Example Essay 20 - Free University Education Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Present a written argument to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic. University education should be free to everyone, regardless of income. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge. You should write at least 250 words.

Model Answer

Over recent years, more and more people have been attending university and arguments have persisted as to whether students should pay for this privilege not.  Although there are convincing arguments on both sides, I strongly believe that it should be free.

One argument put forward in favour of charging students is that education is becoming more expensive to fund as universities grow in size. Consequently, making students pay may maintain standards and ensure the quality of the teaching.  In addition, it is argued that most students benefit from university in terms of higher paid jobs, so it is fair that they pay for at least some of the cost, especially given that the majority of students attending university are from the middle classes.  Last but not least, in many countries, there is a shortage of people to do manual jobs such as plumbing and carpentry, so making university more expensive may encourage people to take up these jobs.

However, there are a number of arguments in favour of making university education free for all. Firstly, it will encourage more people to attend and this will benefit society. This is because it will lead to a more productive and educated workforce. Research has generally shown that those countries that have a better educated population via university have higher levels of innovation and productivity. In addition, there is the issue of equality of opportunity. If all students are required to pay, those on a low income may be dissuaded from attending, thus making it unfair. The reason for this is that they will likely not be able to secure financial support from their family so they will be concerned about the debts they will incur in the future. 

In conclusion, I am of opinion that all education should remain equally available to all regardless of income. This is not only fair, but will also ensure that countries can prosper and develop into the future with a well-educated workforce.

326 Words

Computer Games Essay

This page analyzes a computer games essay and also notes how you can make good use of the question to plan and organize your essay.

Take a look at this IELTS task 2 question:

 

Nowadays many people have access to computers on a wide basis and a large number of children play computer games. 

What are the positive and negative impacts of playing computer games and what can be done to minimize the bad effects?

 

Remember to always analyze the question carefully. The topic should be fairly clear:

Computer games

Remember to also look carefully to see if the topic is being narrowed down to a particular aspect of the topic. In this case it is:

Children

Now you need to check what the task is. How many things do you have to write about?

Hopefully you realized there are three things that you can easily turn into brainstorming questions:

1. What are the positive impacts of computer games on children?

2. What are the negative impacts of computer games on children?

3. How can the negative impacts be minimized?

Your answers to these questions will form your computer games essay.

You do not have much time and you have three things to answer, so one or two ideas for each is enough, as remember you will need to explain your ideas and give examples.

Now, take a look at the model answer.