IELTS  10 Writing Model Essay (Free sample)

Test 4 Task 2 Question

Test 4 Task 2 Model Essay by an Expert 

From August 2016, the permanent exhibitions at many of Hong Kong’s biggest museums will be free of charge to all visitors. Everyone loves free stuff, but is this removal of admission charges a good move? On a limited governmental budget, is government subsidising of museums a wise use of taxpayers’ money? In this essay, I will argue that the advantages of charging admission fees to museums outweigh the disadvantages.

It goes without saying that museums need investment to exist. They need to maintain their existing exhibits, which might contain valuable and delicate items. What’s more, in order to attract visitors, they need to continually develop new and appealing exhibitions. The question is where this money should come from: the government, or from the people who actually benefit from the museum by attending it? Whilst it’s lovely to have public attractions for free, when the government purse is already stretched, investing in museums is not a valuable way for them to spend taxpayers’ money. The most frequent visitors to museums are middle-class families and wealthy tourists, none of whom need financial assistance from the government. Government money should be directed to the people who most need it: to put roofs over heads and food on tables, not to subsidise a wealthy family’s day out.

A frequently cited disadvantage of admission fees to museums is that they could put people off visiting these cultural attractions. However, in a free market economy like Hong Kong, the guiding principle should be that if the museum is good enough and the price is reasonable, people will pay to visit it. Museums should be responsible for adjusting their pricing strategies to ensure that they attract enough visitors to continue running. One way in which they can attract a wide range of visitors is to take measures to ensure that they don’t exclude certain groups, such as by offering discounts for family tickets, school trips, students and pensioners.

Whilst it is wonderful if the government can afford to subsidise museums, there are more impactful ways for them to invest money in local communities. Museums should be able to afford to run themselves, by using admission fees to ensure that the only people paying for their existence are the people who are enjoying the benefits.

(377 words)

IELTS 10 Writing Model Essay (Free sample)

Test 3 Task 1 Question

The charts below show what UK graduate and postgraduate students who did not go into full-time work did after leaving college in 2008.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Test 3 Task 1 Model Essay by an Expert 

The graphs show what UK graduates and postgraduates did after leaving college in 2008, not including full-time work.

The graphs demonstrate that there were significantly more graduates in each of the chosen categories than postgraduates. There were almost ten times more graduates who followed routes other than full-time work than postgraduates in 2008.

For both graduates and postgraduates, further study was the most popular destination, excluding full-time work, which isn’t included in the graphs. For graduates, this was by far the most common route, whilst for postgraduates it was only slightly more popular than part-time work. Part-time work was also the second most popular destination for UK graduates, but this was just over half the number of students who went into further study. In contrast, the difference between these two destinations for postgraduates was marginal.

In the two remaining destinations, voluntary work and unemployment, the proportions of graduates and postgraduates are very similar, with the difference in total numbers for each category being proportionate to the difference in total numbers of people. In both groups, voluntary work was by far the least popular destination. Around one third of each group was unemployed after completing college in 2008.

In summary, the patterns of popularity for each destination in 2008 were similar for graduates and postgraduates, with the biggest difference being in the total number of students involved in each group.

(229 words)

IELTS  10 Writing Model Essay (Free sample)

Test 2 Task 2 Question

Test 2 Task 2 Model Essay by an Expert 

In today’s knowledge economy, where a degree is portrayed as a ‘golden ticket’ to success and wealth, careful consideration needs to be given to the type of degree that young people choose. As the number of university places increases, there is an increasing number of unemployed and disillusioned graduates. In this essay, I will argue that restricting the subjects that students should be allowed to study is not the answer to this predicament.

If students are made to study subjects that do not correlate with their interests and passions, they are less likely to succeed in university and in life. The idea that university students should only study a range of ‘appropriate’ degrees oversimplifies the many reasons why students choose to study certain subjects. Whilst many students have their sights firmly set on a particular career, many decide to undertake tertiary education in order to follow their interests. A number of studies have shown that having a genuine interest in one’s degree subject is central to success in exams and also to wellbeing. A recent survey conducted in the UK revealed 12% of students who expressed little or no personal interest in their chosen subject dropped out in the first year of study, compared to just 3% of students who felt more passionate about their subject. Evidently, forcing students to choose certain topics would not create motivated and happy graduates.

Moreover, the view that students should study only ‘useful’ subjects necessarily assumes that studying certain subjects are ‘useless’. Whilst I concede that a minority of degrees wouldn’t be taken seriously in any workplace, such as degrees in ‘Football Culture’ and ‘Golf Management’, I draw the line at traditional arts subjects such as history and literature being labelled as ‘useless’. Indeed, many employers recognise the myriad of transferable skills that can be gained from studying such subjects. For example, studying literature at university trains students to take a critical approach to written texts: a critical life skill. Arts students also become used to reading and processing large amounts of information. This is an invaluable skill in careers such as journalism and law.

Whilst it is evident that in some places there is a crisis in terms of graduate unemployment, restricting the subjects which are available to be studied at university is not a viable solution. Instead, secondary school students should be educated about the likelihood of employment following certain degree choices, before making an informed choice about which subject to study.

(408 words)

IELTS 10 Writing Model Essay (Free sample)

Test 1 Task 1 Question

The first chart below shows how energy is used in an average Australian household. The second chart shows the greenhouse gas emissions which result from this energy use.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Test 1 Task 1 Model Essay by an Expert 

The data show the usage of energy in an average Australian home, as well as the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions for each category of energy use.

The largest proportion of energy usage in the Australian household is for heating, constituting 42% of total household energy use. However, heating accounts for just 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. This is the only category of energy usage for which the proportion of harmful emissions is significantly less than the percentage of household energy usage. The next highest category of energy usage, water heating, is relatively similar to the percentage of greenhouse gas emissions, at 30% and 32% respectively. Cooling is in a similar position, accounting for 2% of household energy use, and only 3% of greenhouse gas emissions.

The rest of the energy usage categories show roughly double the proportion of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the percentage of energy usage. Refrigeration accounts for 7% of total household usage, and 14% of greenhouse gas emissions. Lighting makes up 4% of energy use, and 8% of emissions. The second highest category for greenhouse gas emissions is ‘other appliances’, at 28%. This category makes up just 15% of total household energy use.

In summary, in only two categories is the proportion of household energy use similar to the proportion of greenhouse gas emissions: water heating and cooling. Heating is the only category in which the proportion of greenhouse gases is lower than the percentage of energy use in Australian households.

(245 words)