Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer. What, in your opinion, should be the main function of a university?
Sample Response
Universities play a vital role in students' educationstudent’s education. There is a general belief that universities provideuniversity provides the necessary skills and knowledgerequired ammunition for the students to get on with their career. However, it can also be argued that the university is another business model and should provide knowledge for its benefit. I think a university should serve societyservice the society by creating better individuals than being a money-making organisationmoney making organisation. This essay analysesThe essay will analyse the individual and social benefits created by the university in support of its service to society. Firstly, personality development is of paramount importance to any student. For instance, a student from a reputed university like the University of Technology, Sydney has good exposure to interpersonal skills, soft skills and theoretical knowledge. These skills are vital for students to perform well at the workplace. Additionally, these skills will get help them obtain campus placementscampus placements before they can complete their degree. Thus, colleges providing an appropriate environmentcolleges providing appropriate environment and skill development will result in the production of individuals with the required talent in the professional career. Secondly, society'ssociety benefits cannot be discounted in the context of university education. Creating individuals with better skills createscreate a healthy society. For example, medical graduatesstudents completing their medicine degree with better communication and people skills create a society in which all the individuals who go to that doctor will be delighted. If all the people in the community possess the right level of expertise, especially the working professional with the college degree, then the country’s economy will have a positive growth. As you can see, there is a direct correlation between college infrastructure and the society'ssociety health. In conclusion, university providing quality knowledge and platform for all-round development will aid the individuals and society to benefit out of it. I believe that there will be an increase in the number of students who attend a university that results in the better society.
Why this response received Band 6.0
The response offers a recognisable position and relevant ideas about workplace preparation, personal development, and wider social benefits. However, it partly misrepresents the alternative view, presents the essay as one block, and contains frequent language errors; the priority is to frame knowledge for its own sake accurately, compare it directly with employability, and organise the discussion into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The essay gives an opinion that universities should serve society by developing individuals, and it discusses workplace skills and social benefits. However, it partly misrepresents the second view as a business model, so the response does not fully address the contrast in the prompt.
Correctly frame the second view as knowledge for its own sake, then explain whether that or workplace preparation should be the main function.
Coherence and Cohesion
There is a basic logical order, but the whole essay is presented as one block and some links between ideas are unclear.
Use clear paragraphs for introduction, workplace preparation, broader knowledge or social benefits, and conclusion.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is sufficient but uneven; some phrases are effective, while others are awkward or inappropriate for the meaning.
Replace metaphorical or inaccurate phrases with direct academic language, especially when describing university aims.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammar errors with articles, agreement, word forms, and sentence structure are frequent and sometimes affect clarity.
Practise noun phrase control, especially singular/plural forms and articles before countable nouns.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people think that universities should provide graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Others think that the true function of a university should be to give access to knowledge for its own sake, regardless of whether the course is useful to an employer. What, in your opinion, should be the main function of a university?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.