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IELTS Writing Samples

IELTS essay samples (writing task 2), report and letter samples (writing task 1) with Band Scores, marked by IELTS teachers, including comments and suggestions on how to increase your score

IELTS essay, topic: What is the best motivation for workers – salary, job satisfaction or helping others?

This is a model response to a Writing Task 2 topic from High Scorer’s Choice IELTS Practice Tests book series (reprinted with permission). This answer is likely to score IELTS Band 9.

Set 3 Academic book, Practice Test 15

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

There are many things that can motivate people to perform well in their work. These can include the salary, job satisfaction or the chance to help others. What do you feel is the best motivation to do well at work?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

You should write at least 250 words.

Sample Band 9 Essay

To perform well in a job, people have to be motivated. There are multiple strategies for employers to incentivise their employees. The most obvious one is the salary; however, job satisfaction and the ability to help people are other methods of improving performance at work.

For the majority of the people, receiving their salary at the end of the month is their motivation. This is because money is necessary to fulfill the most basic needs and other materialistic desires. Employees see these opportunities when receiving their salary and therefore work to achieve money. Furthermore, performing well in a job can often lead to promotions with higher pay packages. To receive this, staff have to stand out positively in their jobs. Salary is therefore a key motivational tool for many workforce participants.

However, money is far from being the only incentive. Another aspect affecting performance is job satisfaction. If a person is comfortable in their work, they are more likely to perform well. Therefore this motivational tool interlinks with salary, as when people are content and perform well, the chances of promotion increase. For some individuals though, only their passion can drive them. Prime examples for this are humanitarian jobs. The salaries are often not very high, but those choosing to work in this field are often very driven; their passion to help others is prioritised over their own salary.

In conclusion, while income might be the most common motivational factor, it is unusual to be the sole incentive for working hard, and some people are motivated wholly due to other reasons.

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IELTS essay, topic: Excessive use of modern technologies is negatively affecting the reading and writing skills of children (agree/disagree)

Some people believe that excessive use of modern technologies, such as computers and smartphones, is negatively affecting the reading and writing skills of our young people. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Sample Band 8 Essay

Parents and teachers in many countries are feeling increasingly concerned about the effect of digital devices on vital skills of school-aged children. They are alarmed by the declining ability of young people to read and write and its suspected link to the influence of modern technology, and I wholeheartedly share their view. This essay will outline the reasons to watch out for the consequences of widespread use of computers and mobile phones by our youngsters.

Primary school is a very important period when children develop their fine motor skills, which are involved in learning to write. Time spent typing on a mobile phone or a tablet doesn’t contribute to the necessary workout of the small muscles in the hands and fingers of young people. Not only do they get less practice in writing but also fewer opportunities to train in spelling words, since the ‘autocorrect’ and ‘autocomplete’ features use the first few letters to guess the entire word, therefore making it unnecessary for the child to remember and type it correctly. Another companion of unrestrained use of mobile devices is the jargon that is often used in text messages, where words are shortened or distorted. Exposure to ‘texting’ tends to replace the correct words with abbreviations in young minds, causing their spelling accuracy to decline.

Reading is another casualty of unrestricted access to smart devices. Video content can be more appealing and immersive for kids and they often are automatically drawn to it instead of books. Reading requires regular practice and needs to become a habit in order to fully develop as a skill; however, it is being perceived as a boring and labourious activity by many youngsters compared to effortless video-watching. Easy and instant access to videos and movies pushes books further down the list of preferences of young audience, and it takes a significant commitment from parents and teachers to ensure that children continue to read books.

To sum up, modern technology can be a friend or a foe for young children, depending on the choices adults in their lives make, regulating the amount of screen time and its purpose. Without due care the writing and reading abilities of kids can be harmed by other, more enjoyable activities they can use the devices for.

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