor, leaving the final stance unclear. The highest priority is to state one qualified position and ensure every paragraph, especially the conclusion, consistently supports it.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Relevant arguments are presented, but the qualified position changes in emphasis and is unclear in the conclusion.
State a precise degree of agreement and restate that same position directly at the end.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas generally progress logically across paragraphs, although the opening paragraph carries too many distinct points.
Give each paragraph one clear purpose and reserve detailed supporting arguments for the body paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response uses a reasonably broad vocabulary, but several choices are imprecise, overly informal, or awkward.
Choose neutral academic wording and avoid figurative labels that obscure the intended position.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures are generally controlled, with occasional errors in parallelism, possessives, and sentence formation.
Proofread complex sentences for complete parallel structures and accurate possessive forms before finalising the essay.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Everyone should stay in school until the age of eighteen. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.